You can create new assignment categories or change the default ones as well as change their weight values. Category weights are based on ratios, and percentage values are automatically adjusted based on the values entered. You can choose to allow teachers to add their own categories, convert all scores to percentages, weight their own columns, and/or edit the default category weights you've set for them.
Add an Assignment Category
- Click Grading, then click Column Weighting and Categories.
- Click Add Category.
- Type the category name, enter a weight, if you've enabled weighted categories, and click a color from the Color drop-down list.
The color you pick will be associated with all assignments belonging to that category in teachers' gradebooks and cannot be changed by the teachers.
Manage Column and Category Weights
- Click Grading, and then click Column/Category Settings.
- In the Convert Scores to a percentage before calculating Marking Period Averages area, click No (Recommended) or Yes.
Choosing Yes for this feature converts all scores to percentages. For example, an 8 out of 10 on a quiz is converted to an 80% out of 100%. In this example, the quiz is now considered as having the same number of points as a test, which may not be ideal in most situations. For this reason, we recommend not enabling this feature.
- In the Weight Columns area, click No (Recommended) or Yes.
Choosing Yes for this feature enables teachers to weight each column. Both the points earned and the points possible are multiplied by the weight. For example, a student may earn an 8 on a 10-point quiz and also an 80% on a 100-point test. The teacher can then weight the test column as a "2" and the quiz column as a "1," which makes the test count twice as much as the quiz, even though 100 points is not twice as much as 10 points. It's recommended to choose No (Recommended) for this feature because students have an easier time understanding the "what you see is what you get" grading method (that is, total points earned divided by total points possible).
If a small group of teachers wants to use these features, select the Allow teachers to change this setting check box to give teachers permission to adjust a setting in their gradebook. Keep in mind this change affects all teachers.
- In the Category Weight Settingsarea, do any of the following:
- Select the Weight Categories check box.
- Select the Allow teachers to add their own categories check box.
- Select the Allow teachers to edit default weights check box.
Teachers can only edit the weight of categories not in use. If they wish to change the weight of a category in a new marking period, they should create a new secondary category of the same type. For example, the category Homework 1 can have a weight of 10 in the first marking period, and the category Homework 2 can have a weight of 15 in the second marking period. (As long as the category Homework 1 isn't used in the second marking period, its weight will not impact students' grades.)
- Click
next to the category you want to weight, enter the weight value, and press Enter.
Once grades have been in any Marking Period where a Category has been used, it is not recommended to change the weight. For more information about this, see Change Category Weights During the School Year.