ARCHIVED: In Oncourse Gradebook, how do categories and weighting affect grade calculation for points gradebooks?

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The way your gradebook calculates course grades depends on how you have set it up; see ARCHIVED: Using categories and weighted grades in Gradebook. The following examples illustrate how the different choices in Gradebook Setup will affect how students' course grades are calculated in a points gradebook.

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Displaying grades as points with no categories and no weighting

In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with no categories.

Gradebook table with points and no  categories

The course grade is calculated as follows:

Title Grade (Points) Item value
Essay 19 20
Exam 1 93 100
Exam 2 75 100
Final Exam 165 200
Homework 1 9 10
Homework 2 8 10
Homework 3 10 10
Total 379 450

Total: 379 points

Course grade: 84.22% (379/450 * 100)

Displaying grades as points with simple categories

In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with simple, unweighted categories.

Gradebook table with points and simple  categories

Notice that the percentage for each category is displayed. These percentages do not affect the grade calculation.

The course grade is calculated as follows:

Category Title Grade (Points) Item value
Essays Essay 19 20
Exams Exam 1 93 100
Exam 2 75 100
Final Exam 165 200
Homework Homework 1 9 10
Homework 2 8 10
Homework 3 10 10
Total 379 450

Total: 379 points

Course grade: 84.22% (379/450 * 100)

Displaying grades as points with weighted categories

In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with weighted categories.

Gradebook table with points and  weighted categories

Category Essays (10% weight)

Title Grade (Points) Item value
Essay 1 19 20
Total 19 20

Total (Essays): 95% (19/20 * 100)

Category Exams (60% weight)

Note that in the Exams category, the items have different point values (proportional weighting). Items with a higher point value have a greater influence on the grade (e.g., the final exam is worth twice as much as Exam 1).

Title Grade (Points) Item value
Exam 1 93 100
Exam 2 75 100
Final Exam 165 200
Total 333 400

Total (Exams): 83.25% (333/400 * 100)

Category Homework (30% weight)

Items in the Homework category all have the same point value (equal weighting) and influence the grade equally.

Title Grade (Points) Item value
Homework 1 9 10
Homework 2 8 10
Homework 3 10 10
Total 27 30

Total (Homework): 90% (27/30 * 100)

Category Weight Contribution to grade
Essays 10 9.5% (10%*95%)
Exams 60 49.95% (60%*83.25%)
Homework 30 27% (30%*90%)
Total   86.45% (9.5%+49.95%+27%)

Course Grade: 86.45%

In the unweighted gradebook setup illustrated in the first two scenarios, the essay was worth 20 out of a total of 450 points, or about 4% of the final grade; the exams were worth 400 out of a total of 450 points, or about 89% of the final grade; and the homework was worth 30 out of 450 points, or about 7% of the final grade. However, in the scenario with weighted categories, the essay is set to 10% of the final grade, the exams to 60%, and the homework to 30%. Since this hypothetical student did better on the homework and essay than on the exams, the final grade is higher than it would be with the same scores and unweighted categories.

This is document axwr in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 16:03:57.