Blackboard Tip of the Week: Weight Gradebook Items by Category or by Item

Tip: You can weight Gradebook items by category or by item.

NOTE: After you assign weight to Gradebook items or categories, you cannot remove the weighting option from the Gradebook. Therefore, add weighting to the Gradebook only if you are certain that you will continue to use weighting the entire semester.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Gradebook


2. Click the Weight Grades button


3. Select the option to Weight by Category* or to Weight by Item


4. Assign weight percentages to the desired categories or items
• Percentages must add up to 100%


5. Click Submit to save the new settings

*Weight by Category:

Weighting by category allows you to assign a weight percentage to a particular type of Gradebook item rather than to each Gradebook item. For example, you can weight all course quizzes at 30% of the students’ total grades. Each time you add a quiz, the weight percentage for each quiz will adjust so that their sum total can only affect up to 30% of the students’ grades. Remember, the total percentages across all categories must add up to 100%.

To use this feature correctly, it is important that you assign Gradebook items to appropriate categories. Here’s how to change a Gradebook item’s category:

1. Go to the Blackboard Control Panel, and click on Gradebook


2. Click the Manage Items button


3. Click the Modify button next to the Gradebook item you want to change


4. Select a new category for the item, and click Submit