Gradebook Setup Tutorial (Ultra Courses)

Modified on Mon, Mar 2 at 4:54 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introducing the Ultra Gradebook
Plan Your Gradebook Setup
Create Your Content and Assignments
Create Grade Columns
Set Up the Overall (Final) Grade Column
Additional Resources

Introducing the Ultra Gradebook

The Gradebook allows you to grade submissions, track student engagement, message students, add student accommodations, send reminders, and more.

For an overview of the Gradebook, watch the Gradebook Overview tutorial video or refer to the Blackboard Ultra Gradebook and Grading support article.

Plan Your Gradebook Setup

It may feel counterintuitive, but the biggest mistake people make when setting up their Gradebook is starting in the Gradebook. Instead, the Gradebook is actually the last step. If you try to build your grading setup piece by piece inside the tool, it’s easy to miss steps, lose track of settings, or end up with totals that simply don’t add up.

Instead, begin with your syllabus. List your assignments and grading scale, and map out how everything should work together. Once you have a clear plan, then you’re ready to set up the Gradebook. Watch the Plan Your Ultra Gradebook Setup video to see an example of this process.

Create Your Content and Assignments

Once your plan is in place, the next step is to build your course content in Blackboard. Be sure to add all of your gradable items—Assignments, Discussions, Tests, Quizzes, and anything else that will appear in the Gradebook.

In my case, most of my content is already created, but I still need to add the Final Project assignment. The Creating Assignments tutorial video walks through the process of creating an Assignment so students can submit their work and I can grade it and provide feedback.

Need to create other types of graded content?

Discussions: Create Discussions tutorial video
Tests/Quizzes: Create Tests tutorial video
Journal: Create a Journal tutorial video

Create Grade Columns

After you’ve created all of your graded content in Blackboard, you can move into the Gradebook to add any manual grade columns you still need—such as participation, in-class presentations, labs, or other activities that aren’t submitted directly through Blackboard.

Now that all of my assignments and materials are in place, I can finally open the Gradebook and finish the setup by creating these additional grade columns for items that will be graded but not submitted online. Watch the Create a Grade Column video for an example of how to set up a manual column.

Set Up the Overall (Final) Grade Column

The Overall Grade is a calculated column that shows the students' current grades in the course. It appears in the Gradebook next to the students' names so you and your students can quickly and easily see how they are performing.

Watch the Set up the Overall Grade video to learn how you can calculate your students' overall grade.

Additional Resources

Your Gradebook is now set up and ready to go, but there’s always more to know and more scenarios for set up. Check out these resources below or email elis@lesley.edu for assistance.