Does Your D2L Gradebook Total 100%?
- Greg Shortt
Introduction
Ensuring your D2L Gradebook accurately reflects the Evaluation section of your course outline is crucial for maintaining transparency and fairness in student assessment. However, many faculty members encounter issues where their gradebook does not total 100%, leading to confusion and potential grading inaccuracies.
This resource page aims to address these common issues and provide practical solutions. One key step is to ensure that every assessment tool you create in your D2L course—whether it's a Dropbox, Quiz, or Discussion—is correctly associated with the gradebook. Misalignment between your course outline and gradebook can lead to discrepancies that affect both teaching and learning outcomes.
By following the guidelines and tips provided here, you can ensure your gradebook totals 100% and accurately represents your course's evaluation criteria. Let's work together to create a seamless and effective grading experience for both faculty and students.
Common Issues with Gradebook Setup
Unassociated assessment tools.
Incorrect grade item weights.
Missing or extra grade items.
Example of an Inaccurate Gradebook
Screenshot 1:
This gradebook shows a message near the top that the gradebook totals 110%, not 100%. This is a signal that the faculty needs to correct something. In very rare situations, this message may be justified because of the nature of a course (e.g. certain Pass/NoPass situations).
Steps to Ensure Your Gradebook Totals 100%
Review Your Course Outline
Ensure your gradebook categories and items match the evaluation criteria in your course outline.
Screenshot of a sample course outline with student evaluation section.
Associate Assessment Tools Correctly
Watch this short video to see the step by step process of associating a dropbox with a grade item in the D2L Gradebook. This process will be the same for Quizzes as well as Discussions. If you have “extra” grade items in your gradebook, you may need to remove the extras after determining which items to keep and which items to delete.
Check Gradebook Settings
To ensure that all grade items are included in the final grade calculation, follow these steps:
Review Grade Items
Go to the "Manage Grades" tab.
Check that all assignments, quizzes, discussions, and other assessment tools are listed as grade items.
Ensure that each grade item is associated with the correct category if you are using categories.
Verify Weight Distribution
In the "Manage Grades" tab, look at the "Weight" column to ensure that the weights of all grade items add up to 100%.
If you are using a points-based system, ensure that the total points possible reflect the intended distribution of grades.
Run a Gradebook Audit
Use the "Gradebook Setup Wizard" to review your gradebook settings step-by-step.
This wizard will guide you through the process of verifying that all grade items are correctly set up and included in the final grade calculation.
By following these steps, you can ensure that your gradebook is accurately set up and that all grade items are included in the final grade calculation, preventing any discrepancies or errors in student grades.
Image: Screenshot of the gradebook page with key areas highlighted.
If you need to delete an item from your gradebook, and it is associated with an assessment tool (e.g. quiz, dropbox or discussion), you will have to remove the association before you will be able to delete the grade item. Here are the instructions to help you delete associated or non-associated grade items.
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