• What are Grade Items?
• Get started with Grade Items
• Which Grade Items can I use?
  • Some common assessment types and their associated Grade Item types
  • Other Grade Item types
• The next steps

Grade Items are the columns of your Grade book, or the items of your list of grades. As soon as you create an assignment, quiz or discussion that indicates that it will be assessed via the Gradebook, a Grade Item is automatically created in the Gradebook and linked to the assignment, quiz or discussion.

The Gradebook also automatically contains a Grade Item with which the final score can be calculated.

You can also create Grade Items yourself, for example if:

• you want to link a Grade Item to an assignment, quiz or discussion where you do not work with points, but only want to select a value (for example 'satisfied / not satisfied');
• you want to be able to assess something in your Gradebook that is separate from an assignment, quiz or discussion;
• you want to make a calculation based on part of the student results, for example a (weighted) addition of two or more point scores achieved.

As mentioned above, you do not have to create Grade Items yourself.

If you still want to do this, it is best to first go through the Grade Setup wizard for the most important settings of your Grade Book. Certain settings are automatically adopted when creating Grade Items, although you can always change them manually.

Before creating Grade items, it is good to know which Grading System is set up in your course. You set this while going through the Setup and you can also find this setting by clicking on Grades > Settings (top right).

The following two grade items can be linked to an assessment tool and used in the calculation of the final grade:

• Numeric: Assess students by assigning a value from a certain total number of points.
• Selectbox: You can assess students with a Grade Scheme of scale, for example A, B, C; Pass/Fail; or any other Scheme you want to use.

The following Grade Item type cannot be linked to an assessment tool (assignment, quiz, discussion), but can be used to calculate a grade. If you have set up the Formula Grading System for your Gradebook, this is also the type of Grade Item used to calculate the final score.

• Formula: With this type of Grade Item you can calculate an assessment using a formula, based on scores that students have achieved on other Grade Items. For example, you can indicate in the formula whether and how much a score weights.

The Grade Items listed below cannot be linked to an assessment and do not count towards a student's final grade. Therefore, we do not recommend the use of the following Grade Items:

• Text: Use text grade items to post comments that do not count toward students' final grades. Instead, use general feedback.
• Pass/Fail: You can grade students using a simple pass/fail grade scheme. Note that you can't associate calculated grade items with grading tools such as discussions, quizzes, and assignments. Instead, use the Selectbox Grade Item + the Pass/Fail Grade Scheme.
• Calculated: With this you can add multiple grade items, possibly weighted if you work with the Weighted Grading System. The same can be achieved by linking a category to your Grade Items. This type of Grade Item can not be linked to assignments, quizzes or discussions, nor can it be used in a Formula Grade Item.

The two types of Grade Items advised to use above both have a similar method of creation. There is only a difference in a few fields that are specifically indicated in the instructions below.

First navigate to Grades > Manage Grades. Then select New and click Item. The screen below will appear:

Click on the Grade Item Type you want to create. Above at Which Grade Item types can I use? they are explained.

1. Enter a clear name for the Grade Item.
2. Optional: Select a Grade Category (allows you to group Grade Items), or click New Category to add a new category  
3. Under Maximum Points, enter the maximum number of points the student can score on this item.
4. Only visible in a Weighted Grade System: Under Weight, indicate how much percent (%) the score on this Grade Item contributes to the final grade. If you selected a category in the previous step, the weight you enter here will contribute to that category's subtotal.

5. Optional: Select Can Exceed if you want students' grades to be able to exceed the maximum points for the item. This option is not available for a Grade Item of the Selectbox type.

6. Optional: Select Bonus if this Grade Item is a bonus item. Bonus items are not part of the maximum number of points a student can obtain for a category or final score, but are added to the calculated (final) score. Please note that when awarding bonus points, students cannot score higher than the maximum unless you have selected Can Exceed on the Grade Item that calculates the final score.

7. Select the desired Grade Scheme.

8. Optional: Optionally add a Rubric to the Grade Item, but DO NOT do this if you want to link the Grade Item to an assignment, quiz or discussion.

9. Optional: Adjust the Display Options as desired by clicking Show Display Options and then checking the Override display options for this item under 'Student View' or 'Managing View' (teachers).

10. Finally, click Save and Close and you're done.

The Formula Grade Item that you use to calculate the final score has already been created in your Gradebook. You will find this in the 'Final Calculated Grade' column. See How do I ensure that the Final Calculated Grade is calculated correctly in a Formula Grading System? to see how to do this.

If you want to calculate a different grade in your Gradebook, you can create a Formula Grade Item as follows:

First navigate to Grades > Manage Grades. Then select New and click Item. The screen below will appear:

Choose the Grade Item Type: Formula

1. Enter a clear name for the Grade Item.
2. Optional: Choose a category to group this Grade Item with other Grade Items, or click New Category to add a new category.

3. Under Maximum Points, enter the maximum number of points that the student can score for this Grade Item. Please note that a Formula Grade Item is calculated based on (usually) several other Grade Items. You can adjust this number at a later time.

4. Click Edit Using the Formula Editor to set up the calculation of this Grade Item using the Formula Editor. Here you will find examples: Examples Gradebook: Formula Grading System

5. Optional: Select this option if you want to be able to give more points than the maximum number of points set for this item.

6. Select the desired Grade Scheme.

7. Note: DO NOT add a Rubric to a Formula Grade Item.

8. Optional: Adjust the Display Options if necessary by clicking on Show Display Options and then checking the Override display options for his item under 'Student view' or 'Managing view' (teachers).

9. Finally, click Save and Close and you're done.

In a Formula Grading System, the final score is calculated using a Grade Item of the Formula type. This is already present in the Gradebook and is called Final Calculated Grade, so you only need to adjust it. You can find out how to do that here.

Navigate to Grades > Manage Grades. Click on the arrow behind the Grade Item 'Final Calculated Grade' and then click Edit.

1. Adjust the number of points at Maximum Points if necessary.

2. Click Edit Using the Formula Editor to set up the final grade calculation with the Formula Editor. Here you will find examples: Examples Gradebook: Formula Grading System.

3. Optional: Indicate whether the maximum number of points can be exceeded, for example if you use a bonus item.

4. Select the desired Grade Scheme.

5. Optional: Adjust the Display Options by clicking on Show Display Options and then checking the Override display options for his item option under student view or managing view (teachers).

6. Click Save and Close to save your changes.