Calculating Total and Weighted Total in the Gradebook

Current Gradebook calculations for Total and Weighted Total include item that have not been scored. For example, picture a course where the grade is determined by two tests weighted equally. Using the current Gradebook settings, a Student with a score of 90 percent on the first quiz would have a weighted total of 45 percent. This shows that the student has accumulated a score of at least 45 percent in the course.

A new option to ignore ungraded items, or nulls, when calculating the total and weighted total appears in Application Pack 3. In the example above, the student's progress would be reported as 90 percent.

When nulls are ignored, the Total and Weighted Total columns in the Gradebook are renamed to Running Total and Running Weighted Total.

The table below details how Student progress is calculated in the Gradebook. Running Total and Running Weighted Total are calculated without including ungraded items (nulls).

The table shows that when calculated based on Points Possible ignoring ungraded items has no effect.

The ability to include or ignore ungraded items is not available in all courses. The Administrator must first turn on the feature. Existing courses will continue to include ungraded items until this feature is enabled in the specific course. After confirming that the option is available, follow the steps below to set the Gradebook to ignore ungraded items.

1. Open the Gradebook.

2. Click Total or Weighted Total. After setting one to ignore or include ungraded items, be sure to set the other one.

3. Click Item Information.

4. Select Yes or No for Ignore Ungraded Attempts.

The example below shows how ignoring ungraded items will affect the reported progress for one user throughout a course. Keep in mind:

• The final grade is made up of four quizzes, two tests, one paper, and one final exam.

• The final grade is determined by totaling the scores of all Gradebook items and weighting them by type. Quizzes are worth a total of 20 percent. Tests are worth 20 percent. The paper is worth 30 percent and the final is worth 30 percent.

• The Gradebook is set to display scores as percentages.

• In the tables below, grades are listed in chronological order and percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

The table below shows the Total and Weighted Total displayed after each assignment is completed. Ungraded items are included in the calculation. The formulas to generate the Total and Weighted Total are:

• Total: (Item.Attempt.PointsGiven)  /  (Item.PointsPossible)
   

• Weighted Total: [ (Item.Attempt.PointsGiven / Item.PointsPossible) * (Category.Weight / Category.Number-Of-Items) ] / (Category.Weight)

The table below shows the Running Total and Running Weighted Total displayed after each assignment is completed. Keep in mind that ungraded items are included in the calculation. The formulas to generate the Total and Weighted Total are:

• Running Total: (Item.Attempt.PointsGiven)  /  (Item.PointsPossible not including null values)

• Running Weighted Total: [ (Item.Attempt.PointsGiven / Item.PointsPossible) * (Category.Weight / Category.Number-Of-NonNULL-Items) ] /
  (Category.Weight not including where ALL items Attempt.PointsGiven=NULL)

For some added insight into Gradebook calculations look at how the Running Weighted Total is calculated after the Student received a grade on the Paper. Remember that the formula to calculate the Running Weighted Total is:

[ (Item.Attempt.PointsGiven / Item.PointsPossible) * (Category.Weight / Category.Number-Of-NonNULL-Items)] / (Category.Weight not including where ALL items Attempt.PointsGiven=NULL)

Q1: [(85/100) * (.2/4)] = .0425

Q2: [(90/100) * (.2/4)] = .045

T1: [(88/100) * (.2/1)] = .176

Q3: [(75/100) * (.2/4)] = .0375

Q2: [(80/100) * (.2/4)] = .04

P : [(90/100) * (.3/1)] = .27

Sum                     = .611

Running Total           = .611/.7 = .873