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As the semester winds down, many faculty find themselves knee-deep in grading. Entering grades into Brightspace may be a tedious time-consuming task, especially when you need to assign the same grade to multiple students. Whether it's a pass/fail assignment, a standardized in-class activity, or a participation grade, manually entering the same score repeatedly can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

In my last blog post, I explained how instructors should input grades and feedback in the Grade Book. Today, I'll share a helpful tip: using the "Set Grades" feature to quickly assign the same grade to multiple students.

Follow these steps to do it.

Give Multiple Students the Same Grade at the Same Time:

1. From the NavBar, click on Grades.
2. Click on the arrow on the right of the Grade Item name.
3. Select Enter Grades.
4. Select the checkboxes next to the names of the students OR select all of the students at once by clicking on the checkbox above the list of students.
5. Select Set Grades.
6. Enter a value in the Grade textbox.
7. Select Save.
8. Select Save and Close.

Give Multiple Students the Same Feedback at the Same Time:

1. From the NavBar, click on Grades.
2. Click on the arrow on the right of the Grade Item name.
3. Select Enter Grades.
4. Select the checkboxes next to the names of the students OR select all of the students at once by clicking on the checkbox above the list of students.
5. Select Add Feedback.
6. Enter feedback in the textbox.
7. Select Save.
8. Select Save and Close.

NOTE: Giving multiple students the same feedback at the same time as described in this blog post is helpful for giving multiple students, like group members, the same feedback on an assignment/activity. I do not recommend using the Add Feedback functionality in this way if you want or need to provide more personalized details to each student. In that case, you should enter the personalized feedback for each student individually.

Want more information?

Enter Bulk Grades Using the Set Grades Feature (video)
Brightspace Tip #480: Grade Book – Enter Grades and Feedback
Brightspace Tip #382: Escaping Grading Jail

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Assessments measure student achievement. They may take the form of traditional assessments such as exams, or quizzes, but may also be part of learning activities such as group projects, discussions, or presentations.

Brightspace has a number of tools instructors can use to assess learners and the Grades tool is useful for assigning and keeping track of learner grades. If you are not familiar with setting up your Grade Book, review Brightspace Tip #437: Grade Book for information.

There are multiple ways to enter grades for learner submissions in Brightspace. Three ways instructors can enter grades in their Brightspace courses are:

• Using Quick Eval
• Within Individual Tools
• In the Grade Book

Quick Eval

Quick Eval is a tool that allows evaluators to see a list of unevaluated learner submissions from all their courses. Submissions from Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes are displayed in one location to improve efficiency when locating work that requires evaluation and providing feedback to learners. Instructors can use Quick Eval to assess learner submissions.

Within Individual Tools

For assessments that are created using a Brightspace tool, such as Quizzes, Assignments, and Discussions, instructors will associate the assessment with a Grade Item in the Grade Book. The association is made within the tool itself. When you are ready to grade the student’s work, you will grade it within the tool and the grade will automatically transfer over to the Grade Item in the Grade Book.

In the Grade Book

For assessments that occur outside of Brightspace, instructors have to create a Grade Item in the Grade Book, and then manually enter student grades into the Grade Book. Examples of in-class assessments where you may need to manually enter grades in the Grade Book include participation grades, tests administered on-paper, presentations, and demonstrations.

Instructors can manually enter grades for assessments in the Grade Book’s Standard View or Spreadsheet View.

Standard View

The Standard View allows instructors to enter grades by grade item for all students in the course or for an individual student.

The standard view allows instructors to evaluate individual learner submissions. Each submission type has a unique icon and new learner submissions are identified with a dot on the corner of the icon.

Click the associated icon next to the learner submission to evaluate the submission.

Spreadsheet View

The Spreadsheet View allows instructors to enter grades for all students and all grade items in a single spreadsheet view. For quick edits, click “Switch to Spreadsheet View” (the button toggles back and forth between “Standard View” and “Spreadsheet View.”)

The Spreadsheet View allows instructors to manually enter or modify grades in cells. Instructors can also override previously-entered grades using the Spreadsheet View.

Spreadsheet View is ideal for entering grades for assessments that occurred outside of Brightspace. Once you’ve entered the grades, save the changes before leaving the page.

Entering Feedback

You can enter feedback by clicking on the arrow to the right of the grade item (column) you want to add feedback to, then select Enter Grades.

Locate the name of the student you want to provide feedback for, then select the pencil icon under the Feedback column and enter the feedback.

Once you’ve entered the grades and feedback, save the changes before leaving the page.

NOTE: When entering feedback you have the option to enter private comments that will only be visible to you and users with grading privileges. Learners cannot see private comments.

Important

• Remember tool-based assessments should be graded using the respective assessment tool.
• Use the Enter Grades tab to easily view all learner grades, grade categories and grade items. From the Enter Grades tab, instructors can assess and evaluate grades for activities conducted outside of Brightspace.

Want more information?

Brightspace Tip #437: Grade Book
Brightspace Tip #475: Quick Eval
Enter Grades in the Grades tool
Grading in Brightspace
Brightspace Tip #204: Interactive Rubrics

View current, past, and preview upcoming Continuous Delivery release notes
Instructors Quick Start Tutorial
Brightspace Known Issues
Request a sandbox course
Sign-up for Brightspace training sessions
You can find Brightspace help at D2L's website.
Join the Brightspace Community.
Try these Brightspace How-To documents.
Visit our Brightspace FAQs for additional Brightspace information
or schedule a one-on-one session, email, or
call Janice Florent: (504) 520-7418.

Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.

Image credit: Grade book by David Mulder | CC BY-SA 2.0 (image cropped)