Grading with Scales allows instructors to rate a student's assignment, forum, or other activity (rather than assigning a point value). For example, an instructor could assign a student a rating of Not satisfactory (0%), Satisfactory (50%), or Outstanding (100%) using the preset Scale or create their own custom scale.
It is important to note when using scales that each value in the scale will correlate to a numerical grade value that GauchoSpace will calculate toward the overall course total in the gradebook. Because scales grade in a unique way, it is generally not recommended that instructors use scales for grade items that will calculate towards the course total. In particular, we do not recommend that scales be used to replicate standard letter grades.
The GauchoSpace support team is happy to work with instructors who are interested in using scales for their courses to ensure the scale is grading as expected.
Scales use the the scale item's location and the total number of items in the scale to calculate the student's percentage. In a scale with n number of items, the first item in the scale will be scored 0/(n-1), the second will be scored 1/(n-1), and so on.
For example, consider the following Star scale: ☆----, ☆☆---, ☆☆☆--, ☆☆☆☆-, ☆☆☆☆☆
- When using a normalized aggregation method, student scores will be calculated as:
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- ☆----: 0/4 points, 0%
- ☆☆---: 1/4 points, 25%
- ☆☆☆--: 2/4 points, 50%
- ☆☆☆☆-: 3/3 points, 75%
- ☆☆☆☆☆: 4/4 points, 100%.
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- This can be different if using a different aggregation method. More information on using scales and different aggregation methods can be found here.
It is important to note that Scale grading is true even if you use a numerical scale. For example if the scale "0, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10" is used, a rating of 6 will be result in a score of 1/5 = 20%.
Here are the standard scales that are preset for all GuachoSpace courses:
- Satisfactory - Not Satisfactory, Satisfactory, Outstanding
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- Graded 0/3 points, 1/3 points, and 3/3 points, respectively
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- Assignment Requirements Assessment - Exceeds assignment requirements, Meets assignment requirements, Meets most assignment requirements, Meets some assignment requirements
- Graded 0/3, 1/3, 2/3, and 3/3, respectively (not recommended for grading).
- Default Competence scale - Not yet competent, Competent
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- Graded 0/1 points and 1/1 points, respectively
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- Letter Grades (for non-calculation) - A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F
To create your own custom grading scale, follow these steps:
- On your course page, in the Administration block, click Gradebook Setup.
- Click Scales.
- Click Add a new scale.
- Provide a Name, Scale, and optional Description.
- Separate each item in the scale with a comma.
- The scale should be ordered in increasing value. For example, A,B,C,D must be entered D,C,B,A.
- A scale can have as many items as required.
- Click Save changes. This scale can now be used if set for a grade item (assignment, forum, etc).
Standard and Custom Scales can be used to rate a student's assignment, forum, or other activity (rather than assigning a point value). Here's how:
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In the Assignment, forum or activity, scroll to the Grade subsection.
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In the Type dropdown, select '"Scale"
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Select the desired scale from the Scale dropdown.
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In the grading interface, instructors will be able to select a value from the selected scale:
If you want to upload letter grades to the gradebook to display a grade to students follow the steps below. Note: These steps will upload a letter grade that will not be used for calculation toward the overall gradebook in GauchoSpace. This can be useful if you would like to display a letter grade for a final course grade that is calculated outside of GauchoSpace.
- Navigate to the Gradebook setup page of your course.
- Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click Add grade item.
- Enter the grade item name.
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- Click "Show more...".
- Scroll down to the "Grade type" setting and change this to "Scale".
- Change the "Scale" setting to "Letter Grades (for non-calculation)".
- Scroll down to the "Parent category" section, check the box for "Weight adjusted" and leave the weight at 0. Then click "Save changes".
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- Next if don't already have a spreadsheet of the course roster that includes perm numbers then follow the steps here to export a spreadsheet here. Format the spreadsheet such in the example below with a column containing letter grades
- Follow the steps to upload a spreadsheet of grades here. Be sure to match the mapping of the letter grades column with the newly created grade item set to the letter grade scale from the earlier steps here.
- The letter grades will then be uploaded to the created grade item.