Bb Learn 9.1 SP13
Blackboard Learn Grade Center
The Blackboard Learn Grade Center allows you and your students to keep track of grades throughout
the semester. The instructor can see all students’ grades, but students only see their own.
Accessing the Grade Center
1. Log into Blackboard Learn and enter your course.
2. In the Control Panel, click on the Grade Center link.
3. From the drop-down menu, click on the Full Grade Center link.
Shortcut: Click the arrow next to the Grade
Center link to automatically go to the Full
Grade Center view.
Grade Center Interface
The Grade Center is set up like a spreadsheet, with a row for each student and a column for each grade
item. There are menu options across the top of the page (Action Bar). You can also set the number of
students to show on the page using the Edit Rows Displayed button at the bottom right. You can use
the Filter, Sort, and Order options to temporarily rearrange your view or to show only specified
columns or categories. Finally, the Work Offline button allows you to download your Grade Center to
Microsoft Excel.
Katie Baer
Educational Technology Designer
Kent State University at Stark
February 2015
Bb Learn 9.1 SP13
Grade Columns
Default Columns

First and Last Name

Username (same as Flashline/email)

Student ID (Banner number)

Last Access (Date of each students’ last login)

Availability (Available students are able to view your course; unavailable students no longer
have access to your course)
All of the above columns, except the Name columns can be hidden to save space in your Grade Center.
Automatically Created Columns

Tests

Surveys

Assignments

Discussion Forums (if set to be graded)

Blogs, Journals, and Wikis (if set to be graded)
When you create the aforementioned content, corresponding grade columns will be automatically
created in the Grade Center. Additionally, grades assigned to students through the aforementioned
tools will automatically appear in your Grade Center.
Creating Additional Grade Columns
1. In the Full Grade Center, click the grey Create Column button in the
Action Bar.
2. Fill in the name of the column (required), an optional shortened Grade Center Display Name to
appear as a column heading, and an optional description to appear on your students’ My Grades
page.
3. Select Primary and Secondary display types (whether you want the grade to display as a score,
percentage, letter, etc). The Primary Display is visible to instructors and students; the Secondary
Display is only visible to instructors.
4. Select a Category if applicable. Categories are important if you are using a weighted grade system.
5. Enter the maximum number of points for the grade item (required).
6. Attach a rubric if applicable.
7. Set a due date if applicable.
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8. Select your desired options:

Include this Column in Grade Center Calculations: The grade for this item will be included in
your Total column — change to No to exclude this column from the Total.

Show this Column to Students: Set to Yes to make the column visible to students; set to No
to make the column visible only to the instructor.

Show Statistics for this column to Students in My Grades: Set whether or not students can
see overall class statistics for this grade item.
9. Click Submit to finish creating the grade column. Your grade column will display at the far right of
your Grade Center.
Note: You can also create Calculated Columns, including Total, Weighted
Total, Average, and Min/Max by using the Create Calculated Column
button in the Grade Center. The options for each type of column will vary.
Action Links
Each column has an Action Link (grey drop-down arrow) next to its title. When
you click the Action Link, a drop-down menu appears, which contains various
options based on the type of column.
Manually-Created Column Menu
Assignment Column Menu
Test Column Menu
Edit Column Information: Make changes
to column name, points possible,
settings, etc.
Show/Hide to Users: Toggle visibility to
students on and off.
Hide Column: Hide column from instructor. Note: This does not hide the
column from students — please use the Show/Hide to Users option.
Delete Column: Permanently deletes column; you cannot delete a column linked to other content
without first deleting the content, e.g. Assignment, Test, Discussion Forum, etc.
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Organizing the Grade Center
Blackboard Learn provides various tools for organizing your Grade Center. These options are listed in
the Manage drop-down menu.
Grading Schemas: Adjust the values of the Letter schema or create your
own. This allows you to specify which percentages equal which letter grades.
Categories: View default grade categories and create your own. Categories
are useful when weighting grades or dropping the lowest score(s).
Smart Views: Create custom Grade Center views based on type of grade
item; e.g. Assignments or Tests. Smart Views added to favorites appear
when you click the Grade Center link in the Control Panel.
Column Organization: Re-order your columns and Show/Hide columns.
Row Visibility: Show/Hide rows; e.g. hide unavailable students.
Entering Grades
You can manually enter grades for non-calculated columns very easily by following these steps:
1. Go to the Full Grade Center.
2. Locate the cell where you want to enter a grade and click in that cell.
3. Type in the grade and press enter on your keyboard to submit the grade.
You can change or override grades in this way as well. Note: Grades assigned through other tools will
appear in the Grade Center automatically.
Viewing Grade Details
Click the Action Link (grey
drop-down arrow) for a specific
cell and select View Grade
Details from the menu.
This page allows you to edit a
grade, override a grade, view
column details, view grade
history, enter feedback, exempt a student from the assignment, and clear a grade. If the grade is tied to
other content, you can also view the User Activity or Attempt from this page.
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