Quick Navigation

Northern Illinois University

Teaching with Blackboard

Weighted Grade Options


Why should we avoid using the weighted grade options Blackboard provides?

NIU Testing Services reports that Blackboard uses a simplistic approach to weighting grades that will result in inaccurate totals unless all items being weighted have the same point value. Their documentation explains and illustrates the problems with the weighting system. Click here to read their findings: NIU Testing Services report on weighting.


Is there a way to include the extra credit in weighted total calculation?

Yes. A weighted total score involves calculating the percentage of the points possible for the item in relation to the total possible points the student has earned. For example, you can grant students a certain percentage of increase of their total course grade as extra credit completing a particular task or set of tasks. Here is one possible solution to assigned extra credit while weighting grades.

Create an item in the gradebook that has a "points possible" value of 1. Then, weight the item or the "Extra Credit" category so that it is worth 1 percentage point of the total grade. Give all students 1 point in the extra credit item for simply being in the course, thus avoiding any complaints that only 99% was possible without the available extra credit. Then, give students deserving of extra credit additional points in the extra credit item corresponding to the number of percentage points increase that you desire to award.


I tried using weighting in my course gradebook but have decided not to use it. How can I turn off weighting?

Faculty cannot just remove grade weighting once it has been turned on in a course. You can use this workaround, though, to remove it.

  1. 1. In Add Item, create an item worth zero points and set it to be unavailable for students and not included in calculations.
  2. 2. Go to Weight Grades and change all weights to zero.
  3. 3. In the Weight by Item column, give the temporary item 100% of weighting and click Submit.
  4. 4. Go to the Manage Items area and remove the temporary item to get it out of your gradebook.


I'm setting up a new course in Blackboard and am trying to use the Gradebook function. I made a mistake and assigned weights to various assignments, but would like to remove that setting. I do not want the items weighted. Can you tell me how to change the setting back, from weighted to not weighted?

To remove weighting, create an new item in the gradebook and then go to "Weight Grades." Select the option "Weight by Item" and then place 100% of the weighting on this new item. Finally, remove the item from the gradebook. This workaround will in effect remove all weighting that has been applied to a Blackboard gradebook.

Unfortunately, the only other solution will be to recycle your gradebook and start over from scratch entering the items. Prior to recycling any part of a course, it's always a good idea to archive the course to ensure the option of restoring it back for any reason to its current state. In this particular instance, the ONLY area you'll want to recycle is your gradebook.


< back to Blackboard FAQ index


Last Updated: 09/26/2007