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Managing the Grade Book in Blackboard

Quick guide for Lecturers and Tutors

The Grade Book allows you to view, add, edit, release and export grades as well as view student information.

Grade Book tabs
Add or edit a single grade
Add or edit multiple grades
Release grades
Add a column
Export data to a spreadsheet
Import data from a spreadsheet

Grade Book tabs

The Grade Book is divided into five tabs that present various columns of grade- and member-related data.

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  • Grades: displays columns that are tagged as grade-related - use this tab to view, enter or override grade-related information
  • Members: displays columns containing student information such as username and location
  • View All: displays all columns
  • Custom View: allows you to create your own custom view of member information
  • SCORM Grades: displays columns that are automatically added for gradable SCORM modules

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Add or edit a single grade

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the Grades tab.
  4. Click on the grade or space that corresponds with the appropriate assignment/assessment column and student. The Edit Value for window will appear.
  5. Type the new grade into the Change to field.
  6. If you have edited a grade, type in a Comment explaining why the change was made.
  7. Click Save.

Note: Grades added or edited via the Grade Book will appear with a caret symbol ^ next to them.

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Add or edit multiple grades

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the Grades tab
  4. Click on the title at the top of the column in which you wish to edit or add grades.
  5. Click Edit Values .
  6. For each student, type the new grade into the Change to field.
  7. Type a comment in the Comments field to explain why any grade change was made.
  8. Click Save.

Note: Grades added or edited via the Grade Book will appear with a caret symbol ^ next to them.

Note: You can also edit multiple grades for a single student. Click on the ActionLinks beside the student's name and select Edit Member.

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Release grades

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the Grade Book Options button at the top-right of the window.
  4. Click on Column Settings.
  5. Click on the box at the top of the appropriate column.
  6. Click on the Release button at the bottom-left of the window. (You may need to use the scroll bar.) Once you have done this, Yes should replace No in the row titled Released to Student for this assessment item.
  7. The released grades will now be visible to students (via My Grades, accessible from the My Tools menu in the Student View tab).

Note: For assessments, you should also check in the Edit Properties view of your assessment that one of the options to release the score to students has been selected.

For assignments, check that each of the submissions has the option to return the graded submission to the student with a grade selected.

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Add a column

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the Grades tab.
  4. Click on the Create Column button near the top-left of the window, and select the type of column you wish to add from the drop-down list.
  5. Type a title in the Column label field.
  1. If the item is gradable, click on box next to Grade-related column.
  2. If you wish for students to view their grades in this column as soon as the grades are entered (via their My Grades, accessible from the My Tools menu in the Student View tab), click on the box next to Released to Student. However, you can release the column later if you prefer - see the instructions under Release grades.
  3. Click Save.

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Export data to a spreadsheet

Note: Only grade-related columns can be exported.

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the Export to Spreadsheet button at the bottom of the window.
  4. In the Export to Spreadsheet window, ensure the following are selected:
  • Members to Export: All Members
  • Columns to Export: Visible columns
  • Export Format: Comma-delimited
  • Character Set: Unicode (UTF-8)
  1. Click on the Export button.
  2. Click on the circle next to Save it to disk.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Select the folder into which you wish to save the file.
  5. Type in the file name.
  6. Click on Save.
  7. Click on Cancel in the Export to Spreadsheet window to return to the Grade Book.

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Import data from a spreadsheet

Warning: Importing data (non-blank values) into an existing column will override existing data.

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Grade Book in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the Import from Spreadsheet tab.
  4. Click Browse and select the file you wish to import. The file must:
  • be in comma-delimited (.csv) format
  • include headings in the first row
  • contain a User ID column and the username of each member whose data you are importing
  • make sure the number of decimal point placings is consistent with the number in the Grade Book column to avoid rounding errors.

    Note: To avoid errors in this process, you can export a spreadsheet from the Grade Book first, and delete all columns you do not need except the Username column. Then add your data to this file and import it.

  1. From the Separator drop-down list, select the character that separates column data in your file. (For a .csv, use the default 'comma'. )
  2. From the Character Set drop-down list, select the character set used by your spreadsheet. (Use the default UTF-8.)
  3. Click Upload. The following will appear:
  • Under Import Column, the field names from your file.
  • Under Match, a tick indicates the fields that match existing Grade Book data columns.
  • Under Grade Book Column, for matched fields, the data column that matches your file field.
  • Under Data Preview, the various user values for that field.
  1. In the row that represents the username field in your file, select User ID from the drop-down list under Grade Book Column, if this is not already selected. The User ID column is a required column for matching purposes only and will not be imported.
  2. Check that the remaining fields from your file are matched to data columns. If necessary, from the drop-down list under Grade Book Column, do one of the following:
  • To select a data column to which to import the data, select the column.
  • To create a new data column for the data, select Add as new column.
  • If the data is not important and you do not wish to import it, select Do not import.
  1. Click Import.
  2. The imported data will be included in the View All and Custom View tabs.
  3. Check that the data has been imported correctly.