There are many different ways to calculate grades. The easiest to understand is a running total of points. However, frequently your instructor will calculate grades by percentages or weighted grades. Understanding how these grades are determined is a little different and at times difficult. This article should help you determine how your grade is calculated on Blackboard and will provide tips on understanding weighted grades.
To see if your instructor uses weighted grades:
- Log into Blackboard at learn.uark.edu with your UARK email and password.
- Click on Courses in the left menu, then click the Course Name.
- Click the Gradebook tab near the top of the course page.
Your grades should be listed here with each assessment. You can click on them to view your submissions (if allowed), start new submissions (if allowed), or view instructor feedback (where present).
- If your instructor has set up the overall grade, it appears on your global Grades page and inside your course on your Course Grades page. Select the grade pill to learn more about how it’s calculated.The Overall Grade panel shows you how items and categories are weighted. For example, based on your instructors’ preferences, tests may count for more than homework or quizzes. The percentage listed with each entry shows how much it contributes to your overall grade calculation.
Interpreting your Weighted Grade:
Keep in mind that weighted grades are based on percentages and not points. For instance, an exam may be worth 100 points but be 15% of your grade, while homework may be worth 1,400 points but only be 10% of your overall grade. The points do not get added together. This is the main difference between weighted grades and a running total of points.
Your overall grade will change very much depending on what assignments you have completed.
For instance, assume your grade is determined in the following way:
Homework: 15%
Exam 1: 15%
Exam 2: 15%
Exam 3: 15%
Paper 1: 15%
Final: 25%
Suppose you have only taken one exam and have completed several homework assignments. This means that at the moment your entire grade is based on homework and one exam, so 50% of your grade at this time comes from homework and 50% comes from the exam. By the end of the semester, they will only be worth 15%, but at this time they are your entire grade. Your grade can change drastically from week to week with weighted grades.
There are many websites that you can use that allow you to type in your grades on assignments and it will give you the calculated weighted grade.