Assignments - Frequently Asked Questions

Enter the Grade Center and click on the action link next to the assignment name, and click on "Assignment File Download". On the following page, check the box next to the user's name, or you can check all users at the top of the screen.  Click Submit when finished, and on the following page, click the "Download assignments now" link.  All files you have selected have now been downloaded in a zip file to the location you specified.

There is a different process for downloading all SafeAssign submissions.

Occasionally, point values on assignments and assessments are altered during the course copy process. To edit the points possible for an assignment:

1. In the Control Panel click the Action Link to the right of Grade Center
2. Find the column for the assignment that needs to be modified and click the Action Link next to the column name
3. Click Modify Column
4. Enter the correct value for Points Possible in the text box
5. Scroll down and click the Submit button

One approach you may want to try with the Blackboard Grade Center is to add a column in the Grade Center in which you simply post for the students how many hours you have record of them completing. The column can be worth 0 Points Possible. When you are creating the column, set Points Possible to 0 and select No for the option Include item in Grade Center calculations. This will ensure that you are able to use that column to post the number of hours that a student has completed without that numerical value being added to their total points earned in the course.

You can take this same approach for other items such as attendance.

Blackboard doesn't have a built-in check, check plus, or check minus feature. However, by adding a text item to the Grade Center and using the square root sign √ in place of a check mark, it is possible to in effect assign these values.

First, add a column to the GradeCenter, making sure to enter 0 for Points Possible, to set the Primary Display to Text, and to select Nofor Include item in Grade Center calculations.

Then, click on a cell in the new column to enter a value for a student, either a √, √+, or √-. To enter a √ on a Windows PC, ensure that Num Lock is ON and then hold down the Alt key and type 251 using the number pad and then let off the Alt key. Then, a - or + can easily be entered after the √.

Because this is a text column, the values are not computed into a numeric score and are not included when Blackboard computes the total score for the course.

The easiest way to assign a course grade independent of the Total grade is to add a column to the Grade Center, set the Primary Display to Text and choose No for the option Include item in Grade Center calculations.

When entering a grade, you can simply type A, B, C, etc. in the grade cell.

For more information on the Grade Center, please visit the main Grade Center page.