Creating Assignments

An assignment is any assessment or item for which you want to track completion or enter a score.

You must create the category for an assignment before you can create the assignment.

To create an assignment, follow the step-wise instructions in the Help section on Assignments.

Some additional notes that might be helpful are included here as well:

Value

The value of the assignment is its maximum point value. For instance, if the perfect grade on an assignment would be 10 points, then the value of the assignment is 10.

This value is over-ridden in two cases. If you choose to make the assignment score "grade based" (as noted below), the essential value of the assignment becomes 4.0, although it will not erase any value you placed in the "Value" field.

If you choose the option "Value Based on High", you also temporarily change the essential value of the assignment to whatever was recorded as the top score.

Grade Based?

You may choose to enter "scores" for an assignment as letter grades rather than numeric values.

When you do this, eGradebook converts the letter grade to a numeric value "behind the scenes" in order to calculate the overall, in-progress grade.

Active?

Assignments in eGradebook are either inactive or active depending upon what you have chosen here.

• Inactive: Assignments are always inactive when first entered. They exist in the eGradebook but they are not shown to students and they do not count toward calculating the overall grade. They also do not appear in the instructor's reports view, but they do appear in the scores view. This is done to allow instructors to configure whole eGradebooks in advance without making students look like they are failing until the final scores are entered (which had been a problem in other grade management programs). This also allows for input of scores by TAs or Spring Billiar and final review by the instructor before they become part of the grade calculation and shown to students. This is a sort of "save for later" option.
• Display Only: If an assignment is marked for "Display Only", it and any entered score or grade will appear in the student's grade report and on both the reports and scores views for the instructor. However, it will not be used to calculate the overall grade for each student for the course. This can be used to track milestones (such as rough drafts) or the completion of a selection of assignment components (such as in a portfolio class).
• Include in Calculations: This assignment will appear in all views and will be included in calculation of the overall grade.

If you leave the assignment inactive when creating it, you can activate it on the scores page.