How categories and weighting affect grade calculation in Gradebook
The way your gradebook will calculate course grades depends on how you
have set it up. For more information on setting up the Gradebook, see
Using categories and weighted grades in Gradebook. The following examples will
help you understand how the different choices in Gradebook
Setup will affect how students' course grades are calculated.
On this page:
- Displaying grades as percentages with no categories and no weighting
- Displaying grades as percentages with weighted categories
- Displaying grades as points with weighted categories
- Displaying grades as points with simple categories and no weighting
Displaying grades as percentages with no categories and no weighting
In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with no categories and no weighting and has chosen to enter the grades as percentages.
The course grade is calculated as follows:
| Title | Grade (%) | Item value | Grade in points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 90 | 45 | 40.5 (90% of 45) |
| Lab | 80 | 45 | 36 (80% of 45) |
Total: 90 points
Course grade: 85% [(40.5+36)/90 * 100)]
Displaying grades as percentages with weighted categories
In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with weighted categories and has chosen to enter the grades as percentages.
The course grade is calculated as follows:
Category Essays (70% weight)
| Title | Grade (%) | Item value | Weight in category | Weighted grade (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay 1 | 50 | 50 | 0.50 [50/(50+30+20)] | 25 (50*.50) |
| Essay 2 | 50 | 30 | 0.30 [30/(50+30+20)] | 15 (50*.30) |
| Essay 3 | 50 | 20 | 0.20 [20/(50+30+20)] | 10 (50*.20) |
Total (Essays): 50% (25+15+10)
Category Labs (30% weight)
| Title | Grade (%) | Item value | Weight in category | Weighted grade (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lab 1 | 100 | 50 | 0.50 [50/(50+50)] | 50 (100*.50) |
| Lab 2 | 100 | 50 | 0.50 [50/(50+50)] | 50 (100*.50) |
Total (Labs): 100% (50+50)
Overall course grade (Essays and Labs): 65%
| Essays | 35% (70%*50%) |
| Labs | 30% (30%*100%) |
| Total | 65% (35%+30%) |
Displaying grades as points with weighted categories
In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with weighted categories and has chosen to enter the grades as points.
The course grade is calculated as follows:
Category Essays (70% weight)
Note that in the Essays category the items have different point values (proportional weighting). Items with a higher point value have a greater influence on the grade (e.g., the 50-point essay has a much greater weight than the 20-point essay).
| Title | Grade (Points) | Item value |
|---|---|---|
| Essay 1 | 45 | 50 |
| Essay 2 | 18 | 30 |
| Essay 3 | 15 | 20 |
| Total | 78 | 100 |
Total (Essays): 78% (78/100)*100
Category Labs (30% weight)
Items in the Labs category all have the same point value (equal weighting) and influence the grade equally.
| Title | Grade (Points) | Item value |
|---|---|---|
| Lab 1 | 24 | 30 |
| Lab 2 | 21 | 30 |
| Lab 3 | 19 | 30 |
| Total | 64 | 90 |
Total (Labs): 71.11% (64/90)*100
Overall course grade (Essays and Labs): 75.93%
| Essays | 54.6% (70%*78%) |
| Labs | 21.33% (30%*71.11%) |
| Total | 75.93% (54.6%+21.33%) |
Displaying grades as points with simple categories and no weighting
In this example, the instructor has set up the gradebook with simple (unweighted) categories and has chosen to enter the grades as points.
The course grade is calculated as follows:
| Category | Total earned (points) | Total value | Average (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essays | 80 (41+27+12) | 90 (45+30+15) | 88.88% (80/90) |
| Labs | 100 (36+55+9) | 120 (45+60+15) | 83.33% (100/120) |
| Total | 180 | 210 | 85.71% |
Total: 180 points
Course grade: 85.71% (180/210)
In the above example, the category average is truncated (not rounded) for display purposes, but this value has no effect on the course grade calculation.