Display a Student's Name on the Grades Page

"Replacement strings" are variables that display different data based on the environment of the page they are on. For example, there is a replacement string that displays in an upper-right navbar link the first name of whoever has logged in on that browser.

You can use replacement strings to add your students' names to their view of the grades page. This corrects an issue that makes a grade printout for them worthless since it lacks any identifying information. You can display the full name for all students by adding a couple of replacement strings to any text box that is visible to students:

{FirstName} {LastName}

Notice there is no punctuation within the brackets but there is a space between the two sets of strings. Replacement strings can be entered in either the Basic or Advanced view of a text field, and they do not require you to use the HTML editing mode.

Here are a couple of ways you can use this to display your students' names:

• Add an overall comment to the final grade for your class: "These are grades for {FirstName} {LastName}."
  

• Create a new item, make it text, and position it at the top of the grades page. You could call it "Grades for {FirstName} {LastName}." There is no need to enter grades for anyone for this item, and the fact that it is a text item (not numeric) means that it will not display points possible. If you do this, do not be surprised to see your name when you are looking at a list of grade items. Replacement strings are interpreted at all times except when you are editing the contents of a text box.