Restore the "Smith" Factor

The "Adjusted Final Grade" item was removed due to confusion about its use, so the only final grade item that is available is "Calculated Final Grade." If you want the ability to adjust a final grade to extend some compassion to your students, there are a couple of ways to do this:

1. Change the grade of one of the items
2. Create a hidden bonus grade item

If you choose the second option, make sure you turn on the "Can Exceed" switch for that item unless you want to limit the number of bonus points you can award. If you want students who receive the bonus to know where those mysterious extra points came from, make sure that you have the following options chosen:

• Turn on the "Drop ungraded items" switch (Grades Settings >> Calculation Options)
• Turn on the "Display final grade calculation to users" switch (Grades Settings >> Org Unit Display Options)

By making these choices, students who get the bonus will see it if they click the calculator icon next to their final grades.

Special note for weighted grades: If you choose weighted grades, you must assign the item a weight greater than zero. Since the item is a bonus, its weight will not count toward the overall class weight.

Release Final Grades and Show Current Grade

The final grade item cannot be seen by students until it has been "released":

Confirm your calculation options to make sure that students are seeing the correct information. Click the Grades Settings button and then Calculation Options:

At the bottom of the page, decide whether to drop ungraded items (this turns your "final" grade into a "current" grade instead). Also decide whether to keep the final grade updated. If you decide to drop ungraded items, you can rename the final grade item by clicking on its name (while in Manage Grades view) and typing a new name (e.g., "Current Grade" or "Grade as of Today").

If the “drop ungraded items” button is checked, then the points possible for the Final Grade is a sum of all the grade items for which that student has received a score. Here is an example with the drop ungraded items turned OFF: 

Exam 1 (100 points possible):	80
Exam 2 (100 points possible):	90
Final Exam (300 points possible):	- (not yet taken)
Final Grade:	170/500

 Here is the same grade book with drop ungraded items turned ON 

Exam 1 (100 points possible):	80
Exam 2 (100 points possible):	90
Final Exam (300 points possible):	- (not yet taken)
Final Grade:	170/200

 Spot the difference? In the second example, because the student has not yet taken the final exam, the Final Grade should instead be thought of as the “Current Grade” and perhaps renamed appropriately.

• Click the Enter Grades icon for the final grade item. You can do this from the Grades List page or the spreadsheet view.
• Click the Release All button.