The Role of the Learning Commons

Purposeful and transparent grading not only supports your students directly but also empowers The Learning Commons to proactively identify and assist students in need. Accurate grading data in Blackboard allows The Learning Commons to automate outreach to students, ensuring they are aware of resources as fast as possible; share data with schools and programs appropriately, ensuring advisors can ensure their students are meeting individual program requirements, and expedite early intervention to help students get back on track as fast as possible. By maintaining an updated grade book in Blackboard, faculty can leverage individual Thrive Alerts to provide detail and context when information beyond just a grade is necessary.

Up-to-date Blackboard grades are also necessary in helping develop student self-efficacy. The Learning Commons works one-on-one with students to help them understand their own progress, embrace feedback, and set realistic and achievable goals.

Enhancing Student Success through Effective Grading and Feedback in the LMS

The Impact of Transparent Grading on Student Support

Purposeful and transparent grading not only supports your students directly but also empowers the Learning Commons to proactively identify and assist students in need. By maintaining accurate and accessible grading data in Blackboard, the Learning Commons can reach out to students and communicate with schools and programs appropriately, without requiring faculty to send Thrive Alerts. This proactive outreach ensures that students receive the support they need early on, helping to prevent academic difficulties from escalating.

The Importance of Grading

Why Grading Matters

Grading provides essential feedback that not only informs students of their progress but also guides their learning strategies. Research highlights the importance of effective grading practices in promoting student achievement and motivation:

Leverage Feedback to Boost Achievement: John Hattie's meta-analysis identifies feedback as one of the most powerful influences on student achievement, with a significant effect size of 0.70. Ensure feedback is timely, specific, and connected to learning goals (Hattie, 2009).
Provide Continuous and Specific Feedback: Offer ongoing, specific, and actionable feedback that encourages students to reflect on their performance and take ownership of their learning (Wiggins, 2012).
Enhance Motivation with Fair Grading: Fair and transparent grading practices enhance students' intrinsic motivation, while ambiguous grading may undermine it (Brookhart, 2017).

Best Practices for Grading and Feedback in Blackboard

Use the LMS and Grade Center for Grading: Make a deliberate decision to use Blackboard as your primary tool for grading. Utilizing the Grade Center centralizes student performance data, making it easier to manage and track progress while ensuring consistency across the course. This centralized approach also supports transparent communication and allows the Learning Commons to access accurate data for proactive outreach.

📚 Learn how to use the Grade Center in Blackboard.

In this image, the column is set to show the Primary Display as “University Grading Schema”. This uses the official grade cut-offs and letter scheme from the university.

Set the External Grade: It is crucial to set either the Total (for points-based grading) or Weighted Total column as the "External Grade" in Blackboard. This column is used to communicate the final grade to your institution and should accurately reflect students' overall performance in the course.

📚 Learn how to set the External Grade in Blackboard.

Use “Set as External Grade” from the column drop-down in the Grade Center.

Communicate Grading Criteria Clearly: Establish and communicate your grading criteria and feedback methods at the start of the course. Transparent grading helps reduce student anxiety and supports a growth mindset.
Ensure Grading Transparency: Make sure students understand how their grades will be calculated and what kind of feedback they will receive. This awareness motivates students to strive toward the grading criteria. Consider using features such as rubrics.

Decide Between Points and Weights: Choose between using points, which are straightforward and contribute directly to the final grade, or weighted categories, which offer flexibility by assigning importance based on category impact.

📚 Learn more about Points vs. Weights in Blackboard.

Create “Calculated Columns” to total or weight student grades accurately.

Organize Your Gradebook Effectively: Regularly review and streamline grade categories to avoid confusion. Clear organization helps provide coherent feedback. Ensure assignments are categorized correctly to align with your grading strategy.

📚 Organize Grade Data in Blackboard.

Control When Grades are Visible: Use the Show/Hide to Students feature in Blackboard to manage when grades are visible to students, and release them only when fully ready.

📚 Learn how to Show or Hide Grade Center Columns in Blackboard.

Use the “Hide from students (on/off)” option to control when students see your feedback.

Use Running Totals Wisely: Be cautious with running totals as they can mislead students if not all grades are included. Zero out missing assignments to reflect true grades.

📚 Understand Running Totals in Blackboard.

Incorporate Formative Assessments Regularly: Add formative assessments to provide continuous feedback throughout the course, helping students improve.

📚 Create and Edit Assignments in Blackboard.

Considerations for Supporting Student Success

Align Grading with Course Goals: Ensure your grading practices align with the objectives of your course.
Communicate Regularly with Students: Keep students updated on their progress and provide actionable feedback.
Maintain a Transparent and Organized Gradebook: A well-organized, transparent gradebook helps avoid confusion, ensures accuracy, and supports proactive outreach by the Learning Commons.

Supporting Research

Brookhart, S. M. (2017). How to use grading to improve learning. ASCD. Retrieved from https://www.ascd.org/books/how-to-use-grading-to-improve-learning
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge. Retrieved from https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/
Wiggins, G. (2012). Seven keys to effective feedback. Educational Leadership, 70(1), 10-16. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-to-Effective-Feedback.aspx

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