Learn how to navigate various Gradebook related functions as a Faculty user
Article Content
This article covers the following topics. Click on the topic to go to that section of the article.
Introduction
A course/program gradebook is where grades for learner assessments are stored in Elentra. There is an administrative view, faculty view, and learner view of the gradebook. This article will specifically address the faculty view and use of an Elentra gradebook. To learn more about the other views please visit the gradebook section of the Admin User Guide or the Learner Resources sections of the Elentra Help Center.
A course or program gradebook is linked to a specific enrollment period, referred to as a curriculum period. Each curriculum period features its own distinct version of the course's gradebook. Within this gradebook, various assessments are included, and the target audience for these assessments can be customized to specific groups of learners enrolled during that timeframe. Assessments recorded in the gradebook can be completed either within the Elentra system or externally. When an assessment incorporates the drop box feature in Elentra, it is labeled as an "Assignment." This drop box serves as a designated area for learners to upload their submissions, which graders can then review and assess. Furthermore, Elentra seamlessly integrates with the Exams and Assessment & Evaluation modules, allowing for the automatic transfer of learner grades into the gradebook from these modules.
Gradebook Visibility for Faculty
Gradebook visibility will depend on the assigned role a Faculty user has in Elentra.
- A user with the Faculty:Director permission level will have the most access to the learner gradebook. A Faculty:Director user who is also set as the Course/Program Director on a course/program will have administrative access to that course's gradebook for all curriculum periods in the course. This means that they can view and change the grades for every learner enrolled in the course regardless of being set as a grader on a particular gradebook assessment. They have similar access to the other Admin permission levels.
- Users with either the Faculty:Faculty or Faculty:Lecturer permission levels have limited access to learner grades compared to those with the Faculty:Director permission level. They are able to view and assign grades for learners only if they have been designated as graders for specific gradebook or exam assessments. It is important to note that these faculty members cannot assign themselves as graders; this role must be assigned by a user who holds administrative access to the course or program's gradebook.
- All faculty users can also be assigned as an assessor in distributions from the Assessment & Evaluation module. A distribution can be connected to a gradebook assessment to allow for automatic grading. In this case, the assessor will not be able to see the calculated grade unless they have been granted access to the gradebook assessment (e.g., a Faculty:Director user set as a Course/Program Director in a course).
Grading Tasks
Access & Add Grades
In order to grade, most faculty must be assigned as graders on gradebook assessments. The assignment as a grader is done by a user who has administrative access to the gradebook assessment.
Note: Gradebook assessments are just one type of assessment in Elentra.
- There are also assessments that can be distributed to faculty through the Assessment & Evaluation module. These assessments are completed through the Assessment & Evaluation Task Badge in the User Icon Menu.
- Faculty can also be assigned as graders through the Exams modules for a particular exam. For grading exams, see the Exams Faculty Guide here.
To access and complete your grading tasks for a gradebook assessment please go through the following tutorial. You can play the tutorial with or without sound, jump to a particular step, or click on the full screen option located below the video to view the tutorial all on one page.
View the Learner Drop Box & Comments
If a gradebook assessment is an assignment (i.e., has a drop box included) then the grader can download the learner's file(s), upload a response through the Hand Back Response feature and read & respond to learner comments through the Drop Box. To access the Drop Box for a learner's assignment navigate to the "Learners to be Graded" page for a particular assignment and click on View in the Drop Box column for the selected learner. You will be directed to the drop box view. From this page you can download the submitted documents, upload your response, and add comments directly on the drop box.
My Learners
My Learners is another place in Elentra where certain faculty users can view learner assessment data including a view of all gradebook assessments for specific learners under the Learner Explorer. Faculty:Directors and other faculty users who have been assigned as a tutor in a Course Group can access the Learner Explorer. My Learners and subsequently the Learner Explorer can be accessed by navigating to the Assessment & Evaluation Task Badge. Faculty users assigned as tutors in a course/program group will only see the Learner Explorer for those learners that are in their group. Course Directors will be able to view the Learner Explorer for any learners enrolled in the course in any curriculum period. For more details on using the Learner Explorer, please see the Admin User Guide.
Course Websites
If enabled for the course, the Faculty user group may see a Gradebook tab on a course website for a course with which they are associated. This view of the gradebook shows the gradebook assessments as line items giving the name of the assessment, the weight of the assessment, the due date, the grade release date, and drop box if applicable. Administrators of the course gradebook assessments may have chosen to hide the display of certain gradebook assessments. This may not be a complete list of all assessments that are required for the course.
