Set up the categories for custom grade calculation
Step 1 - Check your assessments are represented and what your Gradebook looks like
From Class Administration in the Administration block on the left, click ‘Gradebook setup’.
Next, check all your assessments are shown in the Gradebook. For information on adding offline assessments such as exams please see the offline submissions information.
Step 2 - Create a category for the assessments
At the bottom of the page, click ‘Add category’ and name it 'Assessments'.
Step 3 - Move assessments into 'Assessments' category
This can be done by selecting the checkboxes beside the assessments you want to move then selecting the drop down menu at the bottom left of the screen and choosing the category you created. For more information see moving graded activities into categories
Step 4 - Create a category for the class codes
At the bottom of the page, click ‘Add category’. Name the category to match the class code. This will help the marks returner identify the correct class total.
Click ‘Save changes’ to return to the Gradebook setup screen. Your category has now been created.
Step 5 - Hide the class code
It may be confusing for students to see several possible class totals, even if they are labelled correctly with the applicable class code so we recommend hiding them from view. Next to your new category name in bold, under Actions, click ‘Edit’, then ‘Hide’.
Step 6 - Create categories for other classes
Repeat steps 4 and 5 to create more class codes as needed
Step 7 - Delete any unused categories
To make your Gradebook less confusing and tidier, remove any categories you are not using by selecting edit, then delete.
The grade calculation
Step 1 - Open the grade calculation screen
Find the class code you want to create a calculation for in the Gradebook setup,
Select the 'Edit' button beside the class total (as shown below), then click ‘Edit calculation’.
Step 2 - Identify which graded items you will need
Firstly ignore the calculation box at the top of the grade calculation screen.
You will need to define an ID number or name for each of the assessment activities you want to use for calculating grades for any of the class codes.
Let’s say there is one each for coursework, practical, project work and an exam. You may like to call them ‘cw’, ‘prac’, ‘proj’ and ‘exam’.
You can set the ID here, but if you need to change it you will have to go to the Common module settings in the activity settings.
Click 'Add ID Numbers' when you have created IDs for the relevant pieces of assessment. You only have to do this once
Step 3 - Define the grade calculation
You are now ready to define the grade calculation. It is not dissimilar to making calculations in Excel. Start with an = symbol, then describe the calculation in terms of functions, with assessment activities in double square brackets referred to by their ID number.
Example 1
For example, if you want the calculation to be simply the mean average of the four activities, you would use the average() function and put:
=average( [[cw]], [[proj]], [[prac]], [[exam]] )
Example 2
If you wanted coursework and project work to be weighted at 20% each, the practical at 25% and the exam at 35%, use the sum() function to add together the grades, each grade scaled appropriately using the multiplication symbol * like so:
=sum( [[cw]] * 0.2, [[proj]] * 0.2, [[prac]] * 0.25, [[exam]] * 0.35 )
Example 3
You might even want to take the highest and lowest grades, found with the max() and min() functions and average them.
=average( max([[cw]], [[proj]], [[prac]], [[exam]]), min([[cw]], [[proj]], [[prac]], [[exam]]) )
Step 4 - Save changes
Click save changes.
You can then repeat this process for all other class codes, although you should not have to set IDs again
Further help
Many variations are possible with this powerful tool. Further detailed documentation can be found here:, and if you need any further assistance you can contact learning-technologies@strath.ac.uk .
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