Instructor Support for Educational Systems

Examples Gradebook: Formula Grading System

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This article contains Gradebook examples of a Formula Grading System, which may help you to get a better understanding of setting up a Gradebook.

See here for a video on this topic

Read more information about setting up resits here

Example 1: Reduce 1 point when two assignments are insufficient

A course consists of 3 main assessments: 

  1. 3 practical assignments of which a student needs to pass at least 2, otherwise 1 point will be reduced from the final grade. The assignments will be evaluated with a pass or fail. It does not count for the final grade.  
  2. A midterm that students will take in Brightspace via a quiz. It will be evaluated on a 10 points scale. Counts as 40% of final grade.
  3. A final exam that students will take out of Brightspace. It will be evaluated on a 10 points scale. Counts as 60% of final grade.

The Settings

Click on Grades to see the Grades Setup Wizard settings and the Grade Items settings for this example Gradebook.

Grade Item settings

ScreenSteps - Google Chrome
  1. Grade Category: Practical Assignments
    • Grade Scheme: Leiden Scheme_Partial Grade_Rounded off at 0.1_ Pass 5.5
    • Distribution: Distribute weight evenly across all items
    • Consists of three grade items Practical Assignments 1 - 3
  2. Grade Item: Practical Assignment 1 - 3
    • Type: Selectbox
    • Grade Scheme: Pass/Fail
    • Association: linked to assignments. So the grades are transferred from the assignment tool.
    • Max points: 10
  3. Grade Item: Midterm
    • Type: Numeric
    • Grade Scheme: Leiden Scheme_Partial Grade_Rounded off at 0.1_ Pass 5.5
    • Association: linked to a quiz. So the grades are transferred from the quiz tool.
    • Max points: 10
  4. Grade Item: Final Exam
    • Type: Numeric
    • Grade Scheme: Leiden Scheme_Partial Grade_Rounded off at 0.1_ Pass 5.5
    • Association: none. So grade input is manual or via import.
    • Max points: 10

Grades Setup Wizard settings

Formula Calculated Final Grade

Below you can see the formula that is used for the Final Grade Calculation. Please note that in the grading scheme used here, a Fail equals a 5.4 and a Pass equals a 10. 

  • IF the student has failed 2 out of 3 practicals (a fail here is <5.5).
  • THEN the final grade will be: 40% Midterm + 60% Final Exam - 1
  • ELSE  the final grade will be: 40% Midterm + 60% Final Exam 

Instructor View

As an instructor you will see your students and their grades on the Enter Grades tab. As you can see, each grade item is 1 column, where as the grade items Practical Assignments 1-3 are grouped together in the category Practical Assignments.

As shown below the instructor has opted to see grade points (20/30), grade scheme symbol (6.7) and grade scheme colour (green). 

ScreenSteps - Google Chrome

Looking at the results after, we can see that:

  • Student 1 and Student 2 received the same grades for the midterm and the final exam.
    • But for student 2, 1 point was reducted from his final calculated grade, since he did not pass at least 2 of the practical assignments.
  • Student 3 and Student 4 received the same grades for the midterm and the final exam.
    • But for student 4, 1 point was reducted from her final calculated grade, since she did not pass at least 2 of the practical assignments.
    • In this case student 4 has also failed the course.

Student View

As shown above the students will see their grades and the total number of points they received on a particular assessment.

Example 2: Count > 75% as 100%

In this example, a course has three assignments: Practical assignment 1, 2 and 3. If a student has a total score of higher than 75%, it will count as 100%.

  1. The function MIN calculates the smallest value in the set of Practical Assignment 1, Practical Assignment 2 and Practical Assignment 3.
  2. The IF function checks if the smallest value is smaller than 75.
  3. If this is the case (parameter true), the grade will become a 0.
  4. If this is not the case (parameter false), the formula will become 100%.

If you would to like use points instead of percentages, choose Points Received instead of Percent

Example 3: Drop the lowest two grades in a set of three grades

In this example, a course has three assignments: G1, G2 and G3. Only the highest score counts. We will use SUM in combination with an IF statement.

  1. The function SUM calculates the total score of G1, G2 and G3.
  2. The lowest score between G1 and G2 will be reduced
  3. If the lowest score between G2 and G3 is equal to the lowest score between G1 and G2, the lowest score between G1 and G3 will be reduced.
  4. If this is not the case, the lowest score between G2 and G3 will be reduced.

Example with grades

A student receives a 6 (G1), a 9 (G2) and a 7 (G3).

  1. The sum  is 22.
  2. The lowest score between G1 and G2 is 6, so 22 - 6.
  3. The lowest score between G2 and G3 (7) is not equal to the lowest score between G1 and G2 (6). Therefore, the lowest score between G2 and G3 will be reduced.
  4. The final grade will be: 22 (SUM) - 6 (G1) - 7 (G3) = 9.

Example 4: Replace midterm or final exam - or both with resit

  1. In this example, a course has two assignments: midterm and final exam. In addition, students can take a resit (grade item: Resit) if they have scored insufficiently in the midterm, final exam, or both. A fail here is less than or equal to a 5.4. All items count equally, that is:
    If a student has scored a pass for midterm and final exam, the final grade becomes the average of these grades
  2. If a student has obtained a failing grade for either the midterm or final exam, the pass and resit will count.
  3. If a student has obtained a failing grade for both midterm and final exams, the resit grade counts.
  1. If both the midterm and the final exam are insufficient, the grade of the resit is used.
  2. If only the midterm is unsatisfactory, the average of the final and the resit is calculated.
  3. If only the final is unsatisfactory, the average of the midterm and the resit is calculated.
  4. If the midterm and the final are sufficient, then the average of these is calculated.

Example 5: Using additional formula grade items

It can be useful to create an extra formula grade item and use it when calculating the final grade. This grade item can be left at hidden, leaving students unaware of it. In this example, a course has five Tutorial assignments, a midterm, final and a resit.


Tutorial assignments (40% of the final grade)

Of the five practical assignments, the highest four count towards the final grade. In total, this amounts to 40% of the final grade


Midterm, Final and Resit (60% of the final grade)

Brief examples: Latest grade obtained counts

Nested statements:


Final, resit and a re-resit; See example below

Brief examples: Lab assignments where only 4 of the 5 highest grades count

Formulas do not have to be applied only to the Final Grade. Grade Items can also make use of this.

  • Midterm and Final, can be replaced by a resit, but only if it is higher than average of Midterm and Final. 
  • Putting everything in 1 Final Grade formula is possible, but making separate grade items for formulas ensures that everything.

Video: Formula Grading System

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