Create a Total Column

Create a Total Column in Blackboard

The Blackboard Grade Center allows you to set up running totals, which show the student their current course grade based on the work they have completed thus far.

1. LOG INTO BLACKBOARD

Log into Blackboard Learn at learn.kent.edu or through Flashline.
 

2. ENTER YOUR COURSE

Click on the name of your course to access it.
 

3. ACCESS THE FULL GRADE CENTER

In the Control Panel, click to expand the Grade Center section.  Then click the Full Grade Center link.

 

4. CREATE OR EDIT THE TOTAL COLUMN

Locate the Total column in the Grade Center.  Click the Action Link (drop-down arrow) in the column heading, then select Edit Column Information from the menu.

If you do not have a Total column, create one by clicking Create Calculated Column > Total.
 

5. NAME THE COLUMN

Required: Fill in the column name.  You can also add an optional shortened Grade Center display name to appear as a column heading, and an optional description to appear on your students' My Grades page.
 

6. SET DISPLAY TYPE

Required: Select primary and secondary display types (whether you want the grade to display as a percentage, letter, etc.).  The primary display is visible to instructors and students; the secondary display is only visible to instructors.

 

7. SELECT COLUMN OR CATEGORIES

You can control which individual columns and categories are included into the total column calculations.  If you want to include all columns, leave All Grade Columns selected.  If you want to specify the exact columns or categories to include, select Selected Columns and Categories.

Note: If you select categories in this step, you can drop the lowest grade(s) in the category.

 

8. SET RUNNING TOTAL OPTION

Select whether or not to have the total calculate as a running total.  

If set to Yes, the grades will be calculated to show the current total, excluding items that have not yet been graded.  If set to Yes, make sure you input zeros for students as needed; otherwise, the running total will exclude those items and the total grade will be higher than it should be.

If set to No, the grades will start at zero and increase as you enter grades in other columns.

 

9. SET ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

Set the following options as desired:

• Include this Column in Grade Center Calculations: The grade for this item will be included in your Total column — change to No to exclude this column from the Total.
• Show this Column to Students: Set to Yes to make the column visible to students; set to No to make the column visible only to the instructor.
• Show Statistics for this column to Students in My Grades: Set whether or not students can see overall class statistics for this grade item.

 

10. SUBMIT

Click the Submit button to save your column settings.

Updated May 2019 by Katie Baer, M.Ed., Instructional Designer