Grades: Basic
Follow these steps to set up and use a basic gradebook in Carmen. For best results, work through the steps in order.
For a general overview and information on advanced gradebook features, see Grades: Overview and follow for the links for step-by-step instructions. You can also view a video tutorial on this topic.
To begin, log in to Carmen and go to a Course Home page.
A Note about the Setup Wizard: The Setup Wizard appears when you open the Grades tool within a course that doesn't have a gradebook configured. If you are already familiar with the Grades tool and would like to use the Wizard at any time, click 
Setup Wizard on the left-hand side of your screen. Alternatively, follow the Steps below for a more detailed overview that will get your gradebook up and running.
Step 1 (Optional): Review and Select Default Grading Scheme
A grade scheme associates a particular percentage or number with a symbol (letter grade, text, etc.) Carmen includes some basic grade schemes, such as OSU Standard and Pass/Fail.
If you plan to use the built-in grade schemes, skip to Step 2: Setting Up your Grade Calculation Method. (Note that the Grade Scheme you choose when setting up your gradebook applies to all grade items, unless you individually change it in the grade item properties.)
The OSU Standard Grade Scheme is as follows:
93 - 100 (A)
90 - 92.9 (A-)
87 - 89.9 (B+)
83 - 86.9 (B)
80 - 82.9 (B-)
77 - 79.9 (C+)
73 - 76.9 (C)
70 - 72.9 (C-)
67 - 69.9 (D+)
60 - 66.9 (D)
Below 60 (E)
Although many Instructors use the grade schemes built into Carmen, you may need to Create a Grade Scheme. For example, Carmen DOES NOT automatically curve or 'round-up' grades; therefore, if you want to curve grades, you would need to create a custom grade scheme.
Step 2: Set Up Grade Calculation Method
Show me Grade Calculation Methods.
Click Grades in the Navigation Bar > 
Grades Settings > 
Calculation Options.
1. Choose what type of grading system you want to set up. This decision should reflect the grade policies set forth in your syllabus. Options are:
- Weighted - final grade will be a percentage based on several weighted grade items.
- Points - final grade will be total points earned.
A Formula grading system, where the final grade is determined by a formula you define, is also available. The Formula option takes much more time to set up than either the Points or Weighted grading systems and is not recommended for basic implementation of the Gradebook. See Using the Formula Editor for instructions on building formulas.
2. Carmen calculates the final grade based on your Gradebook settings. Will you be adjusting the Final Grade in the end (e.g., to reflect individual bonus points or to drop an assignment)?
- If so, select Release Adjusted Final Grade.
- If the final grade will simply be the total points (or percentage) students received, select Release Calculated Final Grade.
3. Decide how you want Carmen to treat ungraded items: drop blank cells or treat them as zero.
- Select Drop ungraded items to have Carmen ignore ungraded items. This can avoid misleading calculations early in the quarter when many items aren't yet graded. It can also be useful if you want to allow students to skip assignments without penalty.
- Select Treat ungraded items as 0 to treat blank cells "zero" until you actually enter points received. This allows you to leave skipped assignments blank if students should receive no credit for them.
4. Select Automatically Keep Calculated Final Grade Updated so that the final grade will be re-calculated automatically when any changes are made.
For classes with over 100 students, leave this option unchecked to prevent timeouts that can occur as the system updates each student's grade.
5. Click Save.
Step 3: Modify Display Options
Show me Modifying Display Options.
To modify Display Options, click Grades > Grades Settings.
Make changes to your Org Unit Display (what information is displayed to students) and your Personal Display (how information is displayed to you). These settings do not influence how the Gradebook functions.
Org Unit Display settings affect the display for all users. Each user with instructor-type access to Grades may set their own Personal Display options.
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In Org Unit Display Options, the Managing View affects how instructors see grades displayed. The Submission View option affects how students see grades displayed.
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To control which categories and items are visible in the instructor view of the Gradebook, go to Grades > Enter Grades > Display Options. Changes made here do NOT change the student view of the Gradebook.
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To control which categories and items are visible to students, use the Restrictions tab when you create or edit Grade Items.
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To select which Gradebook 'Start Page' (i.e., the page you see first upon entering the Grades area), go to Grades Settings > Personal Display Options and make your choice from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the page. "Enter Grades" is the default selection.
If you have not created any Grate Categories and/or Grade items, your start page will be the Setup Wizard.
Click Save to save any display settings you have modified.
Step 4: Create Grade Categories and Items
Grade categories are like folders that allow you to group similar assignments. Grade items are actual assignments for which students will receive grades.
Show me Creating Grade Categories and Creating Grade Items.
To Create Grade Categories:
Click Grades > 
Manage Grades >
New Category.
1. When creating or editing a Grade Category, Carmen takes you to the Properties tab of the Category. Enter the name (e.g. "Exams") in the Name field, and a shortened version in the Short Name field -- the short name is visible only to you and helps control the column width in the Student List.
2. If you do NOT want the class average and grade distribution for a category displayed to students, you must UNCHECK the boxes next to Statistics.
3. Depending on whether you chose a Points or Weighted system, you will see slightly different options.
For example, you can distribute the weight (in the Weighted system) or points (in the Points system) evenly across a category, or drop* a prescribed number of the lowest-graded or highest-graded items. (*Items can only be dropped if they belong to a category and if the points/weights are distributed evenly within the category.)
See Dropping the Lowest Item in a Category for an example of how to drop the lowest grade item from a category (e.g., the lowest quiz or homework grade from a series of quizzes or homework grades).
4. Under Display Options, choose to display the class average for this category to students, as well as display grade distribution for this category to students.
5. Click Save or Save & New to create another category.
6. Click Save then click on Grades List to return to the area of Manage Grades where you can add and edit Grade Categories and Items.
To Create Grade Items:
To create a Grade Item, click Grades > Manage Grades > 
New Item. (If you are in the Grades List from the previous step, click New Item.)
Once created, grade items can be associated under a 'parent category' (i.e., Grade Category) or left uncategorized.
1. Choose the Numeric type for the grade item -- numeric grade items, where students receive a number value, are the easiest to set up.
See Creating Grade Items for more information on numeric items and the 5 other grade item types:
- Selectbox - This displays a dropbox that lets you choose one of a set of pre-defined options (e.g., A, A-, B+, etc). To use this, you must first create a Grade Scheme where you define your options.
- Pass/Fail – This displays a dropbox that only has pass/fail/none as a choice. Regardless of what grade scheme you are using, choosing this type will display the highest and lowest range.
- Formula - Allows you to build formulas from grade items. A formula item can only be used in the final grade if you are using a Formula Grading System. In Weighted or Points Grading systems, Formula items are for display only.
- Calculated - For display only. Can be used to show something like an interim grade.
- Text - Students receive text comments only; these items can't be used in grade calculations.
2. Type a Name for your new grade item. Students will see the Name of the item.
3. Type a Short Name for quick reference to the item (Short Name is for your reference only and will not be seen by students).
4. Optional: Choose a parent Category for the Grade Item, or click on New Category to create a new Grade Category with which to associate the Grade Item.
5. Under Grading, enter the Maximum Points the Item will be worth. If a student can achieve more than this value (through extra credit, bonus items, etc.), check the box next to Can Exceed. If this item is a bonus item, check the box next to Bonus.
6. Finally, choose whether to apply something other than your default Grade Scheme to this Grade Item.
7. Under Display Options, choose if you'd like to display the class average and/or grade distribution to students, as well as if you'd like to override your own (Instructor) display options.
8. Click Save, or choose Save and New if you'd like to create more Grade Items.
Click the Restrictions tab, next to the Properties tab on the New Category or Edit Category screen. Under Restrictions, choose to make a grade category or item visible to students, to hide it, or to make it visible for only a certain period of time. You can also choose to attach Release Conditions to a grade category or item. See Creating and Using Conditional Release for more information.
9. Click Save then click on Grades List to return to the area of Manage Grades where you can add and edit Grade Categories and Items.
Step 5: Record, Calculate, and Release Grades
To record grades:
Show me Entering Grades.
You have several options for recording grades:
- To record grades in the Spreadsheet View, simply enter grade scores in the empty boxes and click Save.
- To enter grades in the Standard View, open a Grade item column by clicking
Enter Grades, enter grades, then click Save.
- To enter grades for an individual student, click on the student's name, enter grades, then click Save.
You can sort your Gradebook by student first name, last name, or numerically within a Grade item (e.g., to see lowest to highest grade within that Item). To sort your Gradebook, click on a column heading and click again to reverse the order.
In the row beneath the Student List and Import/Export Grades options is Display Options. Click Display Options to show or hide Grade Items, subtotal columns, and/or the Final Grade columns from your display.
To preview a student's Gradebook view:
Click 
Enter Grades > 
User List and click on a student's name. Then click 
Preview.
To calculate and release final grades:
Show me Calculating Final Grades and Releasing and Submitting Grades.
1. To calculate Final Grades, click Grades > Enter Grades, then Enter Grade - Final Grades. (To calculate final grades by student, click the student's name.)
2. Click
Recalculate All to recalculate all Final Grades. A pop-up window will come up allowing you to choose between recalculating the Calculated grade and recalculating the Adjusted grade. Choose the Calculated Final Grade option.
When setting up your grade calculation method, if you had previously chosen 'Keep final grades calculated', the pop-up window only gives you checkboxes for Adjusted grade activities.
3. Click Recalculate All to make sure everything is updated. When prompted, confirm that you wish to calculate the Final Grade.
4. Click 
Transfer All to transfer the calculated grades to the adjusted grades column (this is only required if you plan to send the adjusted rather than calculated grades to the Registrar's Faculty Center).
5. If needed, make any necessary adjustments to students' scores. You can make course-wide or individual changes.
- To exclude an assignment from all students’ final grade, click Recalculate All, then Final Adjusted Grades, and select only the Items you wish to include. Then click Calculate.
- To exclude an assignment from a particular student's final grade, click Recalculate Adjusted Final Grade next to the Adjusted Final Grade for that student. This allows you to recalculate that student's grade by choosing which assignments to include in the calculation.
- You can also type new values into the boxes for points/percentage earned and for total points/percentage. When done adjusting, click Save to see any changes reflected in the grade symbols.
For example, you can adjust a student's individual total in the first box of their adjusted final grade or alter the 'total out of points' by changing the number in the second box of their adjusted final grade). When you have made all adjustments, click Save at the bottom of the screen.
6. To release final grades to students:
- To release final grades to all students, click
Release All in the toolbar near the top of the screen.
- To release final grades to select students only, click the box next to their name under the Release Adjusted Final Grade column.
7. To send final grades to the Faculty Center, return to Enter Grades > User List and click on 
Transfer Grades to Faculty Center. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the transfer process. An authorized person must approve Final Grades in the Faculty Center.
To export grades as a CSV file:
Show me Exporting Grades.
Click Grades > Enter Grades > 
Export Grades
Choose the options you'd like under Export Options and Grades to Import then click Export to CSV.
You may wish to export your Grades if you want a copy of your data for your records. Please ensure exported grades files are treated as secure information.
Current as of December 2010 (D2L 9.1). Not significantly impacted by December 2011 update (D2L 9.4).
