Illinois Compass 2g, Drop Lowest Assessment Grade from the Grade Center

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The following procedure works for any series/set of graded items in the Grade Center, not just quizzes. You must create a category dedicated to the set of items from which the lowest score will dropped, and assign that category (i.e., Weekly Quizzes) to the set of items (i.e., Grade Columns named Quiz 1- Quiz 10).

In this example, we want to drop the lowest of 10 quiz scores.

1. Create a Category:
   From the Control Panel:
1. Click on the Grade Center link in the Assessment section.
2. Roll the cursor over the Manage button in the Action Bar to open the contextual menu.
3. Select Categories.
4. Click on Add Category in the Action Bar. 
5. Type a Name for the category (ex: Weekly Quizzes).
6. Click on Submit.
7. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click OK.
   
   
2. Assign the New Category to a Series of Grade Columns:
   From the Grade Center:
1. To assign the new Category (ex: Weekly Quizzes) to a New Grade Column choose it from the Category drop-down menu on the Add Grade Column page. 
2. To assign the new Category (ex: Weekly Quizzes) to a Preexisting Grade Column click on the Action Link next to the column name.
3. Click on the Modify Column link. 
4. Choose the Category from the Category drop-down menu on the Modify Grade Column page. 
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for each Grade Column to be inlcuded in the Series of Grade Columns from which the lowest score will be dropped. In this example, 10 quiz Grade Columns must be modified to be assigned to the "Weekly Quizzes" category.
   
   
3. Create the Total Column that will Display the Adjusted Score (Lowest Grade Dropped):
   From the Grade Center:
1. Roll the cursor over the Add Calculated Column button in the Action Bar to open the contextual menu.
2. Click on the Total link. 
3. Enter a Column Name and other information into the appropriate fields.
4. In the Select Columns pane, select the category you created under the Categories to Select box (ex: Weekly Quizzes). 
5. After selecting and highlighting a category, click on the arrow to include it in the Total grade. The category now moves into the Selcted Columns window and displays further options. 
6. Set the Percentage of the total for each column or category. Since we only want these 10 quizzes included in the calulation of the score for this column, we will make the percentage of the "Weekly Quizzes" category 100%.
7. Select how to weigh columns within the Category: Equally or Proportionally.
   Choosing Equally applies equal value to all Columns within a Category.
   Choosing Proportionally applies the appropriate value to a Grade Item based on its points compared to other columns in the Category. For most purposes and this example, you'll want to use Equally.
   
8. Enter a 1 in the Drop Lowest Grades text field to drop the lowest grade in the category. 
9. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.
10. You are returned to the Grade Center, where you can view the adjusted quiz score in the newly created total column, 

Source: http://blackboardsupport.calpoly.edu/content/faculty/tips_gradecenter.html

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