Blackboard Ultra (Faculty) - Gradebook: Check Overall Grade Column with Student Preview

Checking the Overall Grade Column

Instructors can verify that the Overall Grade column is calculating correctly by using the Student Preview feature. This allows the instructor to use their student preview user as a sample student to ensure that total grades are calculating as expected. The Overall Grade column could be displaying total points or a weighted total, depending on how you set it up in the overall grade settings.

Steps to Enter Student Preview Mode:

1. In the top-right corner of your Blackboard Ultra course, click the Student Preview icon.
   
   
   
   
2. Click Start Preview. The course will now be displayed from the student's perspective.
   
   
   
   
3. To exit the student preview, click Exit in the black bar at the top right corner of the page. Be sure to choose Save when prompted to make sure your preview user appears as a student in the Gradebook.
   
   
   
   
4. Navigate to the Gradebook.YourName_PreviewUser has now been added as a student. 

Verifying Calculations:

Once your student preview user becomes a student in the Gradebook, you can verify the Overall Grade calculation by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Grades tab in your Gradebook and find your student preview user's row.
2. Manually enter the maximum points possible for each test/assignment across the columns. The maximum points possible will be listed at the top of each column
   
   
   
   
3. Once all point values have been entered, check that the Overall Grade comes out to the maximum number of points or 100%, depending on how you have set up the overall grade calculation.
    
   
   
   
4. If the total does not calculate as expected, you might need to adjust the overall grade calculation in the Gradebook settings. Alternately, you can click on the Overall Grade column header and choose Edit.

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