Add Bonus Grade Items to Weighted Gradebook: Scenario 1 – Bonus Item in Category with Weights Distributed Evenly

Bonus Points Information:

There are two contributing factors that affect the total possible extra points that get added to the student’s final grade.

• The first one is the weight you assign to the bonus item.
   
• The second one is the overall weight of the category where the bonus item resides.
  
  

The number of points for each bonus item in a weighted gradebook does not matter because the item is determined by the weight of the individual items and weight of the category. For example, if you weight a bonus item as 10% and the overall weight of the category is 20%, the maximum possible extra credit points a student can receive will be 10% (grade item) x 20% (category weight) which are 2 bonus points. If you increased the weight of the bonus item to 20%, then the maximum extra credit points would be 20% (grade item) x 20% (category weight). Bonus points are added to the numerator of the Final Calculated Grade. It is very important to keep these two factors in mind when thinking about how many bonus points you wish to give your students.

 

Step-by-Step Part 1: Add a Bonus Item to a Category

1. Click on Grades on the Navbar
2. Click on New
3. Click on Item
4. Click on Numeric
5. Enter a Name for the Grade Item
6. Click on the drop-down under Category
7. Click on the Category where you would like the bonus item
8. Enter the Maximum Points 
9. Enter the Weight Value for the Bonus Item
10. Check the Can Exceed Box
11. Check the Bonus Box  
12. Click on Save and Close (You will see a star next to the item, indicating it is a bonus item )
13. Assigning extra credit or bonus items can make the Final Grade for some go above 100%. Therefore, part 2 is mandatory to also complete.
     

Step-by-Step Part 2: Check Can Exceed 

1. Check the box next to the Category Title that the bonus item is located
2. Check the box next to Current Overall Grade
3. Check the box next to Grade to Submit to MySPC
4. Click on Bulk Edit
5. Under Can Exceed, Click on the boxes next to each item
    
6. Click on Save