The gradebook null option allows blackboard to ignore ungraded items when calculating totals and weighted totals. When the gradebook null option is set to off, when a student did not submit a particular assignment a dash remained in the gradebook and in the score calculations this dash was added as a zero score. While this change seems minor, it adds functionality to the gradebook allowing for grades to be dropped and extra credit to be added more easily when weighting grades.
When nulls are ignored, the Total and Weighted Total columns in the Gradebook are renamed to Running Total and Running Weighted Total.
This also affects the class average for items. In the previous version of Blackboard, if there were 10 students and only half submitted work, even if the half got perfect scores, the class average would be 50% or less for that gradebook entry. Now with the gradebook null option only the scores entered will be used in the average calculation.
Existing courses will continue to include ungraded items until this feature is enabled in the specific course. After confirming that the option is available, follow the steps below to set the Gradebook to ignore ungraded items.
Step 1: Open the Gradebook.
Step 2: Click Total or Weighted Total . (After setting one to ignore or include ungraded items, be sure to set the other one.)
Step 3: Click Item Information .
Step 4: Select Yes or No for Exempt items that have not been graded .