This article is meant to help distinguish the difference between Total Points and Weighted Categories grading methods. It will also show you how to select Total Points or Weighted Categories in a course.
Table of Contents
Total Points
- All assignments have their own point values.
- Those values are summed up and represent a perfect score.
- The student's score is the sum of all of the points they earned in their assignments.
- A student's percentage for the class is a fraction of that perfect score (unless, of course, they get a perfect score).
Example:
- Exams = 50 points total
- Exam 1 = 30 points
- Exam 2 = 20 points
- Exam 1 = 30 points
- Homework = 30 points total
- Assignment 1 = 10 points
- Assignment 2 = 15 points
- Assignment 3 = 5 points
- Assignment 1 = 10 points
- Final =70 points
- Project = 40 points
Total Points for the course = 190 points. Someone who gets 160 points out of the above assignments would get 84% in the course.
Weighted Categories
- Grade is based off of how much of a contribution each of the following (questions, assignments, categories) gives to the next level. For example,
- Each question has a certain portion of the assignment's value.
- Each assignment has a certain portion of the category's value.
- Each category has a certain portion of the final grade.
- Each question has a certain portion of the assignment's value.
- Assignments and/or categories are assigned a weight.
- The percentage of an assignment or category is based on the fraction of that assignment or category's weight over the total of all of the weights. If the weights do not add up to 100, then the percentages will differ from the weights.
- The percentage of an assignment or category is based on the fraction of that assignment or category's weight over the total of all of the weights. If the weights do not add up to 100, then the percentages will differ from the weights.
- You can make one of those portions worth more or less than the others by adjusting the weight.
- A possible point of confusion comes between the percentage and the weights.
- Weights and percentages do not need to match in weighted categories.
Situation 1 Example
- Exams = 50 points total with a weight of 30
- Exam 1 = 30 points
- Exam 2 = 20 points
- Exam 1 = 30 points
- Homework = 30 points total with a weight of 25
- Assignment 1 = 10 points
- Assignment 2 = 15 points
- Assignment 3 = 5 points
- Assignment 1 = 10 points
- Final =70 points with a weight of 30
- Project = 40 points with a weight of 15
Exams would be worth 30% (30/100) of the final grade.
Homework would be worth 25% (25/100) of the final grade.
Final would be worth 30% (30/100) of the final grade.
Project would be worth 15% (15/100) of the final grade.
Assignments within those categories can either be of equal weight or variable weight.
- If they were equal in the exam category, then Exams 1 and 2 would each be worth 50 percent of the category and would be assigned the same weight.
- If they were variable in the exam category, then exams 1 and two could be worth different percentages in the category depending on their weight.
- Example
- Exam 1 weight= 40, then it is 40% (40/100) of the category Exam's 30% of the final grade.
- Exam 2 weight= 60, then it is 60% (60/100) of the category Exam's 30% of the final grade.
- Exam 1 weight= 40, then it is 40% (40/100) of the category Exam's 30% of the final grade.
- Example
Situation 2 Example
- Exams = 50 points total with a weight of 40
- Exam 1 = 30 points
- Exam 2 = 20 points
- Exam 1 = 30 points
- Homework = 30 points total with a weight of 50
- Assignment 1 = 10 points
- Assignment 2 = 15 points
- Assignment 3 = 5 points
- Assignment 1 = 10 points
- Final =70 points with a weight of 20
- Project = 40 points with a weight of 10
Exams would be worth 33.3% (40/120) of the final grade.
Homework would be worth 41.67% (50/120) of the final grade.
Final would be worth 16.67% (20/120) of the final grade.
Project would be worth 8.3% (10/120) of the final grade.
Assignments within those categories can follow the same pattern as Situation 1's example.
The Difference
You could use either of these two systems to get the same outcome- it really just depends on how much math you want to do.
Total points requires you to increase or decrease an assignment's quantity of points, while weighted categories allows you to make the points in that assignment worth more or less by adjusting their weight.
Extra Credit
Total Points
- Find how many total points are possible.
- Calculate the percentage you would like from this total.
- Ex. I want to add 2% extra credit so - 529 x .02 =10.58pts
- Ex. I want to add 2% extra credit so - 529 x .02 =10.58pts
- Add an extra credit assignment with this point value anywhere in the assignments.
- You can double check that this adds the correct percentage by looking at the bottom of the assignment page and looking at "With Extra Credit."
Weighted Categories
Please note that if extra credit is inputted as a weighted category, the grades are often wrong. Be careful to calculate this correctly. Likewise, if extra credit is inputted in it's own category, it will not be calculated correctly. In order to give a correct calculation, extra credit must be inputted into a category with regular assignments.
Selecting Grading Method
Before a Course is Setup
- In the course list, select Setup Course.
- On this screen you can select whether you would like to use Total Points or Weighted Categories.
After a Course is Setup
- Go to the Assignments tab.
- Scroll down to the bottom.
- Under Calculate By: select radio button for Total Points or Weighted Categories.