Weighted Columns in Grade Center

Problem: The user would like to know the difference between equally and proportionally weighted for grading.

Solution: When weighting columns by category, the "proportional" vs. "equal" option determines how Blackboard weights the items within the category itself.

For example:

There is a category called "Tests" with two quizzes in it. One quiz is scored on a scale of 10 points, and the other is scored on a scale of 100 points.

If the option is set to "equal" for the Tests category, both quizzes will be given equal weight within the category. If a student scores 8/10 on one and 60/100 on the other, the category will be scored at 70% ((8/10+60/100) / 2), which is the simple average of the two quiz scores.

If the option is set to "proportional" for the Tests category, the quiz that is scored on a 100-point scale will be given 10 times the value of the one that is scored on a 10-point scale. If a student scores 8/10 and 60/100, the category will be scored at 62% ((8+60) / (10+100))

If the instructor feels that all quizzes are equally important within the category of "Test" regardless of their point scales, then the "equal" proportion setting should be used.

If, on the other hand, the instructor has some quizzes that are more important than others as reflected by their maximum point values, then the "proportional" setting should be used.