By default, Running Total is turned ON in each column in the Grade Center, which means that empty cells are not counted in any calculations. If there is no grade, it doesn't count against the student. However, if you want this to count against the student because they didn't submit an assignment, you must enter a zero in that cell. It is important to do this before the end of the semester so students know how these missing assignments impact their grade. If they are left blank, their grade is artificially inflated.
You might be asking yourself, well, why don't I just turn off Running Total? If you turn off Running Total, then every blank cell in the Grade Center counts as a zero. If you set up all of your columns in the Grade Center at the beginning of the semester, that's a lot of zeros! Their first assignment might bring their grade up from 0% to 2%, which might be pretty discouraging to students.
We recommend leaving Running Total on, and then adding zeros to empty columns as you enter grades. This gives students a realistic picture of their course grade at any point throughout the semester. |
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