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I'm a newbie, so I'm sure the answer is simple, but I'm flummoxed!

I created a handful of assignments in Blackboard Vista early on in preparing for this class I'm teaching. Now that the semester has started, it has become obvious that I need to take the class in a different direction. I went into [assignments] and deleted the assignments. I then created the new-style assignments I'm going to use inthe class.

My problem now is that the original assignments keep showing up in the gradebook and I can't seem to get rid of them. The only option I seem to have is to hide the column.

Three questions:

1. Will the offending columns still show up in the students' final grade, effectively giving them a 0/10 on as many as ten assignments?
2. Is there a way to remove the assignments from the gradebook that I just haven't found yet?
3.If I hide the column in the gradebook, will it remove the points possible from calculation as well as hide the column from view?

Hi Chad,

Newbie questions are not only common around here at Dr.C, they're very welcome!

After deleting assignments, you can remove the column from the gradebook. Go to the "Grade Book Options" menu, select Column Settings, then check a radio button above the assignment column, and then click the Delete button at the bottom of the page. This will successfully remove the unwanted column. Now, there have been several reports of problems doing this; some people are finding that the columns will not delete, even if they do this procedure. If that's the case, report it to your local Bb administrator so they can report it to Bb Support.

If the columns remain, then yes, you can hide them from student view, and from your own view of the gradebook if you wish. In terms of calculations, if you had included those columns in a formula for a calculated column, you'll need to re-do those formulas to remove the columns; it doesn't happen automatically. And then of course you'll want to add your new ones into any of those formulas you need them for. Note that, even if you used exactly the same names for the replacement assignments, the formulas will look for the original assignments, not the new ones with the same name.

Hope that addressed all your questions.

Kate

Kate, thanks for your reply.

I have no radio buttons at the top of my columns in grade book. There is only one thing clickable at the top of the column, it's a small icon that looks somewhat like a small letter "v" atop three horizontal lines. If I click on that, the the column options offered are [sort column], [hide column], [edit values], and [column statistics]. Delete is not an option.

I don't know how to tell what software version I'm using. I can only tell you that it says "Blackboard Vista" atop my University logo in the upper left corner.

Suggestions, please!

Hi Chad,

The tick boxes are at the top of the columns AFTER you enter the Column Options area.

Knowing you're using Vista is enough for purposes of this discussion. To know the exact system & version, go back to your My Blackboard page and click Check Browser. At the top of the resulting window you should see the info.

Kate

Ahhhh! I found it!

The bad assignments are gone. Thanks so much!

Hi Chad,

I am trying to delete some assignments that don't exist anywhere except on my Gradebook.  There are no grades for the students.  There are no corresponding assignment links in the place where I post assignments yet they appear in my Gradebook and the delete option does not come up when I click on the Column Header for that assignment.  All the other options appear such as Quick Column Information, View and Add Rubrics... but the delete option just doesn't appear.  Can you help me get rid of these?  I made a screen capture but I don't think I can post it here in this forum.  I am using Firefox 11.0 to use Bb.

Thanks,

Brad

Brad,

This is a 4-year-old thread in a forum area for Blackboard CE/Vista (formerly WebCT).  What Blackboard version are you using?

Mike

Hi Mike,

I am using Bb 9.1.  There are no assignments associated with these columns that are showing up.  The course was imported from another Bb course that had the assignments in it.  The actual assignments never showed up but these columns did. 

Brad

Brad,

I suspect that they are still linked back to assignments in the original course.  I've seen this happen with some group tools like grade group discussion boards, and also with course copies on earlier versions of Blackboard 9.1.

Unfortunately, the only fix I know of is to either delete the assignment from the original course, or go directly into the Blackboard database and remove the association between the grade center column and the assignment.

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the quick response.  It must still be linked to the original course.  I did a course copy from there and the assignments never showed but just the columns in the gradebook.  I must have either checked on didn't check a box during the import.  Thanks for your help.

Brad

Brad,

In my experience, there are some group tools that just don't copy, so it may have been nothing you did.  Once you get rid of the grade center column association with the old assignment, though, you'll see a "Delete" option on the column menu.

Mike