I'm having students report to me that (1) grades are not showing for work they've submitted and which I've graded and posted or (2) Grades that earlier showed up are disappearing. I've used Blackboard and WebCt at least ten years and this has never happened before (first semester with Bb 9.1.
The only thing I can think of that might be causing it is using the <return> key to move down a column. I have noticed that sometimes when I move up in a column I'm prompted to save the grades entered while other times I am not.
How can I securely enter grades?
Ron,
The first thing I would do is look at the Grade History (Grade Center > Reports > Grade History), to see if there's a record of the grades the students are asking about being entered, then overridden or cleared.
Do you see the grades after you've entered them? Do you see grades that the students say they can't see? I see that there is a known issue in a particular version of Bb 9.1 with grades not being saved when entering grades from the "Grade Details" screen and using "Save and Next" to go to the next student's grade, but I don't see anything like that listed if you're entering the grades from the main "spreadsheet" view of the Grade Center.
Mike
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your reply. We thought the gradebook problems were fixed when we installed Service Pack 5. When I'm in the Spreadsheet view (i.e., starting with the "A's" enter grade <return> enter grade <return> enter grade, <return> etc.) I can see on the upper right of the screen that there are constant saves occurring without the gray popup box prompting me to save (or to cancel.) Sometimes I get the popup box when I right or left cursor to another column and sometimes not.
I checked the grade history and if I'm reading it correctly there are only initial entries, no changes from one grade to another.
Another curious problem is when I create a column, I get the message that the column has been created, but then I cannot see it on the screen as part of the spreadsheet. I must either go back to the homepage and then back to gradebook to see it (or, in one or two cases, I had to log off and then back on to see it.
Thanks for your help.
Ron V.
At least some of what you're describing sounds a bit like a caching problem on the browser side. What web browser are you using? If you're using Internet Explorer, look under Tools > Internet Options > Browsing History : Settings, and make sure you have "Check for newer versions of stored pages" set to "Every time I visit the web page".
Hi All,
We just had an instructor report a similar problem (we are on Bb 9.1.5) where he claims that he entered grades one by one (hitting the Enter key after each entry) in the main Grade Center view, he saw the grade he just entered, but then the next day some grades had apparently "disappeared." He says that he has entered grades this way many times before without a problem. He has yet to let me know whether he suddenly began using a different browser or what else might have changed.
He was using Firefox so I was going to suggest cache change as suggested by Mike, but apparently such an option does not exist in the Firefox toolbar? The following website provides an option, but this seems odd and little involved for an instructor who is not comfortable with technology to begin with: http://www.automationadventures.com/2009/04/01/firefox-equivalent-of-internet-explorers-every-time-i-visit-the-web-page/
Is anyone aware of changes to the settings in Firefox by way of the main toolbar that would prevent this issue?
Minta
Minta,
Before you go much further, have you looked at the Grade Center History to see what it says?
Hi Mike,
Thanks for asking. I forgot to mention that I checked Grade History of each blank cell and "This grade has no history" is what displays.
Update: I have since learned that the instructor enters grades by selecting "Hide Other Rows" for each student and enters grades across the row (as opposed to down the column, as I stated before) and Bb seemed to accept the scores more slowly this way (and maybe he just needed to enter them more slowly). I also forgot to mention that the problem occurred on the instructor's personal computer using a wireless network, which I thought could be the culprit. So I'm leaning towards user-error, but please let me know if you think the problem was caused by something else.
Have you looked at the overall grade center history (under Grade Center > Reports > View Grade History)? You are looking to see if the grades were entered and recorded, but perhaps not in the place that the instructor thinks he put them.
Delete the grade, if you have given them a zero. then grade the assignment.
The grade will take then