Select Average Column from the list of Calculated Column types. You should now see the Create Average Column screen.

Fill in the following information in Column Information:

1. Enter a descriptive name for the Column. Note that if a Column Name is not entered, only the first 15 characters of this name are displayed in the Full Grade Center.
   
2. Enter the Grade Center Name--this might be a shorted version (15 characters or less) of the Column Name in preceding step.
   
3. This option text Description can help other instructors and TAs identify the Grade Column.
   
4. Primary Display is the grade format shown in the Grade Center and to students. Options include Score, Text, Percentage, Letter, and Complete/Incomplete.
   
5. The Secondary Display option shows the grade format in the Grade Center only. The Secondary Display is denoted by parentheses and is shown just to the immediate right of the Primary Display in the same grade cell. Note: students will not be able to see the secondary score when viewing their grades--only the primary score is shown to them.

1. Include in Average: Choose All Grade Columns to included all graded columns in the average. If this option is chosen, then the none of the information in the gray box area will be displayed. Choose Selected Columns and Categories to include specific columns or categories of columns in the average.
   
2. If you chose Selected Columns and Categories in the previous step, you can then choose the Columns to Select by clicking on the name of a specific column and then click the ">" arrow to move the column name to the Selected Columns area. To choose all columns in a specific Category, click on the name of the Category in the Categories to Select box and then click the ">" arrow to move the category name over to the Selected Columns area.
   
3. When you select a category of columns to include, Weight Columns allows you determine how the columns are weighted within the category. Choosing Equally applies an equal value to all columns within this category. Choosing Proportionally, applies the appropriate value to a column based on its points compared to other columns in the category.
   
   Also when you select a category of columns to include in the Average, you have the options of dropping a specified number of the Highest or Lowest grades or using only the Highest or Lowest grade from all columns in this category to calculate the Average.
   
4. Selecting Yes for Calculate as a Running Total calculates the Average by including only the Grade Columns that have been graded or have values entered. Selecting No for this option includes all selected columns in the calculations, using zero (0) for columns that have not been graded. This can make grades appear artificially low since zeroes will be used in all columns for tests and assignments that have not yet been taken or were missed.

1. Select Yes to include the column in any future Grade Center calculations. For example, the default Total column, will automatically (unless otherwise specified) include the scores from all columns for which this option has been set to Yes.
2. Select Yes to release column data to students. If this is set to No, then students will not be able to see their score for this column in the My Grades area.
3. Select Yes to release the class mean and median to your students (in addition to their own score).
4. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page when finished to create the column.

Click the Create Calculated Column button and then select Minimum/Maximum Column from the drop-down menu. You should now see the Create Minimum/Maximum screen shown below.

Fill in the following information in Column Information:

1. Enter a descriptive name for the Column. Note that if a Column Name is not entered, only the first 15 characters of this name are displayed in the Full Grade Center.
   
2. Enter the Grade Center Name--this might be a shorted version (15 characters or less) of the Column Name in preceding step.
   
3. This option text Description can help other instructors and TAs identify the Grade Column.
   
4. Primary Display is the grade format shown in the Grade Center and to students. Options include Score, Text, Percentage, Letter, and Complete/Incomplete.
   
5. The Secondary Display option shows the grade format in the Grade Center only. The Secondary Display is denoted by parentheses and is shown just to the immediate right of the Primary Display in the same grade cell. Note: students will not be able to see the secondary score when viewing their grades--only the primary score is shown to them.

1. Select whether you want to calculate a Minimum or Maximum for the selected columns.
   
2. Choose All Grade Columns to included all graded columns in the Minimum or Maximum. If this option is chosen, then the none of the information in the gray box area will be displayed. Choose Selected Columns and Categories to include specific columns or categories of columns in the Minimum/Maximum calculation.
   
3. If you chose Selected Columns and Categories in the previous step, you can then choose the Columns to Select by clicking on the name of a specific column and then click the ">" arrow to move the column name to the Selected Columns area. To choose all columns in a specific Category, click on the name of the Category in the Categories to Select box and then click the ">" arrow to move the category name over to the Selected Columns area.
   
   To remove a selected Column or Category, click the red circled "x" to the right of the name or category in the Selected Columns box.
   
4. Selecting Yes for Calculate as a Running Total calculates the Minimum or Maximum by including only the Grade Columns that have been graded or have values entered. Selecting No for this option includes all selected columns in the calculations, using zero (0) for columns that have not been graded. This can make grades appear artificially low since zeroes will be used in all columns for tests and assignments that have not yet been taken or missed.

1. Select Yes to include the column in any future Grade Center calculations. For example, the default Total column, will automatically (unless otherwise specified) include the scores from all columns for which this option has been set to Yes.
2. Select Yes to release column data to students. If this is set to No, then students will not be able to see their score for this column in the My Grades area.
3. Select Yes to release the class mean and median to your students (in addition to their own score).
4. When finished, click the Submit button at the bottom of the screen to create the column.

Click the Create Calculated Column button and then select Total Column from thedrop-down menu. You should now see the Create Total screen shown below.

Fill in the following information in Column Information:

1. Enter a descriptive name for the Column. Note that if a Column Name is not entered, only the first 15 characters of this name are displayed in the Full Grade Center.
   
2. Enter the Grade Center Name--this might be a shorted version (15 characters or less) of the Column Name in preceding step.
   
3. This option text Description can help other instructors and TAs identify the Grade Column.
   
4. Primary Display is the grade format shown in the Grade Center and to students. Options include Score, Text, Percentage, Letter, and Complete/Incomplete.
   
5. The Secondary Display option shows the grade format in the Grade Center only. The Secondary Display is denoted by parentheses and is shown just to the immediate right of the Primary Display in the same grade cell. Note: students will not be able to see the secondary score when viewing their grades--only the primary score is shown to them.

1. Include in Total: Choose All Grade Columns to included all graded columns in the average. If this option is chosen, then the none of the information in the gray box area will be displayed. Choose Selected Columns and Categories to include specific columns or categories of columns in the average.
   
2. If you chose Selected Columns and Categories in the previous step, you can then choose the Columns to Select by clicking on the name of a specific column and then click the ">" arrow to move the column name to the Selected Columns area. To choose all columns in a specific Category, click on the name of the Category in the Categories to Select box and then click the ">" arrow to move the category name over to the Selected Columns area.
   
3. When you select a Category of columns to include, you have the option of dropping a specified number of the Highest or Lowest grades or using only the Highest or Lowest grade from all columns in this category.
   
4. Selecting Yes for Calculate as a Running Total calculates the Total by including only the Grade Columns that have been graded or have values entered. Selecting No for this option includes all selected columns in the calculations, using zero (0) for columns that have not been graded. This can make grades appear artificially low since zeroes will be used in all columns for tests and assignments that have not yet been taken or were missed.

1. Select Yes to include the column in any future Grade Center calculations. For example, the default Total column, will automatically (unless otherwise specified) include the scores from all columns for which this option has been set to Yes.
2. Select Yes to release column data to students. If this is set to No, then students will not be able to see their score for this column in the My Grades area.
3. Select Yes to release the class mean and median to your students (in addition to their own score).
4. When finished, click the Submit button to create the column.

Whenever you create a Weighted Column and include categories of columns (for example, tests, quizzes, discussion, papers, etc.) you will need to choose between proportional weighting and equal weighting for each category that you choose to include in the calculation. Therefore it's very important to understand the difference between the two.

Proportional vs. Equal weighting is a setting when you weight by category. It only makes a difference if you have columns with different points possible in the same category (e.g. a Discussion category with columns worth 5 points and columns worth 10 points). If all of the columns in the category are equal, both settings work the same way.

When you have categories of differing values, Equal Weighting converts the columns to percentages and averages the percentages to get the category composite grade. It essentially gives each item equal weight when determining the composite grade. Proportional weighting calculates a category composite grade by adding the raw scores and dividing by the total points possible. It retains the proportional weight of each item, so items with a larger value have more effect on the composite grade.

For example, consider two assignments in a category, one worth 5 points and the other worth 10 points. Assume the student gets 5 points on each assignment.

Equal weighting: 5/5 and 5/10 = (100% + 50%) / 2 = 75% (or you can think of converting it to equal Points Possible: 10/10 and 5/10 = 15/20) 


Proportional weighting: 5/5 and 5/10 = 10/15 = 66.7%

The category composite grade is then weighted according to the percentage you indicated for the entire category and combined with the other columns or categories you have included in the Weighted Total.

Click the Create Calculated Column button and then select Weighted Column from the drop-down menu. You should now see the Create Weighted Column screen shown below.

Fill in the following information in Column Information:

1. Enter a descriptive name for the Column. Note that if a Column Name is not entered, only the first 15 characters of this name are displayed in the Full Grade Center.
   
2. Enter the Grade Center Name--this might be a shorted version (15 characters or less) of the Column Name in preceding step.
   
3. This option text Description can help other instructors and TAs identify the Grade Column.
   
4. Primary Display is the grade format shown in the Grade Center and to students. Options include Score, Text, Percentage, Letter, and Complete/Incomplete.
   
5. The Secondary Display option shows the grade format in the Grade Center only. The Secondary Display is denoted by parentheses and is shown just to the immediate right of the Primary Display in the same grade cell. Note: students will not be able to see the secondary score when viewing their grades--only the primary score is shown to them.

1. Choose the Columns and/or Categories that you want to include in your calculation.  You can choose the Columns to Select by clicking on the name of a specific column and then click the ">" arrow to move the column name to the Selected Columns area. To choose all columns in a specific Category, click on the name of the Category in the Categories to Select box and then click the ">" arrow to move the category name over to the Selected Columns area.
   
   
2. In the Selected Columns box, you must then enter the weight percentage for each Column and/or Category that you have chosen. Make sure that all the percentages entered add up to 100%.
   
3. When you select a Category of columns to include, the Weight Columns option allows you determine how the columns are weighted within the category. Choosing Equally applies an equal value to all columns within this category. Choosing Proportionally, applies the appropriate value to a column based on its points compared to other columns in the category.
   
   Also for a Category of selected columns, you have the option of dropping a specified number of the Highest or Lowest grades or using only the Highest or Lowest grade from all columns in this category.
   
4. Selecting Yes for Calculate as a Running Total calculates the Weighted Column by including only the Grade Columns that have been graded or have values entered. Selecting No for this option includes all selected columns in the calculations, using zero (0) for columns that have not been graded. This can make grades appear artificially low since zeroes will be used in all columns for tests and assignments that have not yet been taken or were missed.

1. Select Yes to include the column in any future Grade Center calculations. For example, the default Total column, will automatically (unless otherwise specified) include the scores from all columns for which this option has been set to Yes.
2. Select Yes to release column data to students. If this is set to No, then students will not be able to see their score for this column in the My Grades area
3. Select Yes to release the class mean and median to your students (in addition to their own score).
4. When finished, click the Submit button to create the weighted column.