GradesPlus is now used for grades submission at UTS. For guidance on current practices, please go to Submitting grades using GradesPlus.
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Marking season is just around the corner and the LX.lab support team are here to help! Here are a few common questions you may have about marking for grades submission:
1. Will students see their marks as soon as I enter them in Speedgrader or in the Gradebook?
By default, our version of Canvas uses the Manual Grade Posting Policy. This means that all marks will be hidden until you manually post them from the Canvas Gradebook. Go to Marks/Gradebook and check the assignment column header. If it has ‘MANUAL’ under the title, that indicates marks are hidden until manually posted.
2. How should I organise the Assignments page for grades submission?
The recommended structure is to place assignments or quizzes under their own Assignment Group, and apply weighting for each Assignment Group. Place Assignments that don’t need to be counted towards the Total mark under an Assignment Group with 0% weighting. Alternatively, go into the assignment settings and tick the ‘Do not count this assignment towards the final mark’ checkbox. For more information, read our Canvas grades submission process resource.
3. What if I’m using REVIEW to mark?
If you’re using REVIEW to mark, the recommended structure is to place all the original Canvas assignments under an ‘Assignment Submissions’ Assignment Group with 0% weighting, and leave the REVIEW assignments under their own individual REVIEW assignment groups. The original Canvas assignments would then act as submission portals. Apply the appropriate weighting on the REVIEW Assignment Groups instead; the marks in the REVIEW assignment column (in the Gradebook) will be counted towards the Total mark. Get more answers in the Grades Submission and REVIEW resource in our updated Using Review collection.
4. What’s the STAFF_ADMIN and SYS_EXCEPTION_GRADE for?
Canvas subjects will automatically have the STAFF_ADMIN assignment group and SYS_EXCEPTION_GRADE assignment when created for inputting exception grades. To input exception grades, go to the Gradebook and input the appropriate exception letter grade for the student (see the Coursework Assessments Policy). If STAFF_ADMIN or SYS_EXCEPTION_GRADE is missing or was accidentally deleted from your Assignments page, it may cause errors when transferring grades. Log a ticket to the LX.lab to request for it to be recovered or recreated.
5. What’s the Override column for?
The Override column at the right end of the Gradebook can be used to adjust borderline Total marks e.g. for students dangling between a pass and a credit. It only shows the letter grade, but you can see the numerical mark by exporting the Gradebook. Marks inputted in the Override column will be transferred to CASS instead of the Total mark. Students won’t know that the mark has been overridden.
6. Why do I have so many columns in the Gradebook?
All assignments that contribute to the final Total mark will appear in the Gradebook (including the assignments under an Assignment Group with 0% weighting). When you create an assignment, its corresponding column is created. The same also applies to Assignment Groups.
Use Filters to filter the Gradebook by Groups and Sections (e.g. tutorial groups), or type in the “Search Students” or “Search Assignments” field to filter the Gradebook even more.
7. I have missing/blank spots in the Gradebook. Is that OK for grades submission?
For assignments that contribute to the final Total mark, grades submission will be unsuccessful if there are blank spots in the assignment columns. An examples is showing a dash (” – “) instead of a mark because students haven’t submitted yet or it hasn’t been marked yet.
To prevent or fix this, input a ZERO “0” in the blank cell. You can also use the Set Default Mark/Grade tool to give all students without a mark a “0” automatically. Do not tick ‘Overwrite already-entered marks’ because that would give all students 0s.
8. I’m late to submitting grades or need to change a result – what should I do now?
If results are not submitted by the due date specified by SAU through your faculty, submit an Authority to Vary Results (AVR) form or contact your Grade Faculty Admin (either Faculty APO or an Exams Officer) for further support.
9. Who should I go to for extra support?
If you still have questions, get in touch with our team:
- Join a workshop to learn more about the grades submission process. Register now via lx.uts.edu.au/events for the full list of events available.
- Remote support is available from 10am to 4pm weekdays. Log a ticket or book a Zoom consultation via ServiceConnect at lxlabservices.uts.edu.au.
- We’re also available on live chat at lx.uts.edu.au between 10am-4pm for general questions around learning technologies and events.
- From the 29th of November, the LX.lab will be offering limited face-to-face assistance from 10am-4pm. Pre-booking is essential via lxlabservices.uts.edu.au and subject to availability. The LX.lab follows COVID-safe guidelines and is providing masks for face-to-face support.
Feature image by Tim Arterbury