LMS End of Term Checklist for Faculty

A professor gets ready for the end of the semester, checking off items from a giant to-do list.

Overview

Please review these items before you submit final grades at the end of the academic term. Please remember that end-of-term considerations differ depending on the school.

Most of the following instructions relate to either Pepperdine Canvas or the Courses/Sakai LMS. If you use a different LMS, be sure to refer to its help documentation for similar steps.

Double-check Your Grading Scale/Schema

What does an "A" mean for your class? Does it start at 90, 93, 95, or some other value? Be sure to compare the grading scale in your syllabus to the LMS settings in your class site. Otherwise, you may award students a higher or lower grade than they earned.

Learn How to Verify Your Grading Scale

Verify Your Grading Scale in Pepperdine Canvas

The default Pepperdine Canvas grading scale sets an "A" to start at 94%, "A-" to start at 90%, and set the other letter grades to begin at x7% for plus (e.g., B+ = 87-89.99%), x3% for flat letter (e.g., B = 83-86.99%), and x0% for minus (e.g., B- = 80-82.99%).

To select a different grading scheme or create your own, go to the class site, go to Settings, and on the "Course Details" tab select the checkbox for "Enable course grading scheme." You may select an existing scheme from the dropdown menu, or select "+New Grading Scheme" to add your own.

To learn more, see "How to enable a grading scheme in a course" and "How to add a grading scheme in a course."

Account for Missed Work (or grades may be incorrect)

The Gradebook will ignore empty cells (non-graded activities). This means that you must give someone a zero (or another grade) when they miss work. Otherwise, the missed work will be treated like an excused activity, and the person's grade calculation will be higher than you expect.

Learn to Apply Scores to Ungraded Work or Missing Submission

Apply Scores to Ungraded or Missing Work in Pepperdine Canvas

To reflect an accurate grade, professors must assign a zero (0) to missed tests, assignments, or other graded items. You may apply this option to each activity or use the Grades Settings option to apply to all grades and activities.

Learn more at "How to apply scores to ungraded assignments" or "How to apply Missing Submission policy to the Gradebook."

Ensure All Gradebook Activities are Included in Grade Calculations

In Courses/Sakai, look for a calculator icon in your Gradebook item columns. The presence of the calculator icon with a slash indicates that the item is not included in the grade calculation.

There is no visual indicator in Pepperdine Canvas that an assignment has been excluded from the Gradebook (but this is a manual choice by a professor, which can be viewed by editing the assignment).

Learn How to Post any Unposted Grades

Post any Saved but Unposted Grades in Pepperdine Canvas

Instructors are encouraged to:

Review each assignment's settings to be sure that it is being included in course grade calculations (e.g., Assignments, Discussions, New Quizzes).
Ensure that each assignment or graded activity is associated with the correct assignment group (if weighting is used).
If an instructor has set the grading policy to "Manually Post Grades," then the professor must ensure that all graded items have been posted so that both the instructor's gradebook and the student's grade report are in sync.

Override a Student's Course Grade

Many factors may affect the final grade you wish to assign to a student. Did they show great improvement at the end of the course? Did they earn penalties that could not be accurately reflected in the Gradebook setup? Use the Course Grade Override to set a student's desired overall grade.

How to Override the Course Grade

Use Override in Grades to Adjust a Final Grade

To change the final computed course grade for a student, you must enable this option in the Canvas LMS Gradebook Settings.

Go to the class site on Pepperdine Canvas.
Go to the Grades tool.
Select Gradebook Settings (Gear Icon at top right).
Choose the Advanced tab.
Select the option to "Allow final grade override."
Select "Apply Settings."
Use the new "Override" column in the Grades spreadsheet to override any overall student course grades.

Learn more at "How to override a student's grade in the Gradebook."

View Distribution of Student Course Grades

Do you want to see how many people have earned an "A" in your class? Or perhaps the average, highest, and lowest grade? Evaluating grade analytics is easy.

Learn How to Use Course Analytics

Use Course Analytics to View Average Grades in Pepperdine Canvas

Course Analytics: Professors can review a table of grades and additional details, such as average grades, in the Course Analytics tool.
Course Statistics: Professors can also review general course statistics, such as the number of activities (assignments, discussions) and the number of active students, via the Course Statistics tool.

Display the Overall Course Grade to Students

Professors can show or hide the overall course grade for students. Some choose to hide it in the beginning and reveal it at the end. Others keep it visible from the start. The choice will depend on the instructor's goals.

Learn How to Display the Course Grade to Students

Display the Total Course Grade to Students in Pepperdine Canvas

By default, the course grade will be computed and displayed to students. However, if the instructor modified the settings or a school adjusted the course defaults, here are the steps to enable student grade totals:

Go to Settings in the main course navigation.
On the Course Details tab, choose "more options" at the bottom.
Be sure that the "Hide totals in student grades summary" is unchecked.
If necessary, select Update Course Details to save the change.

Learn more at "How do I hide totals in my students' grade summaries?"

Export Your Gradebook and Other Class Content

Keeping a backup copy of your class grades can be important, especially if, several years down the road, a student asks for a letter of recommendation. Alternatively, it may be appropriate to download a copy of important student work for later reference as evidence of learning.

Be sure that you store any backup grades and other content in a secure location, such as a password-protected computer or a private folder on Pepperdine Google Drive.

Reminder

Pepperdine University has a five-year LMS retention period. For letters of recommendation, accreditation, or other purposes, we recommend that professors download key student learning artifacts within 60-90 days of the end of a term. Saved data must be stored securely.

Learn How to Export Your Gradebook

Export Your Course Gradebook in Pepperdine Canvas

If you want to keep a copy or review your gradebook in a spreadsheet application, follow these steps:

Go to Grades.
Select the Export button.
Choose either "Export Current Gradebook View" or "Export Entire Gradebook."
Save the resulting CSV file to your local computer.

Learn more at "How do I export grades in the Gradebook?"

As always, be mindful of FERPA as this content relates to student records. Any content you retain must be protected and cannot be shared publicly without each student's formal written authorization.

See Grades for Students Who Withdrew (WP/WF)

During the add/drop and withdraw ("W") period of a semester, students who drop or withdraw will be removed automatically from the class roster. After the "W" period ends, students who withdraw will remain on the roster but will be set to an "Inactive" status. This retains their content but hides the information. Professors can reveal that information as needed.

Learn How to See Inactive Student Data to Assign WP/WF Grades

View a Withdrawn ("Inactive") Student's Past Grades in Pepperdine Canvas

If a student withdraws after the standard withdrawal ("W") period, student enrollment will be set to "Inactive." By default, inactive students are hidden from the instructor's view. Follow these steps to show Inactive enrollments in the Grades tool:

Go to Grades
In the "Student Name" header, hover your mouse over the heading and select the more options icon (3 dots).
From the dropdown menu, select "Inactive enrollments."
Review the graded work up to the time that the student withdrew.

Refer to "How do I view grades for inactive or concluded student enrollments in the Gradebook?" for more details.

Go to WaveNet to Submit Official Grades

To assign the official grade for a student, go to WaveNet and submit the final grades.

Learn Where to Submit Final Grades

Submit Final Grades via WaveNet

Once you have computed the final course grades for your students, you must go to WaveNet to post the end-of-term grades. Each school maintains its own schedule for grading deadlines. Please contact your school program or division office to learn about any grading deadlines.

Learn about the Grade Roster in WaveNet to submit your final grades.