Frequently Asked Question
It is important that a gradebook reflects the syllabus of the course, including sections/categories. This is organized in the Setup page of the Gradebook, click on "Grades" and then when viewing the traditional grade book page choose the tab named Setup.
To setup a grade book in a course where students have different credits, some 3 credits, some 2 for example, you should set up the categories and the weights based upon the maximum amount of credits and then for those students with lesser credits just leave the items they don't have to do, empty. DO NOT give them a "0" and you do not need to Exempt them in the item they are not expected to do. Only give them a "0" if they were expected to do the item and didn't.
Be sure to keep the "Exclude empty grades" checked in the categories, that way by the course's end the 2 credit students will be graded 100% for the items they did, even though they were less items than the 3 credit.
To set up categories in the grade book, open to the Setup page and go to the bottom of the page and choose "Add category". Enter the name of the category, matching it with the syllabus category name, and click on "Show more" under Parent category to check the box to add a weight, and then type in the weight. Save the page.
Once you have created all the categories to match you syllabus you can move the individual grade items into their category by clicking on the checkbox in the right margin of the items and then scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking open the drop box of which category the grade item goes in. Once you choose the category the grade book will refresh automatically.