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Uploading Grades from a Spreadsheet or Text or CSV file

Introduction

Some instructors want to track grades outside of Bb Learn, and then upload them to Bb Learn.

There is no issue with doing that, but to reduce error, you should download the grading table as a tab-delimited text (TXT) file or CSV file first from Bb Learn, make your changes to that file in Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program or what you will, and then upload the changed TXT or CSV file that you originally downloaded from "Full Grade Center" back up to "Full Grade Center."

Column Creation

 If you are creating a column for final grade submission in Bb Learn, create the column in Bb Learn first. Instructions below.

Note: The "Column Name" must be "BannerGrade" (no spaces and no quotes).

  • But the "Grade Center Name" or what appears to just you in "Full Grade Center" can be something else.
  • We recommend something like "Final Grade" or the like.
  • And you do NOT have to enter a "Grade Center Name." You can just use "BannerGrade" (no spaces and no quotes in the "Column Name" field.

Downloading and Uploading the Spreadsheet, TXT, or CSV file

Here's how to do the downloading and uploading from and to "Full Grade Center."

  1. See the following webpage on how to download "Full Grade Center" to your computer.
           a. Bb Learn Grade Center -- Downloading
           b. Then return here.
  2. Return to "Full Grade Center."
           a. If you are not there already...
           b. Click to expand "Grade Center" under the "Control Panel" in the left-hand course menu in your Bb Learn course.
           c. Click "Full Grade Center."
  3. Click "Work Offline."
  4. Click "Upload."
  5. Click "Browse My Computer." Locate and select the file to upload.
  6. Select "Delimiter" type. "Auto" attempts to detect the delimiter type automatically. "Comma" is for CSV files. "Tab" is for text files.
           a. If not sure, just use "Auto."
  7. On the "Upload Grades Confirmation" screen, review the list of data from the file to be uploaded.
           a. Clear the check boxes for any data to be excluded from the upload.
                     i. Using this method, you can upload only the columns of data you want from the file.
           b. Review the Data Preview column to be sure the correct data is being uploaded.
                      i. Data that appears incorrectly can denote an improperly formatted file.
                     ii. The data preview only shows a sample of the data in each column in the file.
                    iii. Large files take significant time to process and a warning message appears for any files that need extra time to process.
                    iv. To avoid long processing times, break up large files into separate uploads. (This step taken straight from Blackboard's Help page.)
           c. If you get an error about an unrecognized user, likely a student's user name was changed into something like a date by your spreadsheet program (eg. dec25 can become 12/25/18).
                      i. In which case, cancel the upload, open the .csv file, manually modify the user's name in question, save changes, and re-upload.
  8. After reviewing the upload data, click "Submit."
  9. A green confirmation message will appear on the "Full Grade Center" page when the upload is complete.
           a. Information about changes to column names or other changes might appear in the green message.
  10. Spot-check 3-4 users to make sure they have the correct information.

Additional information on uploading or downloading from "Full Grade Center" to work offline can be found at the link below.

This page also talks about how to format the file and how to upload comments for a single column, BUT WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOWNLOADING THE CSV OR TAB FILE FROM BB LEARN FIRST, MODIFYING THAT, AND UPLOADING IT AGAIN.

Uploading Comments or Feedback for Students

Be familiar with section above first.

You can upload a formatted CSV or Tab-delimited text file for each assignment where you can enter comments for each user. If you are just using plain text, the comments you add to the CSV or tab-delimited file, along with grades you add to the CSV or tab-delimited file, should upload fine.

To get the format of the CSV or tab-delimited for an assignment grade and feedback upload:

Keep your Student Preview User after exiting Student Preview, go to “Full Grade Center” and type the grade into the cell for that Student Preview User for that assignment & press Enter/Return, hover mouse pointer over newly typed in grade, click circled down arrow that appears next to newly typed in grade, click “Quick Comment,” type in whatever you want (“Good job!” or “Bad job!” etc, doesn’t matter much), and click “Submit.” “Text Editor” gives you a larger window with text editor. Not sure how much formatting is uploadable/downloadable, but feel free to experiment.

Now click “Work Offline” > “Download”. Select “Selected Column” option, and in drop-down menu choose the column. Check “Include Comments for this Column.” Chose other “OPTIONS.” (Comma or Tab is up to you, but Tab always says when opened in Excel that the file type/suffix is incorrect because Bb’s programmers made .xls the file suffix rather than .txt. SIGH. The file is safe to open regardless.) No need to “Include “Hidden Information.” Download to your computer. Click “Submit.”

Enter comments in the “Feedback to Learner” column. Enter grade in “Assignment” column or column named for grade.

When you are ready to upload, go to “Full Grade Center,” click “Work Offline” > “Upload” > “Auto” > “Submit.” Confirm you want to upload if there are not errors found.

So you would have to write or modify a script to convert your individual text files into something like a CSV file or tab-delimited text file in the proper format that could upload or copy/paste into a properly formatted CSV or tab-delimited file.

Here is example tab-delimited file. Students listed are my student assistants and these aren’t real assignments or grades.

gc_InfoTest_wld24_column_2020-06-21-23-03-20.txt

Final Grade Submission

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