Brightspace Calculation Options can be used to customize elements of your Brightspace gradebook, including the grading system, final grade release options, and grade calculation options. This area of Brightspace can be customized to set the gradebook to use a weighted or points-based grading system, and to specify how to treat ungraded items.

Beginning J-Term and Fall 2024, all new Brightspace courses will default to a weighted grading system and will drop ungraded items (items are not calculated into the Final Grade until a grade, including a zero, is entered). Regardless of these gradebook defaults in Brightspace courses, when you copy an existing course from one semester to another, the settings from the existing course will override any default gradebook settings.

Calculation Options

1. Login to Brightspace.
2. Access your course.
3. Click on My Performance and select Grades.
   
4. Click Settings.
   
5. Select the Calculations Options tab.
   
6. Under Grading System, choose between Weighted or Points (the Formula option should only be used in very specific cases).
7. Under Final Grade Released, choose between Calculated Final Grade and Adjusted Final Grade.
   1. If desired, check the box to Automatically release final grade. When enabled, the system automatically marks the final grade as released. The system does this at the time the final grade is saved for the user. If this option is not checked, you must manually release users' final grades.
8. Under Grade Calculations, choose between Drop ungraded items and Treat ungraded items as 0.
   1. Drop ungraded items: Items are not calculated into the Final Grade until a grade (including a zero) is entered.
   2. Treat ungraded items as 0: Students receive zeros for all assignments until the zero is replaced with a grade.
9. Choose whether to Automatically keep final grades updated (enabling this is recommended).
10. Click Save.
11. Click Close.