Grade Book Builder Tutorial

You can now upload grades generated by the WWU Testing Center into your Blackboard Grade Book. To convert your Testing Center generated file into one that is compatible with BlackBoard follow the following steps.

Step 1 – Convert to .csv file

1. Open your testing center file.
2. Determine if there's an extra column:
   • If your file starts with student_id column, all is well, proceed to step 2. If your file looks like the excerpt below, delete the extraneous first column before proceeding.
     
3. Go to File > Save As. Select .csv as the Save As Type. Save this file to your desktop and note its name. Also note the name of the column that contains the grades you want to upload. If your testing center file contains grades from multiple exams then you must complete the following steps for each exam.

Step 2 – Convert using the Grade Book Builder

1. Go to the Gradebuilder Application, select your course from the drop down, and then browse for the .csv file that you created in Step 1.
2. Click Upload Grades. Now select the column of grades you are interested in.
3. Then click Build Grade Book. The tool will make sure all names and student numbers match your class roster and will generate a list of any problems. If any problems are reported, write down the student numbers or print the screen to double check their results later. The tool cannot correct student numbers that are mis-entered.
4. Now scroll to the bottom of the page and select Download Grades. Depending on your browser settings, you will be given a choice to open or save the file or the file may be opened or saved automatically.
5. Click Save and note the name and location the file will be saved to. If the file opens automatically, save it and note the name and location the file will be saved to.

Step 3 – Upload to BlackBoard Grade Book

1. Go to the Grade Book of your Blackboard course and select Upload Grades.
2. Browse for the file created in Step 2 and click ok.
3. Select the column you want to upload, this is the one with the grades and should be the same as in Step 1.
   1. Next select an existing Grade Book item to import into
   2. Or choose to Create a new Grade Book Item*.
4. Click Submit, then Ok.
5. Choose which students to import information for. In most cases you will click Select All in the upper left of the screen to upload grades for all students.
6. Verify that the correct grades have been uploaded and you are done!

*As of May 2007 a Blackboard bug will cause a new Grade Book entry to be created instead of uploading into a preexisting item or retaining the name you have assigned. Easily fix this by renaming the grade book item and deleting any unused items.

Please contact Web Services with questions by emailing webhelp@wwu.edu