Information Technology Services

by IDLT

Track student progress and early intervention allows faculty to help at-risk students. This in turn may help with students successfully completing courses and student retention. Blackboard’s Grade Center has several ways to assist in determining at-risk students.

Color Coding

Color Coding in the Grade Center allows faculty to select criteria, when met, will color code the student grade and identify an at-risk student. For example, yellow can be selected to identify any student scoring between a 60% and 70% (D range) in the running total or running weighted total column. Red can be selected to identify any student scoring 59% or below. By identifying these at-risk students and communicating with them early, the intervention can be the difference between them failing and succeeding. For more information about color coding in the Grade Center, see the Knowledge Base article Grade Center: Grading Color Codes .

Smart View

A Smart View is a focused look at the Grade Center. It shows only the columns that match a set of criteria, and the view is saved for continued use. To set up a Smart View to identify students at risk, the criteria would be to select students that score below 69% in the Total or Weighted Total column. This Smart View would display only those at-risk for easier identification and intervention. For more information about Smart Views in the Grade Center, see the Knowledge Base article Grade Center: Smart Views .

Tips

1. Add grades as soon as possible. This will give you a better idea of how your students are doing at that point of the semester.

2. If a student does not turn in an assignment or take a quiz, immediately add a zero to their grade. The grade can be changed when the student completes the assessment.

3. When creating a Smart View, check the “Add as Favorite” box. This will put the Smart View in the Control Panel for easier usage.

4. Communicate early with your at-risk students. Early intervention will help reduce drop out and failure rates.