By default, grades are set to display two decimal places. This applies to the assessment activity and to its associated column in the grade book. You can adjust this in either or both locations. Typically, eClass calculations are accurate to 4 decimal places. Changing the decimal display will cause the value to be rounded based on standard rounding process. For example, a grade calculation of 12.5276 will display as 13 if set with no decimal places or 12.53 is set to two decimals. Note, however, that rounding grades for display, does not impact the Course total calculation.
Be careful
eClass assumes a total course grade of 100 by default. This is important to remember since student grades will adjust toward 100 as you enter them. Depending on the graded activities and the related point scale used, the cumulative total displayed may not be an accurate representation of the student grade position in the course. For this reason, it is common practice to hide the Total Course Grade column to avoid confusion for students. Although the automatic calculation may be accurate, it may not indicate the correct grade position of the student in relation to the course assessment strategy. By default, eClass calculates the course total grade as 100% by aggregating each posted grade as they are added, and any ungraded items are not factored in. Therefore, as grades are posted, this total will fluctuate as individual grades are added. Instructors may choose to hide course totals, but allow individual grades to be displayed.
Hiding & Displaying Course Total from Students
To hide the course total from students:
- Click Grades in the navigation block to open the Gradebook. The Gradebook will display the Grader report on the View tab.
- Click Turn editing on at the top right.
- Scroll to the far right of the grade report box so that you can see the Course total column.
- Click
icon at the very top of the Grader report, directly below the title Course total so that it is closed, and the 
icon is displayed.
The Course total column title will appear greyed out when the eye is closed, which indicates that it is hidden from students. You will also notice that all of the show/hide icons indicate that individual grades are hidden.You can control the grades of individual students in the same way by clicking the 
and 
icons in the rows of individual students for the course total and for individual course activities.
To show the course total to students:
Click the 
icon at the very top of the Grader report, directly below the title Course total so that it is open, and the 
icon is displayed.
Course Total Grade Calculation
eClass allows you to use a combination of gradebook categories, aggregation methods or a custom formula to calculate your Course Total.
Most courses at York use a weighted grading strategy comprised of a set of assessments, where each carries its own weight towards the course total. The weight is often different than the maximum grade for an activity. For example, the midterm is marked out of 100 marks, but it weighs 15% towards the course total.
The default aggregation method applied to the gradebook, Simple weighted mean of grades, does not calculate the course total based on weighted grading scheme. The grading strategy, or aggregation method, required to assign specific weights to grades must be changed to Weighted mean of grades in order for the grades to be calculated based on a specific weighted grading scheme.
Refer to the Assigning Weights to Grade Items documentation for step-by-step instructions on setting up your gradebook using weights.