Quest's grading scheme page allows you to control how the course average is calculated from the assignment grades.
Assignment Type: An assignment type is a grouping of similar assignments in Quest. To create a new assignment type, click the "Add Type" link at the bottom of the first section. Once created an Assignment Type cannot be changed.
Submission Method: Each assignment type has a submission method associated with it. For more information on a specific type of submission method, click on its link below. Once created the submission method can't be changed.
Weight and Drops: Each assignment type has a percent weight. Weight is the percentage of the final grade that that assignment type will be worth. You can also give any number of drops for each assignment. If you choose to drop 3 assignments, Quest will ignore the lowest three grades in that assignment type when calculating the average.
Retries Allowed and Zero Floor: This allows students to submit additional responses to a question if they miss it on their initial attempt.
Quest uses a point neutral system in which students can receive negative points for too many incorrect answers. Checking "Zero Floor" for an assignment type changes the grading method to one in which incorrect responses decrease the possible score by equal amounts to a minimum of zero points. For example, if multiple tries are allowed and a multiple-choice problem has four choices, a student getting the correct answer on the first try will earn full credit; on the second try, 2/3 credit; and on the third try, 1/3 credit.
Randomize Order: The randomize order option scrambles the order of questions on students' assignments. Some submission types, such as Learning Modules, do not allow you to randomize question order.
Participation Credit: For each assignment type, there is a drop-down menu and a numerical field under the heading "Participation credit". Use the drop-down menu to choose the criterion that defines "participation" for assignments of this type, and use the numerical field to set a minimum assignment score for participating students. (For example, if you want participating students to receive no less than 10% full credit for that assignment, you would enter "10".)
There are three choices in the drop-down menu: "Normal", which leaves participation grading off; "Respond one", which defines a participating student as being one who responds to at least one question in a particular assignment; and "Respond all", which defines a participating student as being one who responds to all of the questions in the assignment.
The remaining points in the assignment are awarded based on performance, as in a normal assignment. Assignments for students who do not meet the participation criterion are graded normally.
For example: the instructor sets up an assignment type to be scored as "Respond one" with "10". If a student answers only one problem and the response is incorrect, then that student gets 10% on that assignment. If a student completes half of the assignment and gets all of those questions correct, then that student gets 55% on that assignment: the student is awarded 10% for responding to at least one question, and half (45%) of the remaining credit (90%) was earned by answering half of the questions correctly, for a total of 55% on that assignment.
You can turn off participation grading on an individual assignment by selecting "Override Default Participation Credit" under Assignment > Edit Settings.
The next section in your grading scheme controls how Quest calculates averages within assignment types. The default setting is "weight assignments equally in group", which makes each assignment's weight within the type equal, regardless of how many points each assignment is worth. If you change to "sum points in group", each assignment will be weighed based on how many total points the assignment is worth. Scaled score makes assignments scale based on various student scores, similar to grading on a curve.
Grade visibility is the date on which students are able to see their average grade in the course.
The final option is to set grade distribution. This allows you to determine what score students must reach for each letter grade in the course. The values listed must be achieved with no rounding (e.g. an A set to 90 would mean that a score of 89.95 does not get an A.)
Once you have finalized your settings, select "save changes" at the bottom of the page. You will have the ability to come back at a later time and make changes to your grading scheme.
