In online education, feedback is everything. Before, grading was complex and it took a long time for learners to get their results on the assignment or exam. Now, you can easily grade students and instantly show the scores to them with powerful LMS solutions like Master LMS.
While course content plays a crucial role in student success, grading, and performance evaluation are equally important for learners’ growth. MasterStudy LMS allows instructors to deliver a more personalized and accurate grading system. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or just starting your eLearning journey, here’s why the new Grades addon is the game changer you’ve been waiting for. We’re going to explore the features that will let you effectively calculate your students’ grades.
What is Custom Grading Scale in eLearning?
A grading scale in eLearning helps you evaluate students’ progress. They can be used in various formats, such as a range of numbers from 0 to 100 that you can typically see in online courses. However, this may not fit every course or learning approach. With custom grading scales, you can adapt evaluations to better suit your program’s needs.
Grading students is essential in both traditional and online learning environments. It helps instructors to not simply assess learners’ knowledge throughout the process. It serves as a powerful feedback tool for motivating students to improve their skills. For instructors, grades allow them to calculate the results, and get the information they need to refine their teaching methods or create new strategies.
Let’s see the popular types of grading scales:
- Percentage-based grading. A traditional system that evaluates performance as a percentage of total points.
- Letter grades. Seen more in academic settings, where scores correspond to letters (e.g., A, B, C).
- Mastery-based grading. It focuses on competency, assigning grades like “Proficient” or “Needs Improvement.”
- Point systems. Scores are calculated based on assigned points for each task.
Why You Need Grading System
One of the most important reasons you should use grades in your online courses is to encourage students to learn. When they get instant results after completing a task like an assignment or a quiz, they want to know how well they did on it. It keeps them engaged and motivates them to continue with their studies.
Secondly, grading highlights the strengths and weaknesses of learners. It’s valuable information since accurate grading helps students see their mistakes and analyze them. Learners can understand their stronger sides and areas that need improvement. So they will not make the same mistakes in the future.
Another benefit of using grades in your LMS is that it increases the positive outcome of the learning. It means that a detailed grading system leads to better knowledge retention and a clearer understanding of the course material.
How Grading Works in MasterStudy LMS
The grading system in MasterStudy LMS brings several significant features that cater to both instructors and students. Some of them include:
- Customizable grading scales. The Grades addon allows you to evaluate students’ assignments, quizzes and give a course grade. You can personalize your grading scale to suit your course needs. With the addon, you can use letter grades, percentage-based scales, or a mastery-based grading system, and tailor it to your preferences. So you have the flexibility and option to align your grading system with your curriculum and goals. You can
- Instant feedback. With the grading system, your students can see their scores immediately after they finish their assessments like a course exam. It offers timely feedback that helps them stay on track and motivated.
- Detailed analytics. It’s not just about showing grades; it’s about understanding them. Instructors can access a comprehensive overview of student performance through the user-friendly grades table. MasterStudy lets you check the evaluation data of each person individually. So you can easily identify who may need additional support or who is excelling.
- Seamless integration. Setting up the Grades Addon is simple, and it integrates perfectly with your existing courses, programs, assignments and quizzes. There’s no need to manually track or calculate grades – the system does it for you!
Steps to Creating Custom Grading Scale
Creating a custom grading scale with the Grades addon is easy and straightforward. You can get started quickly and start seeing the benefits. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started:
Step 1: Install MasterStudy LMS and log in to your WordPress dashboard. Navigate to the addons page and find the Grades addon. Click on ‘Activate’ to enable the Grades addon. 
Step 2: Once activated, you can configure the grading scale by going to the Grades tab in the plugin settings. Choose from a variety of display options to show the results of your students’ assessments. You can select between grade, point, or percent.
Step 3: Create a custom grading scale based on your course’s needs. For example, you could set ranges for grades like “A+” (90%-100%), “A” (80%-89%), and so on, to design a grading structure that suits your teaching style.
Step 4: Set a score separator–a symbol or text that lets you separate the score from the maximum value. It’s used in each assessment when displaying the results of a learner. For example, if you choose the “/” symbol as a separator, the output will be shown as 4.0/4.5.
Step 5: You can decide how to display the course grade for your learners. In MasterStudy LMS, it’s possible to show it as a separate tab, or a sidebar. Check the grades table, and define the grade name, point, and range here. You can easily add new grades in the same table.
Step 6: Review student progress with the addon. You can view detailed reports on individual student performance. This helps identify areas where students may be struggling or excelling.
See the MasterStudy LMS grading feature in action by visiting our live demo.
Advantages of Grading System in Online Courses
As mentioned earlier, automating the grading process is efficient. It saves you time and reduces the administrative workload on your learning platform for instructors. This helps instructors focus more on teaching and less on manual grading.
With the grading system in MasterStudy LMS, you can ensure that grading is consistent and accurate. It lets you be precise with student assessment and avoid the risk of human error when calculating scores.
Ready to Grade Smarter?
Imagine a scenario where a student submits a quiz on your course and instantly sees a grade based on the custom scale you’ve set. With detailed feedback, they know exactly where to focus their studies for the next quiz. Meanwhile, as an instructor, you can access detailed reports to see how your students are progressing and adjust your content or teaching approach based on this data.
By using the new Grades Addon in MasterStudy LMS, you’re not just creating a better grading system—you’re creating a more engaging and effective learning experience for your students. Whether you’re looking to personalize your assessments or provide instant feedback, you’ll get access to all the needed features to make efficient evaluations.
Create a custom grading scale now and upgrade your online courses with MasterStudy Pro at 25% off!
