Editing the title of an Assignment isn't reflected in Grade Book

Question

In Classic Experience—

I have some assignments that are already linked to the Grade Book.

I've noticed that if I edit the title of the Assignment, the title isn't automatically updated in the Grade Book. I have to edit the title in the Grade Book as an additional step. Is this correct?

To try to get around this I tried updating the assignment by using "Remove from Grade Book" and then putting it back. This didn't work as "Remove from Grade Book" didn't remove the item from the gradebook.

Updating the total points for the assignment did get transmitted to the Grade Book accurately, so I'm confused why other aspects of the Grade Book association didn't work.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or explanation!

Sarah

Soowook.K.3615 · Answer

Thanks a lot for sharing the background info, @Krizzy.S.9720 !

Another PIE item (D11459) also asks for the automatic title revision in the gradebook.

Long-time Brightspace users might not consider this non-automatic title change okay, but almost all brand-new users and migrated users (from Blackboard) at my university have found it anti-productive. They are really surprised to know they should change a gradable item's title in both Activities and Gradebook.

When they create an assignment and enter a score, its title automatically appears in Gradebook. So, just like this initial automatic title appearance, they expect their subsequent title revision to appear automatically in Gradebook as well. The original title is automatically linked to Gradebook when they enter a score. So, any title revision needs to be linked to Gradebook automatically.

On a side note, Blackboard also allowed me to create fully independent Grade Items that were not tied to activities at all (known as "manual grade columns"). Brightspace allows these independent Grade Items to be linked with activities later, which Blackboard did not allow me to. This is an enhanced feature for my university's users.

Hopefully, the same proposal in the two PIE items will be considered for future development. Thanks!

Krizzy.S.9720 · Answer

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and concerns, especially for those who recently transitioned from Blackboard. In Brightspace, Grade is intentionally a separate entity from activities such as Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions. While grade values do sync during evaluation, the details of a grade item (such as its name, structure, or point values) do not automatically update when changes are made within an activity.

It is designed this way to provide more flexibility and control. In LMSs like Blackboard or Canvas, activities simply “appear” in the gradebook. In Brightspace, however, instructors can create fully independent Grade Items that aren’t tied to activities at all, which supports a wider range of grading models.

From an activities perspective, while it may initially feel counterintuitive, having grade items not automatically synced to activities can be beneficial. Grades is an area where sometimes saving can also publish to learners. When instructors are still configuring their courses, we want to avoid unintentionally releasing in-progress work. Evaluation and setup are often easier to manage directly in the activity tools, and instructors are encouraged to make customizations there, but those changes shouldn’t always carry forward to the Gradebook until everything is fully finalized.

We remain open to client feedback around how people expect the platform to behave, and we will continue to review items posted to our PIE. Although this request is currently marked as not under consideration, increased engagement helps our teams understand interest over time. You can follow the PIE item here: https://desire2learn.brightidea.com/D12940

Our Product team continues to review this area for potential future improvements.

Soowook.K.3615 · Answer

My university has recently migrated from Blackboard to Brightspace.

Lots of instructors have noticed these weird things which never happened inside Blackboard.

* Editing the title of an Assignment isn't reflected in Grade Book.
* Editing the title of a Quiz isn't reflected in Grade Book.
* Editing the title of a gradable Discussion isn't reflected in Grade Book.
* Revising some questions' scores isn't automatically reflected in the gradable quiz's "Grade out of" points and Grade Book, even before the quiz is released.
* Removing or adding some questions isn't automatically reflected in the gradable quiz's "Grade out of" points and Grade Book, even before the quiz is released.