Utilizing Smart Views

A smart view is a focused look at the Grade Center that shows only the columns that match a set of criteria. The view is saved for continued use. When the Grade Center includes a great number of students and columns, you can use smart views to quickly find data. Several smart views are available by default, but you can also create your own.

With smart views, you can view the progress of these items:

• An existing group
• Student performance for a particular item
• Individual students
• Category and status of items
• Custom combination of attributes

Example: Tracking low scores

You create a smart view to track students with low scores to quickly see which students need help. You can email these students from the Grade Center.

Example: Assessment comparison

You create a smart view to display only two columns in the Grade Center grid: a calculated total column for tests and a calculated total column for assignments. You can compare the two columns to gauge how students are performing.

Access the smart views list

Several default smart views appear in a new course. Use a smart view to access a set of columns in the Grade Center grid. For example, when you access the Tests smart view, only test columns appear. When you enable grading for blogs, journals, and discussions, those grade columns appear when you access the appropriate smart view.

The default smart views include these groups of columns:

• Assignments
• Blogs
• Discussion Boards
• Final Grade View: Displays all columns, including the default total and weighted total columns
• Journals
• Preview of My Grades: Displays all columns visible to students
• Self and Peer Assessments
• Tests
• Wikis: When the tool is available and you create a wiki

Create Smart Views

You can create five types of smart views in the Grade Center:

Course Group: Choose from sub-sections of students. You must create course groups before you can use them as selection criteria.

Performance: View student performance on a single item, such as a test.

User: Choose individual students.

Category and Status: Choose a category, users or groups, and grade status. For example, you can select the Blog category, four groups, and the Completed status.

Custom: Select students with a combination of attributes.

The process for creating the five types of smart views is similar.

1. In the Grade Center, access the Manage menu and select Smart Views. 

2. On the Smart Views page, select Create Smart View and provide a name and an optional description.

3. Optionally, select the Add as Favorite checkbox.

4. For Type of View, make a selection.

5. In the Select Criteria section, set the requirements.

6. In the Filter Results menu, select which columns, categories, statuses, or grading periods you want to appear in the Grade Center grid. 

7. If the Include Hidden Information checkbox appears, you can select it to display hidden columns that pertain to the filter. When you view the smart view, the columns you hid on the Column Organization page appear in the grid also.