[gradebook2-dev] Question about course grade calculation (# of decimal places)

[Thomas Amsler]

> Tool version may be an issue here, since the school is on 1.4.1.
>
> One question--I didn't realize the tool employed such precision when
> calculating grades. But when you say "use a scale up to 50 decimal
> places," are you referring to the cutoffs for grade ranges in grade
> scales, or just the precision used for the display of a calculated
> grade? (before the round, of course)

The 50 decimal places are used to carry precision for all
calculations. When we display and compare grades, we use two decimal
places.
-- Thomas

>
> Best,
> Jim Mezzanotte
> rSmart
>
> On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 6:42 PM, Thomas Amsler <tpamsler at ucdavis.edu> wrote:
>> Please see inline comments below:
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 11:48 AM, Jim Mezzanotte <jmezzanotte at rsmart.com> wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I'm trying to determine how many demical places Gradebook2 uses when
>>> calculating course grades.
>>>
>>> When you're entering scores (in points) for an item, you can enter up
>>> to five decimal places, yet the tool only displays to two decimal
>>> places.
>>
>> That's correct. Please not that all gradebook2 calculations use a
>> scale up to 50 decimal places. The final numeric grade is then rounded
>> to two decimal places.
>>
>>>
>>> One of our clients is using a custom final grade export integration
>>> with Banner. They noticed that, while course grades display to only
>>> two decimal places both in Banner and in the tool, the export files
>>> display to three decimal places.
>>
>> What version of gradebook2 are they using? The latest version should
>> round the calculated grade to two decimal places in the export file.
>>
>>>
>>> I'm assuming the export is exposing what Gradebook2 does behind the
>>> scenes--that is, the tool calculates course grades to three decimal
>>> places, and then it rounds to display only two decimal places. Thanks
>>> in advance if anyone can confirm, this is how the tool calculates
>>> course grades?
>>
>> As mentioned above, it uses 50 decimal places to do all calculations
>> and then rounds it to two decimal places. I think in older gradebook2
>> versions, the displayed "Calculated Grade" wasn't rounded for display
>> purpose.
>>
>> -- Thomas
>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Jim Mezzanotte
>>> rSmart
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