Exemptions - Brightspace Instructor Help

Setting an exemption for a student from the Content tool
Setting an exemption for a student from the grade book
Removing an exemption for a student
Setting multiple grade item exemptions for a student
How grade exemptions affect calculations
Final Grades that include exemptions

Using exemptions, an instructor can provide an implicit reason why a student does not have a score for a grade item or an activity. A blank grade or a zero (0) grade can mean that the student hasn’t submitted the item, that the item has not been graded, or that the student has failed the item. Having an exemption setting supports the differentiation for a legitimate exemption.

Instructors can exempt content items, numeric, selection box, pass/fail, calculated, formula, and text item grade item types; however, instructors cannot exempt a student from a final calculated grade or final adjusted grade.

When an instructor exempts a student from an activity from within the grade book or the Content tool, the following pages are affected:

Table of Contents page: the exempted topic title appears with an exempted flag, the due date is not shown, the completion method indicator is removed, and the count of required topics and module completion percentage excludes exempted topics.
Topic details page: When a student clicks on a topic they are exempt from, a message displays stating that the student is exempt from the topic and that the activity can be viewed but does not need to be completed. The updated count of required topics in the Table of Contents now excludes the exempted grade items. The completion method, being essentially not required, is removed from the Details page.
Course Schedule: Exempted activities are not due, therefore not overdue, and do not appear on the Overdue items list. The Full Schedule and Upcoming sections of Course Schedule do not show exempted items.
Calendar: The Calendar web pages and Calendar widgets do not show exempted items.
Updates Widget: Exempted quizzes are not required to be submitted, and are excluded from the count of unattempted quizzes that appear in the Updates widget.
In the Grade book, instructor view pages: Enter Grades, Grade User, Grade Category, Grade Items, Import Review
Student view pages: My Grades
User Progress pages: Summary and Grades tabs; however, exempted grade items do not appear in the bar graph of received grades. The Summary and Content tabs display exempted activities.

The process that exports and imports grade data includes exemptions. Post-processing during the import of grade data can differentiate between a student with a grade, without a grade, and with an exemption. If you change the value that identifies an exemption to the import process after instructors have set export file values to depend on a particular value, such as the word Exempt, there may be unexpected results in the imported grade exemptions.

You can launch the Manage Exemptions page from the following tools:

The Content tool:

From the Table of Contents, when editing properties in place
As a button within the Activity Details section of a topic’s page

The Assignments tool:

On the Assignments page, in the context menu of an assignment
On the Assignments page as a button at the top of the page

The Discussions tool:

On the Discussions List page, in the context menu of a topic
On the View Topic page, in the context menu beside the topic name
On the Assess Topic page as a button at the top of the page

The Quizzes tool:

On the Manage Quizzes page, in the context menu of a quiz
On the Grade Quiz page as a button at the top of the page

Turnitin recently introduced an AI tool designed to assist instructors in detecting AI-generated content in student submissions. This tool potentially analyzes writing styles and may detect anomalies that could possibly indicate the use of generative AI. However, while this technology represents a significant step forward, caution is advised in its application. It’s important to recognize that the tool is not infallible and may not catch every instance of AI-generated content. Instructors should not rely on the AI tool to detect AI generated content, but rather, use it as one of several strategies in a comprehensive approach to uphold academic standards and encourage genuine student learning and creativity.

Setting an exemption for a student from the Content tool

Exemptions can only be set on the following topic types:

File topics
LTI links
Checklists
Assignments
Discussions
Quizzes
Surveys
Self-Assessments

To set an exemption for a student:

In Content, on the context menu of the activity you want to exempt a student from, select Edit Properties In-Place.
Click Add dates and restrictions.
Under Exemptions, click Manage Exemptions.
Search for and select the students you want to exempt from the activity.
Click Exempt.
Click X to exit the Manage Exemptions page.
Click Update to save the restrictions.

Note: When activities are exempted, any associated release conditions on these exempted activities must still be met.

Setting an exemption for a student from the grade book

From the Enter Grades page of the grade book, locate the grade item that you want to exempt a learner from.
From the context menu beside the grade item’s name, select Enter Grades.
Search for and select the check box beside the learner’s name.
Above or below the table, click Exempt to set an exemption.
Search for and select the learner you want to exempt from the activity.
Click Exempt.
Click X to exit the Manage Exemptions page.

Removing an exemption for a student

From the Grade Item page, select the check box beside the student’s name.
Above or below the table, click Unexempt.
Click Save and Close.

Setting multiple grade item exemptions for a student

You can set and remove multiple grade item exemptions for a learner from the Edit Grade Exemptions page in the grade book.

You can launch the Edit Grade Exemptions page from the following places in the grade book:

On the Enter Grades page, in the context menu of a learner, select Bulk edit exemptions.
On the learner-specific grade page, in the context menu beside the learner’s name at the top of the page, select Bulk edit exemptions.
On the Grade Item page, where you enter grades for an individual grade item, in the context menu of a learner, select Bulk edit exemptions.
On the Grade Category page, where you enter grades for multiple grade items in a category, in the context menu of a learner, select Bulk edit exemptions.

To set multiple exemptions for a learner:

Navigate to the Edit Grade Exemptions page in one of the locations listed above.
Select the check boxes of the grade items that you want to exempt the learner from.
Click Save and Close.

To remove multiple exemptions for a learner:

Navigate to the Edit Grade Exemptions page in one of the locations listed above.
Select the check boxes of the grade items that you want to unexempt the learner from.
Click Save and Close.

How grade exemptions affect calculations

Grade exemptions affect any calculation that depends on the values of the constituent grade items.

Category scores that include exemptions

For category scores, grade exemptions affect the scores as follows:

Exempted grade items are excluded from the calculation of category scores. The grade item is treated as though it does not exist within the category.
In a category with drop rules, exempted items are removed before the specified number of grade items are dropped. Then, the category is calculated with the remaining items.
If all the items in a category are exempted, there are not grade item scores to use in calculating a category score. In this case, the category does not have a score.
In a weighted grade book, the exemption of a category item results in the remaining item weights not reaching 100%. Brightspace automatically scales the weights of the remaining items proportionally to each other.

Calculated grade items that include exemptions

For calculated grade item scores, grade exemptions affect the scores as follows:

Exempted items are excluded from the calculated score.
If all items in a calculated grade item are exempted, the item does not have a calculated score.

Formula grade items that include exemptions

For formula grade items, grade exemptions affect the scores as follows:

Formulas treat exemptions as empty (null) grades; however, the Treat ungraded as 0 setting is ignored. If a learner is exempted from a grade, then the exemption and its cascading results are treated as null.
If a formula grade item used in another formula and the former is empty (null), then it is treated as though it were exempted during the formula calculation.

The following table describes the updated evaluation rules for formulas:

For Single grades:

Evaluation Rule	Result
If a grade item is exempt	Null
If a grade item has no value, and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	Null
If grade item has no value, and Treat Ungraded Items as 0 is turned on	0
If a grade item has a value	[value]

Addition/Subtraction (+/-):

Evaluation Rule	Result
If both sides are exempt	Null
If one side is exempt and the other side has no value, and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	Null
If one side is exempt and the other side has no value, and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	0
If both sides are empty, and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	Null
If both sides are empty, and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	0
If one side has a value	(+/-) [Value]

Multiplication/Division (*//)

Evaluation Rule	Result
If either side is exempt	Null
If either side is empty, and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	Null
If either side is empty, and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	0
If both sides have a value	[Result]

Equality (=)

Evaluation Rule	Result
If both sides are exempt	True
If both sides are empty and Drop Ungraded items is turned on	True
If both sides are empty and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	True
If both sides have different values	False
If one side is exempt and the other side is empty and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	False
If one side is exempt and the other side has a value	False

Inequality (<>)

Evaluation Rule	Result
If both sides are exempt	False
If both sides are empty and Drop Ungraded items is turned on	False
If both sides are empty and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	False
If both sides have different values	True
If one side is exempt and the other side is empty and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	True
If one side is exempt and the other side has a value	True

Greater/Less than (>/<)

Evaluation Rule	Result
Both sides have values	Appropriate True/False
If one side is exempt	False
If one side is empty and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	False
If one side has a value and the other side is empty and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on	Appropriate True/False

Greater/Less Than or Equal (>=/<=)

Evaluation Rule	Result
Both sides have values	Appropriate True/False
If both sides are exempt	True
If both sides are empty and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	True
If one side has a value and the other side is exempt	False
If one side has a value and the other is empty and Drop Ungraded Items is turned on	False
If one side has a value and the other side is empty and Treat Ungraded Items as Zero is turned on.	Appropriate True/Fa

Final Grades that include exemptions

For final grade items, grade exemptions affect the scores as follows:

Exempted items are excluded from the calculation. These grade items are treated as empty grades, not as 0 if Treat Ungraded Items as 0 is turned on.
If all items are exempted, there are no grades to use to calculate a final grade. The final grade will not have a score.

Exclude a grade item from the Final Grade calculation

When excluding a grade item from the Final Grade calculation, the type of calculation method used affects how you have to exclude the grade item. For example:

When using Points calculation, grade items have the option Exclude from Final Grade Calculation.
When using Weighted calculation, a user needs to add 0 in the weight for a grade item.
When using Formula calculation, a user needs to not include the grade item value in the formula.

To exclude a Points-based grade item from the Final Grade calculation

Navigate to Grades.
For the grade item you want to exclude, click the grade item’s context menu and select Edit.

The context menu for a grade item showing the Edit option

Figure: Click Edit in the grade item’s context menu.

In the Properties tab, in the Grading section, select Exclude from Final Grade Calculation.

The Exclude from Final Grade Calculation check box in the Grading section of the Properties tab

Figure: Select Exclude from Final Grade Calculation to exclude the grade item.

Click Save and Close.

You excluded a Points-based grade item from the Final Grade calculation.

Viewing grade item statistics that include exemptions

Grade item exemptions appear in class statistics and are removed from statistic calculations.

On the Class Statistics tab, the number of submitted grades is reduced (the exempted learner is not included); calculations, such as minimum and maximum, do not include the exempted learner; and the grade distribution excludes the students with the exempted grade item.
On the User Statistics tab, Exempt displays in the grade column for learners with grade exemptions.

Viewing grade category statistics that include exemptions

On the Class Statistics tab, learners who are exempted from all item in a category are handled as follows:

The number of grades submitted is reduced from the maximum number of learner who can submit.
Calculations such as minimum and maximum do not include the exempted learner.
Grade distribution does not include exempted learners.

When exempted from all items in a category, the learner appears as Exempt on the User Statistics page. Otherwise, the category reflects the appropriate calculations which account for the exemptions.

How grade exemptions affect release conditions

Instructors can set release conditions to release new content to learners after a grade item is complete. Since grade exemptions do not count as a completed grade item nor do they count as an incomplete grade item, there are two release conditions that are effected by exemptions:

Grade Value on grade item
No grade received

These release items respect the exemption and do not trigger on the presence of a grade exemption. For example, if a Grade Value on grade item condition is set on a content item, a user who is exempt from the grade item listed in the release condition will not have access to the content.