It will happen in your course that you'd like to let students know a mark on an assessment that was, say, written on paper and/or required no actual submission to Quercus of a digital file, etc. You can do that! But, you still need to create an assignment first.
Columns cannot be added manually to the gradebook. You have to create a "no submission" or "on paper" assignment (see "How do I create columns for non-submission assignments in the Gradebook?" Once created, this "assignment" will display in the gradebook and you can use it to add any type of mark for any assessment (ex. tests, mid-term exams, etc.).
Assignments = Assessments: In Quercus, the narrower term "Assignment" is used but this tool can be used to add all types of non-machine graded assessments. If you'd like to have Quercus auto-mark something, then you'll want to use the quiz tool.
- Quizzes: DO NOT USE THE QUIZ TOOL. Thought this tool will also add a grade centre column to the gradebook. However, this tool is designed to be used by students to submit question responses. This is not the tool you want to use in this case.
- Assignments: Use this tool! This will allow you to create a "no submission" assignment that can be used for a variety of assessment types.