Hi @Lilliegj12,
The what-if scores are a way for students to see how their final grade will be impacted *if* they get hypothetical grades on assignments. There is a guide for this at What are What-If Grades? - Instructure Community . Students could use these in various ways... For example, if just the final exam were left, they could experiment and find out how well they need to do on the exam to get their desired final grade. They could also see how failing to do an assignment (getting a 0) would impact their final grade.
I hope this info helps!
-Chris
