1 Welcome Grade software workshop November 21, 2003

2 Features of the software Print out individual reports for students Create grade distribution charts and stats for each test and for the overall grade Easily add and drop students from your records Test policies supported –Drop lowest –Replace lowest with final exam score –Include all tests Quizzes –Drop lowest n quizzes Homework/projects –Drop lowest n assignments

3 Policy sheet: Test Policy Even if your policy is to drop or replace the lowest test score, all test scores will be included in mid-semester grade calculation unless box is checked.

4 This number of quizzes will be dropped for progress reports and final grade calculation. You may want to start at 0 and increase this number as the semester progresses. Policy sheet: Quiz and Assignments Policies Or, you may wish to only drop missed quizzes for the mid-semester report, especially early in the semester when there have only been 3 quizzes total. In that case, check the box. There is an identical box for Assignment policy

5 Policy sheet: Grade cutoffs The numbers entered here will be used for all grade calculations

6 Policy sheet: Weighting scheme Select "equally weighted" or else define your own scheme. For policies "Drop lowest test score" and "Replace lowest test score with final exam score" the tests must be equally weighted. It is not necessary for the final to be weighted equally to the tests. In the test policy, we entered 4 for the number of tests. That will override any information entered here.

7 The Student summary Summary sheet in the Grade Template.xls workbook Not everything visible on the screen shows up on the printed report. You may view a summary by using the Print Preview button The summary report has 5 main sections: –Current grade –Average grade needed –Quizzes –Assignments –Comments We will discuss each section in the next few slides.

8 Student summary: The Current grade section Grade so far is a weighted average of the components listed. There is an option to exclude missed tests for this calculation, but it does not drop the lowest test score for mid-semester reports. Tests that have not yet been taken Up to 6 tests, as indicated on policy sheet, show up here.

9 Student summary: Average grade needed calculation This is the section where the test policy comes into play. If the lowest test score is dropped or replaced by the final exam score, that is reflected in this calculation. The calculation assumes homework and quiz scores stay the same. These numbers should be interpreted as percentage scores.

10 Student Summary: Quizzes and Assigments The first 16 quizzes will be listed. All information is taken from Quizzes sheet. Up to 40 quizzes may be recorded. Score uses quiz policy (drop lowest n or up to n missed) In this example, all assignments count and the lowest quiz score is dropped. The first 35 assignments will be listed. All information is taken from Assignments sheet. Up to 65 assignments may be recorded. Score uses homework policy (drop lowest n or up to n missed)

11 Student summary: The Comments section Comments are generated according to your test and quiz policy. These help you keep track of what settings you used at the time you created the report. They also help explain the calculations to the students.

12 Student summary: The controls Select a student's name from this list box to view his or her summary Print reports easily using one of these buttons I recommend viewing summaries for several students on-screen before printing for entire class, just to make sure they look right.

13 Tour of the remaining sheets We will visit the following sheets: –Attendance –Assignments –Quizzes –Tests –Stats The sheets listed below are only used for calculations and you never need to look at them: –Students –Calcs

14 Tour: The Attendance sheet The absences column counts the blank spaces in each row. Policy sheet:

15 Tour: The Assignments and Quizzes sheets IMPORTANT: Fill these in when you enter scores for an assignment. This is how the program knows there was an assignment that week. The description entered here will show up on the student summary A non-numeric character means the student is excused from that assignment. Student's grade will be calculated as though the assignment did not exist

16 Tour: The Tests sheet You must click on this button to update the information below. IMPORTANT: Fill in the "points possible" when you enter scores for an assignment. This is how the program knows the test has been taken. (This number does not need to match the weight.) This is the same information that is on the Summary sheet.

17 Tour: The Stats sheet Mean score A grade distribution can be viewed for each test and for the overall grades. IMPORTANT: Click on the "Calculate grades" button to update this information before viewing this summary

18 Some basics All blue cells are intended to be filled in by you. White cells are not. You may, in some cases, overwrite white cells. In most cases it is not advised. The best way to add and remove students is by using the buttons. The dates are set to a default (weekly, semi- weekly) from the start date selected by you. These can be over-written. Each name must have the same spelling on each sheet. The names must also be in the same order on all sheets. The Summary sheet will give a warning if they are not.

19 Some precautions Do not cut and paste text. Instead, you may copy and paste, then delete the original. Do not assume a cell that appears blank has no contents. Always check contents before writing (not necessary for blue cells) Do not rename worksheets The macros refer to the worksheets by name and will not work if you change it. Do not delete a student from one page without deleting him or her from the system. Best way is using “Delete Students” or “Drop Students button.

20 Thank you for attending the workshop. Please direct any of the following to me –questions –comments –suggestions –suspected bugs Also, make sure I put you on my mailing group if you are using the software. That way I can inform you of: –significant improvements –found (and hopefully fixed) bugs Christy