Creating an Informative & Predictive Grade Book

1. Creating an Informative & Predictive Grade Book Jam JenkinsAssistant ProfessorInformation TechnologyGeorgia Gwinnett College

2. Students want to know… • What is my current grade • How will my recently graded work affect my final course grade? • How can I get an A, B, C? • Can I pass this course? If so, how? Most grade books on WebCT do not communicate this information effectively.

3. Columns Your Grade Book Needs • Current Grade • Portion of the course complete • Average needed on future work… • to obtain an A • to obtain an B • to obtain an C • to pass the course with a D

4. Uses other columns to generate value Has functions max min sum average Terrible interface – more on this later WebCT has Calculated Columns

5. Calculated Columns

6. Calculated Columns

7. Overview of Process • Make weight columns for categories (assignments, tests, quizzes, etc.) • Make grade columns for categories • Make complete columns for categories • Make course complete column • Make current grade column • Make predictive target grade columns • Create and update grade and complete formulas for categories

8. 1. Making the Weight Columns • Create a calculated column for each major category of grade. • Name the column ‘Assignment Weight’, ‘Test Weight’, or whatever the category name is followed by ‘Weight’ • Make the maximum weight 100. The weights will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent of grade. • Edit the calculated column to enter the actual weight of that category. No formulas are needed here, just a number.

9. 2. Making the Grade Columns • Create a calculated column for each major category of grade. • Name the column ‘Assignment Grade’, ‘Test Grade’, or whatever the category name is followed by ‘Grade’ • Make the maximum weight 100. The weights will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent. • The formula for the Grade Columns will be entered later.

10. 3. Making the Complete Columns • Create a calculated column for each major category of grade. • Name the column ‘Assignment Complete’, ‘Test Complete’, or whatever the category name is followed by ‘Complete’ • Make the maximum weight 100. The weights will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent. • Edit the calculated column and enter the value zero since no grades have been given yet.

11. 4. Making the Course Complete Column • Create a calculated column. • Name the column ‘Course Complete’ • Make the maximum weight 100. The weight will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent. • Enter the following formula:1/100*([Test Complete]*[Test Weight]+[Assignment Complete]*[Assignment Weight]+[Quiz Complete]*[Quiz Weight]+…)

12. 5. Making the Course Grade Column • Create a calculated column. • Name the column ‘Course Grade’ • Make the maximum weight 100. The weight will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent. • Enter the following formula:1/100/[Course Complete]*([Asgmt Grade]*[Asgmt Weight]*[Asgmt Complete]+[Test Grade]*[Test Weight]*[Test Complete]+[Quiz Grade]*[Quiz Weight]*[Quiz Complete]+…)

13. 6. Making the Predictive Grade Columns • Create a calculated column. • Name the column ‘Target for A’ • Make the maximum weight 100. The weight will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent. • Enter the following formula(formula assumes A is >90):(90 – [Course Complete]*[Course Grade]/100)/(1 – [Course Complete]/100) • Repeat for columns ‘Target for B’, ‘Target for C’, ‘Target for D’ with 80, 70, 60 where 90 is in step D.

14. 7. Making & Updating the Category Columns When you give an assessment: • Update the category complete column for that category. At the end of the course, each category complete column should be 100. • Update the category grade column for that category. Examples on next slides …

15. Category Complete Formulae 5 equally weighted assignments, 2 complete: 100/5*2 7 equally weighted assignments, 3 complete: 100/7*3 3 of 5 assignments complete each with different weights (10%, 15%, 25%, 25%, 25%): 10+15+25

16. Category Grade Formulas 5 equally weighted assignments, 2 complete: ([Assignment 1]+[Assignment 2])/2 7 equally weighted assignments, 3 complete: ([Assignment 1]+[Assignment 2]+[Assignment 3)/3 3 of 5 assignments complete each with different weights (10%, 15%, 25%, 25%, 25%): 1/[Assignment Complete]*(10*[Assignment 1]+15*[Assignment 2]+25*[Assignment 3]) Note: average does not include missing grades.

17. Updating After Giving Assessment • Update the corresponding ‘Category Complete’ column • Update the corresponding ‘Category Grade’ column • Verify updates are computing correctly • Look at your students’ current grades to see how they are doing

18. Adapting to Change Changing weights of categories: Change the weight column, everything else updates automatically. Make sure total weight is still 100. Changing letter grade cutoffs: Change the number in the ‘Target for A’, ‘Target for B’, ‘Target for C’, ‘Target for D’Hint: if you anticipate doing this, make a column for the cutoff and use this in the target formulas.

19. Dropping Lowest Grade(s) Dropping the lowest Quiz grade: • Make a ‘Min Quiz’ column:MIN{[Quiz 1], [Quiz 2], [Quiz 3]} • Make the ‘Quiz Grade’ column:([Quiz 1]+[Quiz 2]+[Quiz 3]–[Min Quiz])/2 Dropping the lowest 2 Quiz grades: can’t!Instead you need:a. One category for first halfb. One category for second halfc. Drop one from each half

20. Optionally Replacing Lowest Grade Dropping the lowest Quiz grade: • Make a ‘Min Quiz’ column:MIN{[Quiz 1], [Quiz 2], [Quiz 3]} • Make the ‘Replacement Grade’ column:MAX{[Min Quiz], [Other Work]} • Make the ‘Quiz Grade’ column:([Quiz 1]+[Quiz 2]+[Quiz 3] –[Min Quiz]+[Replacement Grade])/3

21. Summary • Most Web CT grade books do not efficiently communicate course performance, only raw grades. • Students need to plan how well they need to do to achieve the grade they want. • The WebCT Grade Book formula interface is aweful, but the students don’t see it. • Once setup correctly, the grade book is not hard to keep up-to-date.

22. My Personal View I think WebCT has a terrible interface. I use WebCT only when required and when it makes the most sense. Making the grade book described in this workshop is difficult and time consuming, but worth the effort.