Creating an Informative

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Creating an Informative Predictive Grade Book

• Jam JenkinsAssistant ProfessorInformation
  TechnologyGeorgia Gwinnett College

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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.

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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

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WebCT has Calculated Columns

• Uses other columns to generate value
• Has functions
• max
• min
• sum
• average
• Terrible interface more on this later

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Calculated Columns
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Calculated Columns
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Overview of Process

1. Make weight columns for categories (assignments,
   tests, quizzes, etc.)
2. Make grade columns for categories
3. Make complete columns for categories
4. Make course complete column
5. Make current grade column
6. Make predictive target grade columns
7. Create and update grade and complete formulas for
   categories

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 formula1/100(Test
  CompleteTest WeightAssignment
  CompleteAssignment WeightQuiz
  CompleteQuiz Weight)

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5. Making the Course Grade Column

1. Create a calculated column.
2. Name the column Course Grade
3. Make the maximum weight 100. The weight will be
   a number between 0 and 100 as a percent.
4. Enter the following formula1/100/Course
   Complete(Asgmt GradeAsgmt WeightAsgmt
   CompleteTest GradeTest WeightTest
   CompleteQuiz GradeQuiz WeightQuiz
   Complete)

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6. Making the Predictive Grade Columns

1. Create a calculated column.
2. Name the column Target for A
3. Make the maximum weight 100. The weight will be
   a number between 0 and 100 as a percent.
4. Enter the following formula(formula assumes A is
   gt90)(90 Course CompleteCourse
   Grade/100)/(1 Course Complete/100)
5. Repeat for columns Target for B, Target for
   C, Target for D with 80, 70, 60 where 90 is in
   step D.

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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

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Category Complete Formulae

• 5 equally weighted assignments, 2 complete
• 100/52
• 7 equally weighted assignments, 3 complete
• 100/73
• 3 of 5 assignments complete each with different
  weights (10, 15, 25, 25, 25)
• 101525

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Category Grade Formulas

• 5 equally weighted assignments, 2 complete
• (Assignment 1Assignment 2)/2
• 7 equally weighted assignments, 3 complete
• (Assignment 1Assignment 2Assignment 3)/3
• 3 of 5 assignments complete each with different
  weights (10, 15, 25, 25, 25)
• 1/Assignment Complete(10Assignment
  115Assignment 225Assignment 3)
• Note average does not include missing grades.

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Updating After Giving Assessment

1. Update the corresponding Category Complete
   column
2. Update the corresponding Category Grade column
3. Verify updates are computing correctly
4. Look at your students current grades to see how
   they are doing

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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 DHint if
  you anticipate doing this, make a column for the
  cutoff and use this in the target formulas.

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Dropping Lowest Grade(s)

• Dropping the lowest Quiz grade
• Make a Min Quiz columnMINQuiz 1, Quiz 2,
  Quiz 3
• Make the Quiz Grade column(Quiz 1Quiz
  2Quiz 3Min Quiz)/2
• Dropping the lowest 2 Quiz grades cant!
  Instead you needa. One category for first
  halfb. One category for second halfc. Drop one
  from each half

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Optionally Replacing Lowest Grade

• Dropping the lowest Quiz grade
• Make a Min Quiz columnMINQuiz 1, Quiz 2,
  Quiz 3
• Make the Replacement Grade columnMAXMin
  Quiz, Other Work
• Make the Quiz Grade column(Quiz 1Quiz
  2Quiz 3 Min QuizReplacement Grade)/3

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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 dont see it.
• Once setup correctly, the grade book is not hard
  to keep up-to-date.

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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.