Creating an Informative & Predictive Grade Book

Jam JenkinsAssistant Professor

Information TechnologyGeorgia Gwinnett College

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.

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

WebCT has Calculated Columns

• Uses other columns to generate value

• Has functions– max– min– sum– average

• Terrible interface – more on this later

Calculated Columns

Calculated Columns

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

1. Making the Weight Columns

A. Create a calculated column for each major category of grade.

B. Name the column ‘Assignment Weight’, ‘Test Weight’, or whatever the category name is followed by ‘Weight’

C. Make the maximum weight 100. The weights will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent of grade.

D. Edit the calculated column to enter the actual weight of that category. No formulas are needed here, just a number.

2. Making the Grade Columns

A. Create a calculated column for each major category of grade.

B. Name the column ‘Assignment Grade’, ‘Test Grade’, or whatever the category name is followed by ‘Grade’

C. Make the maximum weight 100. The weights will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent.

D. The formula for the Grade Columns will be entered later.

3. Making the Complete Columns

A. Create a calculated column for each major category of grade.

B. Name the column ‘Assignment Complete’, ‘Test Complete’, or whatever the category name is followed by ‘Complete’

C. Make the maximum weight 100. The weights will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent.

D. Edit the calculated column and enter the value zero since no grades have been given yet.

4. Making the Course Complete Column

A. Create a calculated column.B. Name the column ‘Course Complete’C. Make the maximum weight 100. The

weight will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent.

D. Enter the following formula:

1/100*([Test Complete]*[Test Weight]+[Assignment Complete]*[Assignment Weight]+[Quiz Complete]*[Quiz Weight]+…)

5. Making the Course Grade Column

A. Create a calculated column.B. Name the column ‘Course Grade’C. Make the maximum weight 100. The weight

will be a number between 0 and 100 as a percent.

D. 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]+…)

6. Making the Predictive Grade Columns

A. Create a calculated column.B. Name the column ‘Target for A’C. Make the maximum weight 100. The weight will be a

number between 0 and 100 as a percent.D. Enter the following formula

(formula assumes A is >90):

(90 – [Course Complete]*[Course Grade]/100)/(1 – [Course Complete]/100)

E. Repeat for columns ‘Target for B’, ‘Target for C’, ‘Target for D’ with 80, 70, 60 where 90 is in step D.

7. Making & Updating the Category Columns

When you give an assessment:A. Update the category complete column for

that category. At the end of the course, each category complete column should be 100.

B. Update the category grade column for that category.

Examples on next slides …

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

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.

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

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.

Dropping Lowest Grade(s)

Dropping the lowest Quiz grade:1. Make a ‘Min Quiz’ column:

MIN{[Quiz 1], [Quiz 2], [Quiz 3]}2. 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

Optionally Replacing Lowest Grade

Dropping the lowest Quiz grade:

1. Make a ‘Min Quiz’ column:MIN{[Quiz 1], [Quiz 2], [Quiz 3]}

2. Make the ‘Replacement Grade’ column:MAX{[Min Quiz], [Other Work]}

3. Make the ‘Quiz Grade’ column:([Quiz 1]+[Quiz 2]+[Quiz 3] –[Min Quiz]+[Replacement Grade])/3

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.

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.