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Gradebook: Q&As for Students Views of Assignments/Gradebook

CSI Staff

Staff Writer

Center for Support of Instruction

Category: » Webtycho » Gradebook-assignments-portfolio

The Questions list here is followed by the Answers section. See also FAQs/Q&As related to

• setting up new assignments in the Gradebook
• managing student assignment submissions
  

For basic instructions on student management of assignments, see the WebTycho User Guide/ Assignments link

ANSWERS

Do students see a "Gradebook" link on their WebTycho class menu, as I do?

NO. Where instructors see "Gradebook" on the class menu, students see "Assignments Folder" (see menu examples at right). Each assignment item in the students' Assignments Folder (see sample below) has a link that opens a text submission form, similar to a Conference topic creation form. The student can type or paste text in the form and/or attach a file and then save or submit for grading. The WebTycho User Guide provides Student Instructions for Assignments.

Faculty Class Menu

Student Class Menu

Why have a choice to "Make this assignment available in students' Assignment Folders" when I create a new assignment? Wouldn't I want to make ALL assignments available in students' Assignment Folders?

Whether or not to make an assignment "available in students' Assignments Folders" is an issue of (a) access permissions and (b) turn-in location, not of creating an overview of all assignments for students. What is made available in the students' Assignments Folders gives them a location to turn in assignments privately such that only the student who submits work and the instructor(s) can read it. Think of the Assignments Folder simply as a creation location and a "private drop box" for students' individual work.

This generally does not include group assignments that are turned in/collected in the Study Groups conference or collaborative documents areas; nor does it include public class participation that is conducted in Conferences. Making these kinds of graded items "available in students' Assignments Folders" tends to confuse students, who wonder if they are being asked to create or turn in these assignments twice.

Note: "Availability" of assignments in students' Assignments Folders does not affect an instructor's ability to grade them.

Do the students' Assignments Folders work about the same as my Gradebook?

No, the two areas are NOT comparable in either appearance or function!!!!

• A student's Assignments Folder functions as a creation center and "drop box" for private, individual assignments. It lists only the items the instructor has selected in Manage Gradebook to be "Available" there, i.e., only the items students should submit privately. It is not intended to provide an overview of the term's work, as the Syllabus does and as the instructor's Gradebook does.
• By the end of the term, the Assignments Folder should be empty. Once graded, assignment items disappear from students' Assignments Folders, to reappear in their Portfolios with grades/comments.
• Grades do not appear in Assignments Folders at all; grades appear to students only in their Portfolios.
• There are no "tabs" in Assignments Folders equivalent to what instructors see in Gradebook to distinguish assignments.

Once you have set up your Gradebook, go to Faculty Center/Gradebook row/Preview Student Assignment Folder to see how it appears to your students (see sample Assignments Folder image above). Whereas your "Preview" is static, the students' folders are dynamic and should be blank by the end of the semester after all assignments have been turned in and graded.

Now that I have set up the Gradebook, what does the student see compared to what I see?

The student will not be able to see or submit any assignments in the Assignment folder until you have set up your Gradebook.  Once you have created the assignments in the Gradebook, those that are marked to be Available in the Assignments Folder will appear to the students there.  You can check which assignments the students see by visiting your classroom Faculty Center and selecting the link to [Preview Student Assignment Folder] in the Gradebook row (see sample Assignements Folder image above).

The following is a comparison of various stages of the setup, submission, and grading of assignments in the instructor views of the Gradebook and the students' views of their Assignments Folders.

Student View (1)

Students have no options in the Assignment Folder if no assignments have been made available there.

Instructor View (2)

When the instructor creates a new assignment in the Gradebook, the item appears in the Gradebook both in the Overview and in the Manage Assignments pages.

Student View (2)

If the new assignment item has been made "available" in the students' Assignments Folders, its title appears there as a link that opens a text creation/submission form that allows students to create, save as a draft for personal review, and ultimately submit their assignment to the instructor for grading.

Instructor View (3)

Once the assignment is close to being due, the faculty member can check the Gradebook periodically to see if there are any "View" links in the tab page for the assignment in the Gradebook.  Until submitted for a Grade, the Gradebook indicates NO assignment link in the "Received via folder" column.

Student View (3)

Until the due date or lock date, students can work on the assignment at any time and save their work online before a final submission for grading.  The status shown in the Assignment Folder is "Saved." The instructor cannot view the assignment until the student submits it for grading.

Instructor View (4)

Once the student has submitted the assignment, then and only then can the Instructor "View" it via the link in the Gradebook tab for the assignment item, in the row for the student.

Student View (4)

The Student receives a message of confirmation once the assignment is successfully submitted to the instructor for viewing and grading.

Instructor View (5)

After clicking on the View link for the assignment, the instructor can use the links on the blue "action bar" to

• Mark the assignment as "Read" (which assures students that the instructor does see the submission; explain to students that "Read" means "Received")
• Assign a grade (and comment and/or mark-up as an attachment)
• Return the assignment to the student for resubmission, if necessary.

Student View (5)

Until the Assignment is graded by the instructor, the student continues to see a listing in the Assignment folder for that assignment.  (After a grade is assigned, the system removes the assignment item from the student's Assignments Folder and transfers it to the student's Portfolio, complete with grade and any comments and/or attachments from the instructor.)

Instructor View (6)

Once the instructor has graded the assignment and submitted that grade and comments to the Gradebook, the grade and comments are available to the student in his/her Portfolio, and the item is no longer available in the Assignments Folder at all.

Student View (6)

Only the student and faculty member can view the individual student's Portfolio to see the grades and comments on the graded assignment.

I imported my Gradebook from last term and I can see all the assignments; why can't students see them?

When importing a Gradebook from a previous semester's classroom, by default, ALL entries are imported as being NOT AVAILABLE in students' Assignments Folders. Instructors can see them to edit them, but students cannot. You must edit EACH assignment that you wish students to submit privately into your Gradebook to make the item AVAILABLE to students in their Assignments Folders.

To edit the assignments to make them Available, in your WebTycho classroom,

• Select Gradebook--> Manage Assignments
• Select the Edit link to the left of the Assignment title
• Scroll down to the section of the Assignment form entitled "Do you want this assignment to be available in student Assignment Folders?" and select the radio button for YES.
• Submit.

How will my students know whether my grading is designated in % or points?

Student will see indicators of your grading method in the individual assignment form itself as well as in their portfolios after you grade the assignment, but not in table form in their Assignments Folders. If you choose percentage as the grading method, the student will see "%" next to the grade in the grade cell in his/her Portfolio's Graded Assignments table. If you choose points, the student will see the grade as a fraction (e.g., 48/50) in the Portfolio's grade box.

For both methods, the instructor will see numbers in the Overview tables for all students' grades and will have to remember whether the number represents a percentage or fraction of total number of points, or refer to the Manage Assignments page. However, in the instructor's individual grading form for each student's work for the assignment, the table at the head of the form indicates Grading Method as either "%" or total number of points available for the assignment, as established when the assignment was created in the Gradebook.