That sounds great Deb. With just a small up front investment, sounds like you were able to produce a healthy return.
It took me about 2 hours to work out the "bugs". Part of the motivation was to demonstrate to my advanced Excel students how useful those tools can be. The other motivating factor was the need to meet with and counsel students whose attendance rate falls below 80%.
Wow, your filters and macros sound very sophisticated Deb. You must have taken some time to develop such an organized system. Often times, good organization systems seem to evolve over time - getting better and better.
Although we don't have the type of system where grades can be posted for students to view, I have used Excel as my grade book for several years. My workbooks are color coded by types of assessments (participation, homework, quizzes, tests, projects), so I can quickly identify what area(s) a student may be having an issue with.
I've also developed filters and macros in my workbook that quickly help me identify students in each class who may be having attendance issues that are contributing to problems with overall grades.
Each term, it is just a matter of typing in the rosters for the classes and updating dates. If there is a change in the syllabus in regards to the weighting of grades, it takes only a matter of seconds for me to update my formula.
It is really great to be able to post answers to FAQs online. Saves a lot of time by allowing instructors to answer the question just once.
I agree this is an excellent time saver not to mention the discussion groups. Not to only can the students use the discussion group to communicate and get answers to questions but the instructor is able to use it as well to post answers to frequently asked questions -which saves time as well.
I find this very helpful to keep students up to date on where they are at in the class. You can also post assignments and lecture notes they may have missed.
The on-line grade book is terrific; however the instructor needs to be consistant about posting grades immediately.
I also use an electronic gradebook which allows me to post the grades online so the students have immediate access to his/her grades.
agree. It is really nice to allow students to cross check their grades Karen. As instructors, we are still only human and we do make mistakes. Our students can help us be more accurate...and of course, they have a vested interest.
I agree. It is really nice to allow students to cross check their grades Karen. As instructors, we are still only human and we do make mistakes. Our students can help us be more accurate...and of course, they have a vested interest.
This is a huge time saver. With our grade book, once you post, the students will see their grades and know exactly how they are doing. I always tell me students to check their grades on line and if they see a problem to let me know immediately. Was the grade a typo? Did I type in 48 instead of 84. It does happen. I may grade and post their grades in the evening and review the test in class the next day.
