[LON-CAPA-users] loncapa as your CMS, use of gradebook?

Todd Ruskell lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org
Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:49:03 -0700


I would add to Gerd's remarks:
It is pretty easy to make a multipart "score upload" problem.  See
/res/csm/truskell/PHGN200/Participation/Fa06Particip.problem.

Also, the TA role allows the TAs to enter grades directly, so all I use
the LON-CAPA spreadsheet as my sole gradebook.  No messy merging of
spreadsheets, etc.  All gets directly entered.

Todd

Gerd Kortemeyer wrote:
> 
> On Mar 8, 2007, at 8:57 AM, James Sullivan wrote:
> 
>> This is a rather general question regarding those of you who use
>> loncapa as your sole CMS. I am currently using Blackboard and loncapa
>> for my courses. The primary reason I use Blackboard is for the ease of
>> entering grade information for non-loncapa assignments (handwritten
>> homework, labs, etc.). For ease of maintenance of my courses, I would
>> like to give up the use of BB entirely so that I only have to maintain
>> my loncapa courses.
>>
>> For those of you using loncapa as your sole CMS, how do you handle
>> entering of grades for non-loncapa assignments? Advice, suggestions,
>> etc. would be much appreciated.
> 
> The real difference in LON-CAPA is that every external grade needs to be
> represented by at least one problem part in a document in the course -
> the assignments are embedded into the content. There is to my knowledge
> nothing that the BlackBoard gradebook can do that LON-CAPA cannot - but
> being LON-CAPA, it's "different."
> 
> I just use the grade upload form in DOCS, or make the assignments into
> handgraded responses, or use essay.
> 
> GRADE UPLOAD DOCS
> 
> Probably the simplest way. In DOCS, use "Special Documents", "Score
> Upload Form" - one for every gradeable external item in the course.
> Students can see their score by NAVigating to the form.
> 
> HANDGRADED RESPONSES
> 
> I have weekly recitations, which are graded by the TAs. The sheets for
> the recitations I generate in LON-CAPA, see for example
> 
>  /res/msu/kortemey/physicslib/recitations/capacitorspost.problem
> 
> so that different students get different sheets - but the computer does
> not grade this, and the students don't enter anything online. The
> recitation has the code in it:
> 
> <parameter part="0" name="handgrade" id="31" type="string_yesno"
> default="yes" display="Hand Grade [Part: 0]" />
> <parameter name="weight" id="11" type="float_pos" default="24"
> description="Weight" />
> <parameter name="scoreformat" id="14" default="1f" type="string"
> description="Format for display of score" />
> <script type="loncapa/perl">
> $weight=&EXT('resource.0.weight');
> if ((!defined($weight)) || ($weight eq '')) { $weight=1; }
> $awarded=&EXT('user.resource.resource.0.awarded');
> if (!defined($awarded)) { $awarded=0; }
> $scoreformat=&EXT('resource.0.scoreformat');
> if (!defined($scoreformat) || $scoreformat eq '') { $scoreformat="2f"; }
> if ($awarded) {
>    $points=$awarded*$weight;
>    $message="You have $points out of $weight possible points."
> } else {
>    $message="$weight available points."
> }</script>
> 
> <startouttext />
> <web>$message</web>
> <endouttext />
> 
> - the grades from the TAs I upload using a spreadsheet in PGRD. Students
> can see their score by NAVigating to the recitations.
> 
> ESSAY UPLOAD
> 
> I also have honors reports that I handgrade. For those, I am using the
> same problem over and over, one problem for every week of reports, with
> titles corresponding to the assignments.
> 
>  /res/msu/kortemey/physicslib/honors.problem
> 
> <problem>
> <startouttext />
> <h1>Honors Option Report</h1>
> You are required to work through the online material and problems ahead
> of the course schedule for eight chapters of this course, and submit a
> detailed report regarding technical problems, unclear formulations,
> inconsistencies, spelling, mathematical and grammatical
> errors.<endouttext />
> <essayresponse id="11">
>     <responseparam name="uploadedfiletypes" type="string_fileext"
> default="doc,pdf,txt" description="Allowed File Extensions for Uploaded
> Files" />
> <textfield></textfield>
> </essayresponse>
> </problem>
> 
> I grade from PGRD, using the option "with ungraded responses." Students
> can see their score by NAVigating to the upload forms.
> 
> - Gerd.
> 
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-- 
Dr. Todd Ruskell
Senior Lecturer, Department of Physics       Office:  Meyer Hall 326
Colorado School of Mines                     Phone: 303-384-2080
1523 Illinois Street                         Fax: 303-273-3919
Golden, CO 80401