Intranet: Using the Marks Tool
Thu, 09/30/2010 - 20:30 | 
admin
With many marks to distribute and the need to guarantee your students' privacy, you may want to take advantage of the Intranet Marks Tool. The FIPPA web site at the university is specific about how marks distribution should occur.
Accessing the marks tool from your course page
Accessing the marks tool from your course page
The marks tool appears by default to all U of T Scarborough instructors. Start defining your course evaluation items by selecting the link 'edit evaluations' as illustrated in the Intranet course shell for MGTB23H3 below:
Creating an evaluation item using the marks tool
After selecting 'edit evaluations' you will see the 'create new evaluation item' screen. Enter the details of the first assignment, then click 'save'.
At this point you can either select the evaluation item for editing, or create another (new) item.
The interface has four regions or web forms representing blocks of marks management functions.
Region 1 allows you to add or delete assignments
Region 2 allows you to edit the details of a previously created assignment, and also set who it is visible to using 'marks delivery'. You must click 'edit' to change these settings.
Region 3 allows you to download or upload the marks to Excel or some other spreadsheet software as a comma-separated value (.csv) file. This approach allows you to take advantage of Excel formulas and functions. The usual procedure is to:
Region 2 allows you to edit the details of a previously created assignment, and also set who it is visible to using 'marks delivery'. You must click 'edit' to change these settings.
Region 3 allows you to download or upload the marks to Excel or some other spreadsheet software as a comma-separated value (.csv) file. This approach allows you to take advantage of Excel formulas and functions. The usual procedure is to:
- Create all the assignment items in the marks tool.
- Download a spreadsheet version of the marks 'model'. This produces a key that will fit the lock when you upload it later.
- Enter the marks on your local computer, using the spreadsheet program and resave the file as a .csv
- upload it back with the marks, this will refresh the intranet system based on matching student numbers.
Region 4 allows you to edit the marks of individual students, and set exceptions. Students who add or drop your course will
automatically appear, or be moved to the 'dropped' area respectively, at the bottom of the screen, based on our nightly
Student Information System synchronization.
Only .csv files in the form of the download file can be imported.
What the student sees
If the marks delivery was set to 'Show These Marks to Students', this is what a student would see. There is a space for the section average, but it is not displayed unless you set the marks delivery to "Also Show Section Average". You also now have the option to show the section's marks distribution in the form of a histogram.
automatically appear, or be moved to the 'dropped' area respectively, at the bottom of the screen, based on our nightly
Student Information System synchronization.
Only .csv files in the form of the download file can be imported.
What the student sees
If the marks delivery was set to 'Show These Marks to Students', this is what a student would see. There is a space for the section average, but it is not displayed unless you set the marks delivery to "Also Show Section Average". You also now have the option to show the section's marks distribution in the form of a histogram.
Advanced: Managing evaluations with multiple course sections
When adding evalution items, you have the option of selecting 'For all Students in this Course' or selecting a specific lecture section for the evaluation item. Depending on which option you select, the evaluation displays with -C if it's for all the students, and -S if it's just for a single section.
There is now the option of downloading a marks list for all the students of an entire course together, but this only occurs if all evaluation items are -C, i.e. the same for all sections. Otherwise, marks lists should be downloaded by first selecting each lecture section.
So, for example, if there are 185 students in section L01 and 81 students in section L60, one can only download a .csv spreadsheet for the L01 185 students, and another spreadsheet for the L60 81 students. If all the evaluation items are -C, if you upload a spreadsheet to L01 which contains both the L01 students and the L60 students, the marks in both sections will be updated.
When adding evalution items, you have the option of selecting 'For all Students in this Course' or selecting a specific lecture section for the evaluation item. Depending on which option you select, the evaluation displays with -C if it's for all the students, and -S if it's just for a single section.
There is now the option of downloading a marks list for all the students of an entire course together, but this only occurs if all evaluation items are -C, i.e. the same for all sections. Otherwise, marks lists should be downloaded by first selecting each lecture section.
So, for example, if there are 185 students in section L01 and 81 students in section L60, one can only download a .csv spreadsheet for the L01 185 students, and another spreadsheet for the L60 81 students. If all the evaluation items are -C, if you upload a spreadsheet to L01 which contains both the L01 students and the L60 students, the marks in both sections will be updated.
Advanced: Managing evaluations with multiple evaluators, such as T/As
When many people are involved in evaluating an assignment, it can be confusing as to where the mark data originates from in the marks tool. In the example above, Neuroscience I: Cell Anatomy and Physiology, there are two lecture sections, L01, and L60. There are also eight practical sections P0001 - P0007; P6001, with a total of nine people with roles in instruction. The main instructor, Janelle LeBoutillier, has the role of 'Course Coordinator' as well as lecturer assigned; this makes it possible for her to select between any lecture or section. In each view, you may see graphics like the following...these indicate on which screen the current mark was updated, and constitute a kind of editing trail. The actual name of the individual who last changed the mark was recently added to the interface, but no history of changes is maintained.
For the purposes of joint evaluation, TA's generally only have access to formally defined practical sections. Thus, if a lecturer would like to have a TA enter marks where there has been no practical section defined, the best way is to create the evaluation items for the course, download a spreadsheet of the marks list (student data+evaluation items), email it to the TA, and then upload the completed marks list (student data+evaluation items+marks) back to the system. Another possibility is to assign the TA the role of 'section marks updater', which gives the same level of control over marks as a lecturer has.
This is the view upon clicking 'enter marks' in practical section P0001 from the main marks page. Note that individuals with this level of access (teaching assistants or TA's) cannot add/edit/delete assignments. Downloading/uploading marks lists is also limited to the scope of the students in that practical section.
| Appears in Section View L60 |  |
'from P6001': this mark was last edited/imported from the P6001 practical view | |
 |
'from P0007': this mark was last edited/imported from the P0007 practical view | ||
 |
'from P0004': this mark was last edited/imported from the P0004 practical view | ||
| Appears in Practical View P0001 |  |
'to L01': this mark, edited/imported here, is being displayed in the L01 section view | |
 |
'from L01': this mark was last edited/imported from the L01 section view | ||
 |
'to L60': this mark, edited/imported here, is being displayed in the L60 section view |
For the purposes of joint evaluation, currently TA's can only have access to formally defined practical sections. If a lecturer would like to have a TA enter marks where there has been no practical section defined, currently, the easiest way is to create the evaluation items for the course, download a spreadsheet of the marks list (student data+evaluation items), email it to the TA, and then upload the completed marks list (student data+evaluation items+marks) back to the system. This policy will be changing in the Fall as lecturers will have the ability to assign greater authority over marks distribution to their T/As: emailing will be unnecessary. This is the view upon clicking 'enter marks' in practical section P0001 from the main marks page. Note that individuals with this level of access (teaching assistants or TA's) cannot add/edit/delete assignments.
Downloading/uploading marks lists is also limited to the scope of the students in that practical section.
Downloading/uploading marks lists is also limited to the scope of the students in that practical section.
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