Sustainable GradingRalph Westfall, Ph.D. April 2009
http:/www.csupomona.edu/~rdwestfall/grading/sustaingrade.ppthttp:/www.csupomona.edu/~rdwestfall/grading/
What Is Sustainable Grading?• Sustainable in terms of:• Reducing or eliminating paper usage• Conserving the time and energy of the person doing
the grading
Grading Problems• Context: computer programming and web
development classes
• Issues• Too many students (90 in CIS120!)• Takes too long per student• Inconsistencies in evaluations• Hard to spot cheating• Paper is inefficient, especially when using a
learning management system (Blackboard)• killing trees• searching content is difficult
Computer Assisted Grading• Things that I have tried in conjunction with learning
management systems• Multiple Word files• Notepad files• Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
• for sequencing grading as first-in/first out• for recording detail and calculating scores
• Custom software I'm developing
Multiple Word Files• Students submit all assignments into
Blackboard in zip files that include:• individual programming code files for testing• Word files that have pasted into them: • all relevant code• images of user interfaces when running• possibly outputs
• Grade files in order submitted (sort dates in Excel)• turn on Track Changes• mark comments with ** to make easy to find and total• refer back to previously graded files for consistency (can
copy comments)
Word Files Demonstration• Ken
Multiple Word: Pros and Cons• Pluses• Increased consistency• Easier to spot cheating• Can provide relatively detailed feed back and
corrections• Can use Find to locate and help total deductions
• Minuses• Time consuming• High human memory demands
Notepad Files• Paste frequently used comments into Notepad• Including ** marker and scoring
• Paste them back into Word documents or Blackboard feedback
Notepad Demonstration• CIS 120
Notepad File Pros and Cons• Pros• simple• consistent on common issues
• Cons• Awkward• Somewhat labor intensive• Not comprehensive/not scalable• No sorting capability
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet• Rubrics in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet• 1st column: points off• 2nd column: summary of grading issues• After that, one column per student (in submission
order determined with Excel )• Totals for each column• Split or Freeze Panes feature allows keeping first
two columns visible while scrolling horizontally through users
Excel Demonstration• Dummy class
Microsoft Excel Pros and Cons• Pluses• High consistency• Very easy to spot cheating
• Minuses• Feed back and corrections often must be compressed
due to limitations of width of computer screen• Copying comments from spreadsheet into users Word file
is labor intensive• Unwieldy to deal with more than one screen of grading
items, which is not enough in many situations• Sorting grading comments makes them easier to use, but
takes extra effort
More Automation with Excel?• Use Visual Basic for Applications to make the
spreadsheet easier to use• Could reduce labor but would still be limited in
terms of comment detail• Would require extra coding to make as fail-safe as
a database application• Less analytical possibilities than a database
application
Stand-Alone Application• Visual Basic plus a database• Less coding than an Excel application would require• Use existing database capabilities rather than adding
them to Excel's capabilities• More extensible• Easier to maintain
• Labor-saving functionalities• Automate copying of comments rather than having to
manually select and copy• Built in sorting and seeking facilities in combobox that
holds all the comments
Demonstration of System• Download and extract files from GradeSQL.zip
into a folder on your Desktop (or wherever)
• Double-click GradeSQL.exe file in Debug folder
• Use Set Up tab to load items from database
• Click item you want to use and in right combobox and then paste it (Ctrl V) into file you are grading
• Type new comment in left textbox and click Add to add it to combobox and database
Future Plans• Implement desirable enhancements identified
through use
• Register it with Source Forge as an open source project
• Publicize it• MERLOT• Forums and mailing lists• Follow up publication in an academic outlet