Teaching with Technology II: Gradebook

TTY: Becky Barlag, Mykaylo Korda

The electronic course management systems(Blackboard, Web CT etc) have a gradebook. Whether or not to use the gradebook is the decision of the professor. I’m going to outline some pro’s and con’s based on my experiences with Blackboard (Bb).

I have been using the on-line gradebook exclusively for over two years. I am not an enthusiastic user but I believe the pro’s outweigh the con’s.

The pro’s for an on-line gradebook are fairly obvious.
1. The student sees the grades as you have them. If there were any errors in recording or a grade adjustment, the student knows what information you have. At the end of the term, there are no misunderstandings, the grades are as the student sees.
2. Bb allows a professor to control when a student sees the grades. Normally I post them on Bb immediately after an exam, but I do not make them available for students to see under about a week after the exam has been returned. That way, the student picks up his/her paper in class, has a week to request a closer look at any grading issues, I can make any minor changes, and then the real grade appears on Bb. Those students who have not attended class (to pick up graded exam) don't find out their grades until about a week after everyone else.... perhaps that's a hint to come to class!

The con’s as I see it are more technical.
1. The course managements systems have some (but not all) information that is on the university grade recording system (SIS). The reasons are associated with security mainly. In our system the courses have a unique number (the Call Number) for each offering but that number is not available to the Bb system. Instead the Bb system has to use a section number. Similarly each student has a unique Personal Identification Number(PID) on the university system (SIS) but the Bb system uses a different but unique number. Thus a professor who uses the Bb gradebook needs to be aware of the differences between the systems and be willing to work within the framework.
2. The rosters on our Bb system are updated daily in the first part of the term and those who drop the course no not appear. On the university system the names of those who withdraw after a certain date still appear and must receive a grade at the end of the term (like Withdraw Pass, Withdraw Fail etc)
3. Entering grades on-line can be by two methods: directly (a bit slow and tedious, in my opinion), and the download/upload method (my preference). This takes some experience because the dynamic rosters do cause problems with incompatible lists.
4. The downloaded spreadsheet comes in a simple version of Excel. So to do more complete types of calculations, you need to copy the downloaded spreadsheet into your favorite version of Excel. This is cumbersome, but manageable. I have accepted this drawback.

The gradebook has some features that you may or may not use including the percent of the course for each component (weightings) and some useful management tools. It does take some effort and patience. That's why I've acknowledged two of my colleagues in the TTY section who pushed me a bit two years ago to try this out. I'll continue to use it.

So, judge for yourself about the on-line gradebook. As I said, I’ve been using it exclusively for two years. My colleagues are split on the issue. Most do not use it, some do. It would be nice if the process were easier to manage, perhaps in the not-too-distant future. Other opinions? Other experiences??