A classlist file in text .cvs spreadsheet format is available from either of the following two locations:
Student ID, Term, Subject (in upper case), Catalog Number (any letters in upper case), Section Number, Final Grade (typically blank), Last Name, Given Names
Note the lack of a UWDir/Quest login name which is very useful for communicating via UW email.
The second version of the classlist includes the same data as the first version plus a student's UWDir login/email name. It also contains many more columns - all those displayed on the Quest classlist web page. I recommend downloading this version of the classlist when not using UW-ACE. The unwanted columns can be removed or hidden in a spreadsheet program.
Student ID, Term, Subject (in upper case), Catalog Number (any letters in upper case), Section Number, Final Grade (typically 0), UWDir/Quest login name, "Last Name, Given Names" (note: a single, quoted field)
Quest's Help section describes how to submit grade files online, including how to first download grades from UW-ACE. Follow the link to find
name of the Tools tab in UW-ACE has since changed to Manage tab starting in the Fall 2006 term.
Grades can be re-submitted until the first day of classes. After this date, only paper versions can be submitted (see page 1 of the "Quest Electronic Grades Submission - PC Users" mentioned above).
Quest won't release grades to students until the day after the end of exams, following university policy 19:
3. POSTING OF STUDENT GRADES
Provided the identity of individual students is protected, an instructor may convey information about student academic performance (e.g., grades on assignments, mid-term or final examinations) by posting results in a public place such as an office door, bulletin board or course website. Final examination and final course grades shall not be posted before the final examination period ends.
If modification of grades is needed due to missed exams, incomplete term work etc, a list of alternative grades is located under section Undergraduate Records in a Registrar's info page about transcripts. These non-numeric grades e.g. INC, can replace number grades in grade files submitted to Quest.
The required six columns of the grade text file submitted to Quest in .csv comma-separated-values format are
e.g. 22222795,1069,CS,401,001,75,cbravo,Bravo,Charlie
Extra columns submitted (like the name columns in the example above) will be ignored by Quest. Partial class files will be accepted by Quest. A student grade won't be changed it is if not included in a partial class file.
When a course Gradebook calculates a student's final grade then the grade file downloaded from UW-ACE can be uploaded into Quest. The file is created with a UW-ACE command in the Manage tab:
Manage > Quest_Gradebook_Export_Final_Marks (in Instructor Tools box)
The grade file contains a single mark column, not all the marks in the Gradebook. For a file of all marks in the Gradebook, use the Export command:
Manage > Gradebook > Export Grades
When a course Gradebook does not calculate a student's final grade then final grades can be added to a .cvs spreadsheet classlist file available from Quest or UW-ACE (see the two locations mentioned at the start of this page).
Grades taken directly from the UW-ACE Gradebook (via Manage > Gradebook > Export Grades) are in a format:
"Bravo,Charlie",cbravo,22222795,75,22,32,...
which is a bit different than the required Quest format above.
See the Using the Gradebook Guide (pdf, 25 pages) in UW-ACE documentation, located within the UW-ACE help page.
Also see Setting up the Gradebook for some advice.
When a course uses the Gradebook, students normally see their individual marks through the Report tab (and sometimes the Course tab). Gradebook settings control which marks are visible to students.
To hide UW-ACE gradebook final grades (until after the examination period), navigate in UW-ACE
Manage > Gradebook > Preferences
and uncheck the option box "Display Overall Average" and Save.
To hide a gradebook category average column number, edit the category:
Manage > Gradebook > Categories
To hide a gradebook category assignment column number, edit the assignment:
Manage > Gradebook > Assignments
Hidden assignments and categories are included in the overall percentage
student grade.
To remove category marks from the overall student average, change
the category weight to 0.
To review which gradebook marks are visible, examine the results for selected students from each of
Manage > Report > Learner Profile > Gradebook Grades > View Table
Manage > Report > Grades > Student Grades
To hide category averages showing within the Course tab (recommended)
Course > Edit Page, and click X in the Grades component rectangle
Keeping students up to date on their progress enables them to better plan their studies and is easy for instructors or TAs to do.
As a UW-ACE Course Editor, grades can be uploaded to the course Gradebook in a text file. TAs with only Course Assistant access rights are limited to entering grades one at a time, either "by assignment" or "by student". If you are a Course Assistant and want to save time entering marks, contact me to upgrade your access.
The command to upload a mark file is called Import Grades and is located under the Gradebook Setup column in the Gradebook, under the Manage tab. The one-grade-at-a-time entry methods are located under the Enter/Edit Grade column of the Gradebook (Manage > Gradebook).
A marks file is a plain text file, with comma, tab or other character separating columns. There is no required order to the columns. These file formats are available through export from a spreadsheet.
You can import a single column from a marks files or many columns at once from a file. You can re-import to modify a column of marks already in the Gradebook. You can import part of a roster of marks. A blank cell in the marks file doesn't change a Gradebook mark during import.
To identify students, the Gradebook uses a student's user id (e.g. pkates) as a key field. If a student's user id isn't in the imported marks file, the student's marks remain unchanged in the gradebook.
The column of student user ids (which are the same as UW-ACE login ids and UWDir users ids) are limited by UW-ACE to be not more than 8 characters. Class lists including 8 character user IDs are available from locations mentioned at the start of this document.
The following is a short example of a marks file:
Col-0 Col-1 Col-2 ... s bif23sim 100 t pkates 3.1415 u . . f . . f . .
The Import Grades command sees file columns as numbered and starting from column 0, not column A as in a real spreadsheet.
To upload marks, navigate in the UW-ACE course to the Gradebook (Manage > Gradebook) and click Import Grades on the left side, under "Gradebook Setup". Click "Browse" and in the pop-up window navigate to the spreadsheet text file of marks on your PC, click to select the marks file, and click the "Open" button.
Select the column delimiter character or type the character in the box. Click "Next".
Use the pull-down menus to match up the file columns with the gradebook columns. Note that the file columns are numbered starting from column 0, not column A as in a real spreadsheet.
In the first pull-down menu, labelled User ID:, select the file column holding the student id key. Do the same for the second pull-down menu labelled Login Name:. In the remaining pull-down menus, select the Gradebook column assignment for each marks column you wish to upload. If your marks file has column titles that match up with the Gradebook assignment titles, the default pull-down menu selections will probably be right. Check anyway.
In the example above, if marks file column Col-2 held marks for Gradebook assignment Lab5 then the pull-down menu selections would be:
User ID: Column 1 Login Name: Column 1 Column 0: (skip) Column 1: (skip) Column 2: Lab5 Column 3: (skip) ...
Click "Percentage" if the marks in the file represent percentage values, otherwise click "Points".
Leave the box "Lock Imported Grades" as checked.
Click "Finish"
The import action doesn't report how many marks it is adding (it doesn't report if mark import failed either, unfortunately), but it does present you with the rows of marks in the Gradebook where you can check for the newly added marks. Check that the marks look ok.
Click "Done" to return to the Gradebook menu.
Paul Kates, Mathematics Faculty CTE Liaison, pkates@uwaterloo.ca, x37047.
Last modification date: Fri Oct 01 11:43:56 2010.