Post Final Grades to Web Services

You've made it through the semester and now it's time to post the final grades.  Does that happen automatically once you see the final grade in ANGEL?  Unfortunately, no.  You must manually post those grades to Web Services.

Here's how:

Log in to Web Services Hover over the Faculty drop down menu area Select Grade Entry from the list (and then be patient)

The screen may take a little while before it fully appears - it will list all of your courses from the semester in a drop down list next to the My Courses area Use the drop down menu (1) and select the course you want to enter grades Go to the individual student listings and use the drop down menu (2) to select A, B, C, D, F or I... repeat until you have all of your student grades selected Once you have all grades selected, click the check box in front of Post Grades (3) To post so that the grades are received properly by the Records office, click the round green button (4) NOTE:  Once you have clicked the round green button, if you need to change grades later you will need to contact the Records department directly so they can manually make that change for you.

As always, when you have questions or need some additional help, give one of us in ITDE a call and we'll be happy to help you!

Pending Items

What on earth is a Pending Item?

Sometimes, have students said they have submitted an assignment created using the Assessment tool but when you go to check it out, it's not there?  Do you know about the Pending area in ANGEL?  Pending is the Purgatory of ANGEL where the assignment is not submitted, but not available to students either.  This is when you will have to access the Pending items and make a few decisions.

It is definitely important for you to check this area regularly.  Remember:  PENDING!!!

First, go to the item and select Submissions
The submissions menu will open up a window like this: Usually, you choose "View, Grade or Delete Submissions" when you want to grade student submissions, but in this case, choose the third item on the list "Pending Items" If there is nothing on the list, you do not have to do anything more.  However, if there is student work in the Pending area, it will show up in a list.
If you would like to see what students have done so far, you can choose the View button. If you want to delete the student submission so the student can try again, choose the Delete button. If you want to just submit what the student has done so you can grade what is there, choose the Submit button.

Print the Gradebook Grades (or just create a PDF of them anyway)

Gradebook and Records

As the semester moves along, it is good practice to keep a copy of student grades for your records.  Even though you may be keeping the grades on ANGEL, it is still a good idea to run a report of student grades every week or every couple of weeks and print or keep a copy on your computer or your common drive.


ANGEL has a really nice way to create this record by producing a PDF file.  Here's how:

	Go to the Manage tab and select Gradebook Look in the left side list and select "Print Grades" This pops open a new window with options for printing the grades
	You should now see the View or Print Gradebook PDF window Most of the time, you will want to leave the Format Settings the way they automatically display, but do take a look at the options and decide if you need to make any changes. NOTE:  if you choose the last option of "Show Averages Only" it will NOT display individual graded items and will only show the Category averages.  If you want to see all of the graded items plus the averages, DO NOT SELECT that last option. Once you click the Generate PDF button, a new window should appear as a PDF display of your gradebook.
	Once the PDF window appears, you may just view the record, print it or keep a copy. If you want to save a copy on your computer or on the common drive Select the litte button on the toolbar that looks like a disk (2nd button) Decide where you want to save the document by making the selection from the Save in box We highly recommend you change the File name to reflect the course and current date for which you are running the Gradebook grades such as PS100_816101S_20Oct2010 Click the Save button NOTE:  When naming this file, you should NOT use any special characters in the title such as ? / > < ) ( * & ^ % $ # @ ! and especially not the period.  If you want to designate space in the title, use the underscore ( _ ) or a regular hyphen (-).

Link items to the gradebook

When you look at your gradebook are the items you assigned and intended to grade from the lessons all listed in the gradebook?

Each assignment your students complete should have its own column in the gradebook and its own gradable item (discussion, dropbox, assessment, etc.). This will make your life so much easier!! When you grade an item from the submission on the Lessons tab, it should automatically enter into the gradebook. How do you make that happen? Here's how!

Linking the Lesson Item to a Gradebook column:

From Lessons, go to the item you want students to complete or submit (discussion, dropbox, assessment, etc.) and click the Settings tab
Look for the Assignment tab and click it.  If under the Gradebook Settings it says (None), you will need to click the dropdown and select (New Assignment) NOTE ABOUT (NEW ASSIGNMENT):  ALWAYS CHOOSE (NEW ASSIGNMENT) TO ADD A GRADABLE ITEM TO THE GRADEBOOK!!!  (If you would like a little more detailed explantion, give Jeff or Angela a call and they will be happy to explain in more depth.)
Now select the options to make this item fit in your gradebook properly, such as the category, how many points it is worth, and the Calculation Type Category - choose the proper category for the assignment from the drop down menu Points Possible - how many points is this assignment worth? Calculation Type - there are FIVE choices and here are how they work: Average score - if students are allowed to submit multiple times and you want to take the average of their scores Maximum score - the highest score if students submit multipel times First submission - (default) the first score recorded for a student Last submission (RECOMMENDED CHOICE)- the last score recorded for a student  Manual - do not choose this option for anything submitted electronically; only choose this option if students physically hand in items to you in class Display Format - shows the choices you made in the Preferences area and you should just leave as Default since those choices are already made Remember to click SAVE or you will get to do this all over again!

How to Submit Grades through Web Services (Not Really a Wingtip)

This is not really a Wingtip since it is not about ANGEL, but it is necessary for you to post your grades at the end of a semester on Web Services.  How do you do that?

1.  Start at the HCC website, www.hutchcc.edu   and select HCC Web Services (Faculty and Staff)

2.  Then Login to HCCWeb Services page 

3.  Once you are logged in, the HCCWeb Services page will pop up.  Hover over the Faculty heading and then select Grade Entry.

4.  When the next screen appears, choose your semester and hit Go or key in your exact course ID and  hit Go.

5.  The next screen will show all of the possible classes for which you need to enter grades.  Choose the course and click Go again.

And choose the Final Grades for each student

That's all there is to it!  Remember to submit your grades to Web Services on or before the due date for the grades, please!

Pending Items: The Assignment Purgatory of ANGEL

What on earth is a Pending Item?

Sometimes, have students said they have submitted an assignment created using the Assessment tool but when you go to check it out, it's not there?  Do you know about the Pending area in ANGEL?  Pending is the Purgatory of ANGEL where the assignment is not submitted, but not available to students either.  This is when you will have to access the Pending items and make a few decisions.

First, go to the item and choose Utilities

The Utilities menu will open up a window like this:

Choose the last item on the list:  Pending Items. If there is no student work in the Pending area, you do not have to do anything more.   However, if there is student work in the Pending area, it will show up in a list.  

If you would like to see what students have done so far, you can choose the View button.

If you want to delete the student submission so the student can try again, choose the Delete button.

If you want to just submit what the student has done so you can grade what is there, choose the Submit button.

That's all there is to it, but it is an important area for you to check regularly.  Remember:  PENDING!

Give us a call in ITDE if you have any questions.

Gradebook (Part I) - Initial decisions for your gradebook and setting Preferences

If this is your first time to use ANGEL for your web-supported course, there are a couple of things you need to do to set the gradebook up to work properly for you and your students.

There are actually four decisions you need to make and then things will run smoothly:
1.  Set Preferences
2.  Choose your categories
3.  Set the grading scale
4.  Choose the items you want to grade and record

NOTE:  The first time you go to the gradebook, you will likely see a Gradebook Wizard.  We highly recommend you choose "Skip Wizard" and do our four easy steps instead.

In order to access the Gradebook, choose the Manage tab and then select Gradebook

This pops open either the Gradebook Wizard (which we recommend skipping) or the choices on the Gradebook page.  This page is where you will access the links to help you make your four decisions.

Decision #1 - How do you plan to figure grades?  Do you plan to use percentage or points and what is the difference?

For your first decision, click the Preferences link and it will pop open a window where you will make a number of choices for your convenience about how your gradebook will figure grades.

On this page, first choose whether you want to have a Points or Percentage gradebook (see explanations on the graphic above).  

After you choose whether to use a Points or Percentage gradebook, then make choices about the Default Display Format and the Overall Display Format.  The General area is how students see individual assignment scores and the Average area is how students see their overall grade for the course.  Do you want it show their score or a percent or a letter grade or a combination?  

Finally, we suggest you choose to Exclude Instructors from Averages so you don't skew your class results in case you take your own test or grade something for yourself as a practice.

Make sure to click the Save button or you will get to make all these decisions again!

NOTE ABOUT "TREAT UNGRADED ITEMS AS ZERO" - If you choose this option, your students will have an "F" until the end of class.  This puts zeros in for all assignments that do not have grades in them, even if they are not due yet.  So, be careful about choosing this option.

Gradebook (Part II) - Set Grading Categories

Decision #2 – How about categories?  Will you use categories for your assignments? 

Back at the Manage -> Gradebook page, now choose Categories (on the right side). 

Now you are ready to add your categories so click the Add New button.  A window will pop open where you then add the title of the category and other information such as whether to use all assignments or to drop the lowest, etc.

NOTE:  In general, categories behave similarly whether you select the percentage or the points grade book.

If you choose percentage, it is an option to set the categories as a percent of the total grade.

If you choose points, the categories will figure (but not affect) what percentage of grades each category represents.

Gradebook (Part III) - Set your Grading Scale

What is your grading scale?

Do you want to set the Minimum for an A is 90 or do you want to be more specific and set the minimum for an A+ is 98, A is 93, A- is 90?  Time for another decision!

NOTE:  If you normally round an 89.5 up to an “A”, you need to put 89.5 as the minimum percent.  ANGEL does not round automatically.

NOTE:  For “F” we suggest the minimum percent as a “1” and then add one more Label – “No grade” and the minimum percent as “0”.  This keeps students from having an “F” as they begin the semester.

Gradebook (Part IV) Creating gradeable items for the gradebook

Decision #4 – How are you going to evaluate students?

Whatever you intend for them to turn in to you for grading needs to be attached to or created in the gradebook.

There are two scenarios for attaching items to the gradebook.

Scenario 1: students submit assignments electronically such as via a dropbox or an online quiz or assessment. 

NOTE: If you are receiving electronic submissions from students as they use the drop box, assessment tool, discussion forum or other ANGEL generated learning activity, this is the way to connect the activity to the gradebook. Go to the Assignment Select Settings Select the Assignment tab Under the Gradebook Settings dropdown, select "New Assignment" EVERY time you add a new assignment to the gradebook These steps will automatically add a column in the gradebook with the name of the Assignment.

But, what about getting the grade into the gradebook? Look at the next diagram...

Now, when you grade submissions at the lesson level, the grade will automatically populate into the gradebook.

____________________________________________________________________________

Scenario 2:  ANGEL is used as web-support for a face-to-face class and all assignments are handed physically in for the instructor to grade manually.

In this case, you will NOT connect items to the gradebook in the manner above but will manually add them to the gradebook from the Manage tab.

Click the Manage tab Choose "2. Assignments" from the right side of the screen
This pops open a new window with a list of current assignments. When you want to add a new assignment, click the Add New button and the Assignment Editor will appear at the bottom of the screen. Look at the diagram for an explanation of the choices to create a new assignment.
When you are ready to enter grades, go back to the Manage tab and choose By Assignment from the left side. Now choose the assignment for which you want to enter grades. Finally, enter the grades by using either the Percentage box or the Points box.  You may also add any comments you want for the individual student to see. Once you have entered the grades, make sure to click the SAVE button!

How to Print Gradebook Grades

Do you want a printout of your gradebook at the end of the semester?  What is the easiest way to do this?  Here's how!

Go to the Manage tab of your course and select Gradebook

Go to the Manage tab of your course and select Gradebook
Now select the Print Grades option - this will create a nice PDF file of your gradebook grades that you can Save and/or Print.

That's all there is to it! If you have any additional questions, please contact Jeff or Angela and they will be happy to help!

Grading Scale

Grades, grades, GRADES!!!!!  This is the time of year when students are scrambling for those last few points to make the difference between a B and an A (or an F and a D!). 

So, about the grading scale...

If you normally would round 89.5 up to 90, you will want to go into your Grading Scale and tell the system you want to round. 

In ANGEL, if you set the bottom of the scale for an A equal to 90, then the system has a hard and fast rule that only grades that make 90 will be an A. 

Here is how to change your grading scale (if you want to):

*Click the Manage tab *Click Gradebook *Click Grading Scale
*Choose Edit and change the Minimum Percent values

That's it!  It should now round your grades as you want!

If you have any questions, remember to contact Jeff or Angela.

Adding Zeros to the Gradebook

Do you have students who have not turned in work but their grade does not reflect that fact? Do you need to enter a few zeros for assignments? How do you do that?

Usually, when you grade student work, you grade it from the Lesson location - where it actually occurred - by clicking Utilities -> View, Grade or Delete and grading the items. This, then, transfers the grades from the assignment to the gradebook automatically. Voila! You are through! However, how do you enter a zero for an item that does not exist in the gradeable items area? This is one of the few instances you will actually go to the gradebook to enter grades. Here's how:

• Click the Manage tab
• Click Gradebook
• Choose "By Assignment" under the "Enter/Edit Grade" heading

• From the drop-down list on the new page, choose the assignment for which you want to add grades
• Click the Go button

• NOTE: Student grades are listed but there may also be some blank ones for those who have not turned in assignments 
• Scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen to the Batch Update area - click in the second box and enter a zero (0)
• In the large box, key in some generic message such as "Assignment not submitted"
• Click the Batch Update button - this inserts a zero (0) in for all assignments that do not have grades listed and the message "Assignment not submitted" in the comment box
• Click the Save button (or you will have to do this all over again)

• If you want to enter grades for another assignment, look at the top of the screen - (1) choose the dropdown arrow and choose the assignment, then (2) click the Go button

When you are all finished, click the Done button at the bottom of the screen.

That's it! Remember, if you have any questions or would like Jeff or Angela to walk you through this, feel free to contact us either by phone or just drop in. Sometimes, we even have chocolate available!!!

Linking Gradable Items to the Gradebook

If you look at your gradebook and the items you intended to grade from the lessons, is everything listed in the gradebook?

Each assignment your students complete should have its own column in the gradebook and its own gradable item (discussion, dropbox, assessment, etc.). This will make your life so much easier!! When you grade an item from the submission on the Lessons tab, it will automatically enter into the gradebook. How do you do this? Here's how!

Linking the Lesson Item to a Gradebook column:

• From the Lessons tab, go to the item you want students to complete or submit (discussion, dropbox, assessment, etc.)
• Click the Settings tab
• Look for the Assignment tab and click it
• If under the Gradebook Settings it says "(None)", you will need to click the dropdown and select "(New Assignment)"
• NOTE ABOUT "(NEW ASSIGNMENT)": ALWAYS CHOOSE NEW ASSIGNMENT TO ADD A GRADABLE ITEM TO THE GRADEBOOK (If you would like a little more detailed explanation, give Jeff or Angela a call and they will be happy to explain).
• Then select the options to make this item fit in your gradebook properly, such as the category, how many points it is worth, and the Calculation Type
• NOTE ABOUT THE CALCULATION TYPE: We recommend you choose Last Submission because this will allow you to go back to a graded item and adjust if necessary. If you choose First Submission, even if you need to change a grade you will not be able to make that change.
• Click SAVE (or you will get to do all this over again!)

How Students Check Their Grades

How do students check their grades? Have you had this question from your students? Here are a couple of ways:

Way 1:

• Look at the Grades nugget on the Course Home Page
• Click the Refresh button in the bottom of the box to see the most current scores
• When a student clicks in the grades box, it will automatically open the Report tab for additional detail

Way 2:

• For very specific information, click the Report tab
• Under Category, select Grades
• Click Run
• Scroll down the page to see the detailed report of assignments, grades and comments

You, as the instructor can see copious detail about all of your students. Students, however, can only see their own information so you have no worries about privacy issues.

So you have a couple of cool things going for you with the ANGEL gradebook:

1. First, ANGEL does all the calculations for you and keeps a running tally of the students' scores and
2. Second, it meets FERPA regulations. A win-win situation!

Gradebook Settings

When you imported your ANGEL course to your live section did you check the settings in the gradebook?  If you chose "Points," it sometimes (and we don't know why),  changes it back to a "Percentage" setting.  

To check your settings in your live course, do this:
*Click the Manage tab
*Click Gradebook
*Click Preferences
*Check to see whether you are set for Percent or Points and select the one you prefer
*This will give you an error message you will want to ignore and just click OK
*Click Save (you don't want to have to do this all again, do you?)

That's it!

NOTE:  If you chose "Percent" to begin with, just ignore all that stuff above! :)