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Making The Grade v2.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c)1990 by Rick Pedley Coffee Mug Software Shareware Version Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a shareware version of Making The Grade (hereafter referred to as MTG). The shareware version is designed to allow you to try out the program for a period of time at no cost, be- fore deciding whether or not to buy the commercial version. Both versions are unprotected and can be easily backed up or copied to a hard disk. If you decide that MTG meets your requirements and wish to continue using it, you must then register the software by sending in a completed order form (which can be printed from the Main Menu) with a check or money order for $42 ($49 Cdn) plus $3 shipping & handling. Shareware operates on the principles of trust and honesty: you get to thoroughly test a completely functional program before purchasing; the programmer can offer his/her products at a lower price than similar commercial products because of the highly efficient way in which shareware is distributed. You are encouraged to make as many copies as you like of the shareware version of MTG - please give them to your friends. If you purchase the commercial version of MTG, you may make as many back-up copies for your own use as you wish. However, it is a violation of the copyright laws of Canada and the United States to duplicate the commercial version of MTG for other than the purchaser's personal use. The shareware version contains all the features of the commercial version, with the following exceptions: o normally, a user-defined password can be in- stalled at the opening screen, giving some measure of protection against unauthorized access to your files. This feature has been disabled in the shareware version to enable copies to be more easily passed along. o the commercial version displays the owner's name at the top of the title screen, instead of the "This is a SHAREWARE version of..." line you see there now. Aside from discouraging people from passing unauthorized copies around, this feature serves a more useful purpose: your name will automatically be inserted into any of the printed reports that require a teacher's name. o the commercial version includes a printed manual with table of contents and index, and complete document- ation, instead of the abbreviated 'doc' file you are now reading. READ THE END OF THIS FILE FOR RECENTLY ADDED FEATURES (v1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.0). - 1 - o the commercial version may be ordered in 5 1/4" 360K format or in 3.5" 720K format. Receive a free copy of Word Challenge with your order! To order the commercial version of MTG, select 'Print an order form' from the Main Menu. When completing the order form be sure to print your full name in BLOCK LETTERS, since this is the name that will appear on the title screen and on reports (decide whether you wish to be officially known as Bill, Liz, or William, Elizabeth, etc). Please make payment by cheque or money order (personal cheques accepted). Packages are shipped the day after orders are received. OVERVIEW OF FEATURES ==================== MTG provides a complete system for recording and processing student grades. The program can accommodate up to forty stud- ents and an unlimited number of test scores per class. As well, as many as fifteen students can be moved 'offline', their aca- demic records preserved for future use. Scores are entered on a customized spreadsheet-like screen, and the many built-in prompts and safeguards help to ensure straightforward, error- free record keeping. Percentages and weighted averages are calculated automatically as data is entered, so that at any given moment, all values shown are up-to-date. As many as 18 'letter grades' can be assigned. MTG distinguishes between a score of zero, and a 'no score', allowing you to include or ignore missing scores when calculating test averages, student averages, and final grades. Apart from data related purely to grades, MTG records due dates for assignments, names and descriptions for each assignment, course descriptions, and provides two categories in which to record student-specific information such as student identification numbers, telephone numbers, homeroom numbers -- it's entirely up to the teacher. MTG can also track absentee- ism, truancy, and times late. Any item -- a student, a test, or the entire data set -- can be graphed. Simply move the cursor onto the item you wish to graph, and press the appropriate command key. Any graph (in fact, any screen) can be printed. 'Cumulative average' histograms (bar graphs) show a student's progress compared to his/her classmates over a period of time. 'Frequency distri- bution' histograms indicate how test scores are distributed. Standard deviation, median, average, range, percentage failing are displayed on the graph. The standard deviation and average can be temporarily changed, resulting in a new distribution of scores. A temporary set of new raw scores is also shown for comparison. Nine reports are available and can be printed in draft or 'near letter quality' mode. Report types include a progress report, a gradebook-style printout, blank seating plan, blank attendance record, attendance report, class summary, student information report, missing assignments report, and blank mark sheet. Most reports have a variety of customizing options, such - 2 - as date format, titles, leaving some data categories blank, the number of copies to be printed, etc. The user interface is easy to learn, and Help screens are available for each of the main program segments: Edit, Graph, and Report. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ===================== The minimum requirements to run MTG are as follows: a PC- compatible with 512K of RAM, CGA video, a single 5 1/4" or 3.5" drive, and a printer. A color monitor is preferable but not essential. MTG works great with EGA and VGA video, but will not work with Hercules, Olivetti, and MPDA adapters (the program makes use of four separate video 'pages', which are not present in these adapters). MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.0 is the minimum version of DOS supported. GETTING STARTED =============== The first thing you should do is make at least one copy of the program disk, and then put the original away in a safe place. Always use a copy, never the original. If you want to run MTG from a hard disk, create a new subdirectory (\MTG for example) and copy all files on the floppy into this subdir- ectory. You may then want to create another subdirectory inside \MTG for storing data files, \MTG\GRADES for example. If you aren't using a hard disk, you should now format a floppy disk on which to store your data files. A 360K floppy disk can com- fortably store ten full data files. If you are the adventurous sort, and you have a list of students handy, and perhaps a set of scores that you would like to enter, proceed with the next section, Quick Start. Otherwise, jump ahead to the Tutorial, which uses the sample data file that has been provided,CHE-3A1!. ____________________________ QUICK START =========== Boot DOS with your system disk, and type MTG at the prompt to run Making The Grade. Be sure to 'log on' to the drive and prefix from which you are running MTG. For example, if you are currently logged onto drive B:, don't put the program disk in drive A: and type A:MTG. This will seem to work at first, until MTG goes looking for support files and is unable to find them. Instead, log onto A: first by typing A: (press RETURN). Then run MTG. If you are running MTG from a subdirectory (on a hard disk), be sure to add the subdirectory name to the prefix. From the Main Menu screen, select 'Change the setup' by - 3 - pressing the appropriate number, or using the arrow keys and RETURN. From the Change Setup menu, choose the printer you wish to use, and whether your printer needs an extra linefeed or not (say No for now). You should also check the letter grade format to see if it matches the format used by your school; change it if necessary. Two data categories are provided to store information on each student. By default, these are homeroom number and student number, but they can be changed if you wish. You can also specify where MTG should look for your data files each time you run the program. This pathname is stored in the setup file, and is displayed at the top of the Main Menu screen. The password feature has been disabled in the shareware version, but normally you can either install a password or disable the feature altogether. When you have finished changing the setup, exit to the Main Menu. Once you have selected the drive and pathname where your files are to be stored (displayed at the top of the screen), you're ready to start a new class. Select 'Start a new class' from Main Menu. This brings up the following: 1. Start from scratch 2. Duplicate an existing roster 'Duplicate an existing roster' is handy if you teach the same (or nearly the same) students more than one subject. From here, you can select an already existing file. MTG will use the list of students from this file, all student information, and such things as the name of the school, and discard all test data. Students can then be added to or deleted from this duplicated roster, and a new class (file) is created. The old file remains completely unchanged. This is also how you can continue another file with more than 40 sets of scores in it; see 'More Than 40 Sets of Scores?' for more information. To begin a completely new class, select 'Start from scratch'. This takes you directly to the Administrative Details screen. Administrative Details ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fill in each of the four categories. The course code serves as the file name. Note the restriction of eight char- acters; a list of legal DOS filename characters appears to the right. Once a course name has been entered, MTG checks to see if a file with the same name already exists and warns you of the possibility of over-writing the old file. All of this inform- ation will appear later in printed reports, so enter it accu- rately and make appropriate use of upper and lower case letters. When you've completed all the information, proceed to the Edit screens. Using Edit ~~~~~~~~~~ There are two kinds of Edit screens: Student screens and Test screens. A Student screen shows one student's name at the - 4 - top, along with homeroom, student number, letter grade, and average (SAvg). Below are listed all the tests he has written ('test' is used generically throughout to indicate any assign- ment, essay, lab, quiz, etc.). A Test screen shows one test name at the top with the maximum score (what the test is out of), a description, date due/marked/assigned, weight, and test average (TAvg). You can work on either type of screen. To switch to the other screen, position the cursor on the item (test or student) you wish to zoom on, and press Alt-Z. That item now appears at the top, with all the relevant information below. The other way to view data is to page through successive Student or Test screens by pressing Pg Dn or Pg Up (or F9 and F10). Currently there is no data in the file, so there isn't much to see. Load the sample file to better see the effect of 'zooming' and 'paging'. You should decide at this point whether the new file represents one term/semester, or a whole year. Most teachers surveyed indicated that 40 assignments would be more than sufficient for a whole year, but in cases where students are continually evaluated (perhaps three times or more a week), two or more files may be necessary. See the section entitled 'More Than 40 Sets of Scores?' to find out how MTG accommodates as many as 1000 tests/assignments. It is recommended that the primary school teacher start a new file for each subject; use 'Duplicate a Roster' to avoid re-typing the names. If you decide to record a whole year's marks in one file, determine roughly how the weights for each term or semester should be split (you can always change them later). After you have decided to assign 50% of the weight to the first semester, for example, then you can begin to weight each test accordingly. Many teachers are uncomfortable with weighting assignments versus using a total marks scheme, mostly because of the extra arithmetic involved. With MTG, the weighting system is easy to use and offers significant advantages over the other method. In general, keep the weight for each assignment small, say 2% to 4%, with larger weights reserved for more important assignments. The total weight cannot be more than 100%, but more importantly, never needs to TOTAL 100% at the end of the year. What matters is the RELATIVE weight of one assignment to another, not the total weight. If the final exam is assigned a weight of 40%, that leaves up to 60% for the rest of the semester. A weight can be as small as 0.1% (one decimal place is allowed). Actually, a weight can be zero, effectively removing the test from any calculations. Weights can be changed at any time, even after all the scores have been entered. Everything else is immediately recalculated to reflect the change. If you run out of room (i.e. you reach 100% before the end of semester), divide each weight in two. Since it's the relative weight that counts, not the total, no harm is done. Press Alt-Z until you are looking at a Test screen. Using the arrow keys (or press Home or F7), move the cursor to the top of the screen just to the right of 'Test:' and enter a test name. You can enter information in two ways: - 5 - 1. Simply begin typing. A row of dots appears, indicating how much room there is. To back up and correct something, use the backspace key; to start over, press ESC. To exit the cell and restore whatever was there before, press ESC once more. To finish editing a cell, press RETURN. Depending on how fast your computer is, there may be a slight pause as some calcul- ations take place. 2. If you aren't sure what goes in a particular cell or column, press the space bar. Whenever the first character typed is a space, this signals to MTG that you want an 'edit box'. An edit box is a small window that opens on the screen with a line for data input, but more importantly, with a brief description of the type of information you are expected to enter. Enter data in the same way as in method 1. Pressing the space bar when the cursor is on the class name takes you to the Administrative Details screen. A test name can be any six-character name you want; in MTG you are not restricted to pre-set categories. I suggest some sort of naming system though -- something like Lab 1, Lab 2, Test 1, Quiz 1, etc., just so there is consistency, but it's totally up to you; MTG doesn't care what you call them. The large blank space to the right of the test name is for a test description. Enter a description of what material the test covers, or what kind of assignment it is. Try not to leave these cells blank; they will be very useful later on. Move to the second row and enter a weight (the edit box will tell you how big the weight can be, based on the current total weight), a maximum score (must be a whole number), and a date (the edit box will bring up today's date, or you can enter something else). ** NEW ** You may now use the `total marks' format instead of weights. See Addendum 2.0 at end of this doc. Next, move down to the third row, in the upper left corner (press the space bar here, to be sure you're in the student name column). You're now ready to begin entering the list of stud- ents. The preferred format for names is: Smith, John L. What- ever format you use, try to be consistent throughout. These names will later be printed on reports, so neatness is import- ant. Don't worry about the order in which you enter the names. The program can sort them for you later. Move down the left side, and if there are more than twenty names, continue in the upper left corner on the other side. After you enter all the names, you may also want to enter the homeroom numbers and student numbers if you have the data handy. When you're all done, press Alt-A (for Arrange) and select '1. Student name' to sort the names alphabetically. While you're doing this, note the other options for sorting. The last option inverts the list after you have done one of the other sorts. This is a good time to save the file. Make sure your data disk is in the drive and press Alt-S. Save your work period- ically during a session to avoid suddenly losing a lot of work if the power goes off. Almost all commands in MTG are selected from menus or by pressing the Alt key in combination with something else. Press - 6 - Alt-H (or F1) to look at a help screen for Edit. I suggest printing both help screens for reference. At some point, you should try all the commands listed to become familiar with them. There are equivalent help screens for Graph and Report. Notice the use of Home, End, Pg Up, Pg Dn, and their function key equivalents. The function key equivalents allow you to have Num Lock on so you can enter data with the numeric keypad, and still be able to zoom and page (this system works only with keyboards that have a second set of cursor keys). Now you're ready to enter some scores. Move to any cell directly below the maximum score, and enter the 'raw score' (abbreviated as 'RawS' on the Student screen). A raw score can be zero, no score (enter an '*'), or any number up to nine times as large as the maximum, to one decimal place. It is much more useful to enter a 'no score' instead of a zero, and as you have noticed, this is the default value when a new test is entered. The usefulness will be apparent later on, and remember it is a simple matter to change it to a zero at the end of the semester. In the mean time, the student's average is calculated based only on tests for which there are scores. In other words, 'no scores' don't count as zeros 'til you say so. As a raw score is entered, the percentage appears immed- iately to the right (rounded up to the nearest whole number), and in the next column, the student's over-all average. In the second row at the top, the test average (TAvg) is constantly updated as new scores are entered. When all scores have been entered, press Alt-S again to save the file. Printing a report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's a good idea to print a gradebook report after each test. The gradebook report serves two purposes. You can print the data for every test given so far. This report contains every piece of data necessary to reconstruct a file in the unlikely event the file is damaged and becomes unreadable. It is your 'hard copy' backup of irreplaceable data. The second function of the gradebook report is to print the results of a single test or range of tests, so that they may be posted on a classroom bulletin board. This report gives each student his result on this test, the test average, so he can see how the rest of the class did, his current over-all average, and the class over-all average (the underlined figure in the lower right hand corner). Press Alt-R to go to the Report menu and print a gradebook report. Notice that you are asked if you want to print names or student numbers on this report. Numbers are handy if you intend to post the results; they preserve anonymity. On the student screen in Edit, one of the data categories is labelled 'SN' for 'student number'. MTG looks for this category, and if you haven't changed it to something else, asks you this question whenever you print a gradebook report or a missing assignment report. Either assign a small number to each student (from 1 to however many students there are) or use something like the school's identification number for each student. Tip: sort the - 7 - class a different way each time before you print the report (by homeroom, inverted alphabetical order, etc.) to help prevent students from figuring out who's who on the list. Note: if your report is double-spaced or prints all on one line (great for conserving paper), you need to return to the Change Setup menu and either add or remove the extra linefeed. The last step in a data entry session is to make a copy of your data disk. A good system is to keep one disk at home and one at school. Of course, the gradebook report is your third, hard copy record. To learn more about Edit, Graph, and Report, the best thing to do is exit to the Main Menu and load the sample file: CHE-3A1!. This file contains four complete sets of scores, and better demonstrates the various functions than a file with only one set of scores. ______________________ TUTORIAL ======== Main Menu ~~~~~~~~~ Main Menu is the 'control center' of MTG. The diagram below shows how the various program modules are linked, and the possible directions in which you can move from one module to another. Title Screen -----. .------------- Graph -----. \ | ^ | \ | | | \ | | | v v v | CHANGE <-------> MAIN <----------> Edit | SETUP MENU ^ | ^ | | | | | | v | '------------- Report <---' From Main Menu the following selections can be made (the shareware version varies slightly): 1. Select data pathname 2. Edit a class 3. Start a new class 4. Select a new data drive 5. Change program setup 6. Temporarily exit to DOS 7. Delete a class 8. Quit Making The Grade - 8 - Press a number key for immediate action or move up and down with the arrow keys to highlight a new selection and then press RETURN. All menus in MTG work in this fashion. Changing Program Setup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If this is the first time you have used MTG, there are a number of user-definable items to install, so select 'Change program setup'. From the Change Setup menu you can change or do the following: 1. Password 2. Standard data disk location 3. Printer setup 4. Letter grade format 5. Optional categories 6. Temporarily exit to DOS 7. Return to the Main Menu Select 'Standard data disk location'; MTG finds and lists all disk drives by letter (hopefully, you're familiar enough with your system to know which drive is represented by each letter). Decide where you want your data disk to be and select the drive. If you are using a hard disk, likely you will want to store data files in a subdirectory. By specifying a subdirectory, MTG will know, every time you run the program, where your files are stored. Printer Setup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Select 'Printer setup' from the Change Setup menu. The currently installed printer is highlighted. When you run MTG for the first time, a default setup file is created, and the default printer is the Epson FX-85. If you have a different printer, look for it on the list. If your printer is not on the list, try an Epson or one of the two 'Alternate' printers. MTG assumes you have a printer connected to 'LPT1:', a parallel port. If you're not certain, chances are that is where your printer is connected. Note: The Roland Raven PR-2417 is electrically and mechanically identical to the Panasonic KX-P1124. The next paragraph tells you that your printer currently sends an extra line feed after a carriage return, or does not, and then asks which you would like. Select 'No' for now -- you can always change it later if your printouts are double-spaced, or if everything prints on one line. Letter Grades ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Next, from the Change Setup menu, select 'Letter grade format'. MTG lets you define a 'passing percentage' between 0 and 100%. You can also define as many as 18 letter grades. If you are satisfied with the default settings, press 'N'. To make changes, press RETURN. - 9 - First, enter a passing percentage (this must be a whole number between 0 and 100). Then, you are asked for a one- or two-character symbol for the highest letter grade. Any visible characters except spaces may be used. Use the backspace key to back up, ESC to start over, and RETURN to advance a line. Enter the lower boundary represented by the letter grade; then press RETURN. The next line appears, and the process continues, until you enter a zero for the lower boundary, or until you have used up the 18 letter grade categories. When you're done, MTG displays the new letter grade scheme and passing percentage, and again asks if you want to change it. Answer NO to finish and return to the Change Setup menu. TIP: If you don't use letter grades at all, do this: ~~~ enter a 'neutral' character in the first interval (a '-', or '*' for instance) and then type a zero as the lower boundary of the first interval. Optional Categories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From Change Setup, select 'Optional categories'. Two categories (fields, if you like) are provided to store miscellaneous information pertaining to each student. The default definitions are student number and homeroom, but these can be changed to anything you like. Each definition consists of two parts: a three character acronym or abbreviation, which appears on the Edit screen, and a twelve character description, which serves as a prompt in an edit box, and also shows up on some of the printed reports. Twelve characters in each category are provided for the information itself. Installing a Password ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Passwords offer simple protection against unauthorized tampering. If a password has been installed previously, you will first be asked to enter the old password, before being permitted to enter a new one. A password can be any combination of 6 to 20 visible characters. Lower case letters are automatically converted to upper case. After entering the new password, MTG will write it to the program disk. The password is stored directly into the program file MTG.EXE. This is another good reason to use only a copy of the original disk. Return to Main Menu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If any change to the setup has been made, MTG now saves the new setup to the program disk. These changes are now in effect each time you run the program. Editing a Class ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From the Main Menu, choose 'Select data pathname'. When the files are listed, you should see the volume name /MTG at the - 10 - top, and the data file CHE.3A1! listed below. The menu in the lower right corner lists your options at this point. IMPORTANT: Notice also, that the amount of free memory on your ~~~~~~~~~ data disk is displayed. When there is less than 29K of space left on the disk, MTG will warn you by flashing the amount of free space and beeping. At this point, you should exit to DOS, format a fresh data disk, and copy some files over to the new disk. If you elect to ignore the warning, and keep adding more data to the disk, you may at some point enter a new set of scores, and then be unable to save the file to disk. Play it safe! From the menu, choose 'Accept the pathname above'. From Main Menu, select 'Edit a class', and then 'Select a class to edit'. The cursor jumps to the top of the list of files (as many as 90 files may be listed here). Press RETURN on the file CHE-3A1!. The TEST Screen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In MTG, all assignments, essays, labs, homework assignments, quizzes, exams, etc. are referred to as 'tests'. Look at the top line on the screen, and you'll see the name of the class displayed, the name of the test (TEST:Quiz.1), and a description of the test (TOPIC: Matter). Each test is given a name up to 6 characters long, and a description up to 43 characters long. This particular file uses a simple numbering scheme for tests, e.g. Lab.1, Lab.2, Quiz.1, but you may label tests any way that makes sense to you. The description may also contain information about the structure of the test, for example: '2000 words on My Summer Vacation', or '20 multiple choice on Plant Structure'. On the next line, the weight for this test is shown (Wgt:3%). All tests are given a weight between 0% and 100%, and can be as small as 0.1%. If you are not familiar with weighted scores, don't panic; weighting with MTG is very simple to implement, and above all, is flexible. In other words, if the weight you entered for a test three weeks ago turns out be higher or lower than you want, it can easily be changed to something else, with no extra work on your part. *NEW* You can now use total marks. See Addendum 2.0 at the end. The Test Average (TAvg:87%) shows the class average, as a percentage, on this test. This average is displayed and updated even as you enter the test scores, so that at any point during data entry, you know exactly how the class is doing. The next figure on the second line tells you what maximum the test is scored out of, in this case 25; this number represents the actual number of marks, not a percentage. The column of numbers below the Maximum shows the 'raw score' obtained by each student on the test. For example, Paul Ackerman scored 22 out of 25 on Quiz.1. - 11 - The next heading (Per) shows the percentage calculated by dividing the raw score by the maximum, and multiplying by 100. As you can see, Ackerman's 22/25 results in a percentage of 88%. Percentages are calculated automatically as you enter the raw scores. The last column, to the right of the percentage figures, shows each student's overall average under the heading 'SAvg'. This figure is also immediately updated as a new score is entered, meaning you always know a student's average -- no guessing. NOTE: the total weight need not be 100% to give accurate student averages; more on this later. 'TDate' can be the date a test is due, the date you marked it, or the date it was assigned. The date may be entered any way you wish: 88/09/10, Sept 10, etc. MTG handles a maximum of 40 students, and they can all be displayed on this screen. 22 spaces are allowed for each name. The names in this file are entered in 'last name, comma, space, first name' format, but you can enter anything here. When first entering the names, it is not necessary to put them in any particular order; MTG can sort them for you later, if you wish. (MTG also prevents you from entering the same name twice - use an initial to distinguish between the two Ernest Pringle's). Note: 15 students can also be stored 'offline' in addition to the 40 that are 'online'. The STUDENT Screen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may be wondering: 'Where are the other tests?'. Earlier, MTG was referred to as a 'modified spreadsheet'. Rather than scrolling across and down a cumbersome 40 x 40 spreadsheet, MTG organizes all its data into TEST screens and STUDENT screens. A TEST screen, as you have seen, displays the pertinent information for one test, and the scores obtained by all students on that test. The procedure for handling more than 40 sets of scores is discussed later on. Using the four arrow keys, move the cursor around the screen until you have highlighted 'Watson, Kimberley' (actually, the cursor can be on the student's name, raw score, percentage, or average). Then press Alt-Z. When you press Alt-Z, MTG 'zooms' to the test or student positioned under the cursor. The TEST screen you were looking at is replaced by a STUDENT screen. The name: Watson, Kimberley now is displayed at the top of the screen, along with other information about that student, and all tests are listed below. To the right of the student's name on the first line, are the two 'optional categories', in this case set to the defaults: Homeroom and Student Number. On the second line is the student's overall average (SAvg:90%), and his/her letter grade (LG:A). - 12 - The heading 'Max' tops the column of maximum scores for all tests. 'RawS' heads the column of raw scores on all tests for Kimberley Watson. To the right is the percentage each raw score represents. Further to the right is the weight (Wgt%) assigned to each test, as a percentage. The last column (TAvg) shows shows how the class performed on each test, also given as a percentage. Looking at the 'Per' column and the 'TAvg' column, you can compare a student's results on any test with the rest of the class. Finally, the heading 'TotWgt' indicates the total of all weights assigned so far, which cannot exceed 100%. After you've zoomed around a few times, press the Pg Dn and Pg Up keys (or F9 and F10). This has the effect of moving you to the next test or student, depending on whether you're on a TEST screen, or a STUDENT screen. By paging repeatedly, you will move past the last test (or student), back to the top of the list. HELP Screens ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each of the three modules: Edit, Graph, and Report has one or more HELP screens, which give you a summary of all commands. To look at a HELP screen, press Alt-H or F1. To print a HELP screen, press Shift-* (Prt Sc). To print the vertical and horizontal lines, your printer must be in IBM mode. To practice entering data before starting your own file, work through the following exercise. The changes you make will have no effect on the original sample file stored on disk unless you save the file. A New Student ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Let's add a new student to the list. Move the cursor to the blank line below Zebedee. A blank line is always reserved here for a new student, until all 40 spaces have been filled. Enter the name: Cruthers, Sandy (or your own name, if you like). 2. Now press Alt-A (for 'arrange'), and select: Arrange by Student Name. MTG will sort all names alphabetically, which is one good reason to enter the names in 'Last, First' order. A lower case 'a' sorts ahead of an upper case 'A', so be sure to capitalize where necessary. You can also sort by Student Average, Total Absences, Unauthorized Absences (all highest to lowest), by - 13 - Homeroom, Student Number (sorted alphabetically), Times Late, or by inverting the list. 3. Notice that asterisks appear in the three columns that contain the raw score and percentage for this test, and the student's average. The asterisk indicates there is no score available, rather than a score of zero. In fact, 'no score' is the default value whenever a new student or test name is entered, and remains thus until you enter a number. 4. Move the cursor to the 'raw score' column (the next column over) and enter a raw score for this new student (the max- imum score is shown at the top), and you'll see that a per- centage is calculated, and also a student average. In this case, the student average is just the score obtained on this one test. A raw score can be specified to one decimal place, may not be smaller than zero, and may be as large as nine times the maximum score. 5. Press Alt-Z anywhere on this line, and the new student's name appears at the top of the STUDENT screen. On the list of tests, you can spot the score you just entered, and note that all other scores are 'no scores'. 6. Move to the top line and enter a homeroom and student number; remember that these two categories are defined by the teacher to be anything you like. On the second line, note the letter grade based on the student average. 7. Just to see what happens, edit the raw score you just entered, and type an asterisk. You'll notice that the student average and letter grade appear as asterisks. Now enter a zero for the raw score, and again note the changes. A New Test ~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Stay on the STUDENT screen, and move down to the blank line just below 'Proj.1'. Enter the name of a new test, which we'll call 'Essay1'. 2. Move right to the next column, and press the space bar. Today's date will pop up, which you can either accept by pressing RETURN, or reject by pressing any other key and entering your own, in any format you wish. NOTE: today's date will not come up if your clock/calendar isn't set correctly. 3. You can now enter a maximum score (say 30) in the next column. A maximum score must always be a whole number, and cannot be zero. If you change a maximum score after a set of raw scores has been entered, the new maximum score can be no smaller than 1/9 of the largest raw score entered; more on this later. 4. Next, move to the 'Wgt%' column. You can see that the total weight (TotWgt) is less than 100%, so you can enter a weight for this test; let's make it 2% (just type a '2'). - 14 - The edit box will always show you the maximum weight that may be entered, by first subtracting any weight that might already be in the cell you are editing. 5. Zoom on the test you have just entered (anywhere in the row). The test name is now at the top of the screen, and you can fill in the TOPIC (test description): 1500 words on 'Molecules I Have Known'. 6. Notice that all raw scores and percentages for this new test are 'no scores', which is the default until scores are entered. There are good reasons for leaving a score as 'no score' until a final report is due. These reasons will be discussed in Report. Attendance ~~~~~~~~~~ 1. MTG can keep track of the number of days absent, unexplained absences, and times late for each student. Select a student from the list and press Alt-X. 2. Select which category you want to edit with the up/down arrows, and change the numbers with the left/right arrows. The figures always begin in normal text. As soon as one is increased or decreased, the background changes to red. If you back up and pass the original setting again, it will again show in normal text. 3. Pressing ESC once resets all figures to original values. Press ESC again to close the box. Press RETURN to make changes permanent. All counters increment from 0 to 999 and then return to zero. 4. Most teachers have their own method of recording attendance, such as the time-honored 'little tick-mark on the seating plan' system, and may not wish to use the one in MTG, which is fine. If you do elect to use this feature, attendance data can be automatically inserted into progress reports and attendance reports in the Report module. Report can also print up blank attendance sheets (with students' names listed). Deleting or moving a student offline ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over a period of time, students come and go. If a student leaves your class, you may decide to erase the student and all score data from the file. A better solution however, is to simply move the student offline. There are 15 storage locations provided for students you want to remove from the active roster. Their marks, averages and attendance figures are all preserved for possible future use. While a student is offline, that student is removed from any calculations, graphs, or reporting activity. This is also a handy way to see what your class average would be if a certain student, say Chuck Broccoli, wasn't in your class -- move him temporarily offline. - 15 - 1. Move the cursor to any student and press Alt-D (as usual putting the cursor anywhere in the row will identify that student). 1. Move Smith, John offline, keeping all data 2. Delete Smith, John and all relevant data. If you decide to delete the student, you'll be taken through further prompts to give you every opportunity to back out of the operation: Delete: (student's name here) and all relevant data? Yes No 2. Continue by pressing 'Y'. MTG will now ask: Are you really sure? Yes No Again, you can back out of the operation by pressing ESC. 3. Press 'Y' again. The message: Deleting: (student's name here) appears, and MTG will delete the student's name, raw scores, average, attendance data, and both optional categories containing student information. Deleting a Test ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a test is deleted, the weight, maximum score, test name, test date, and test description are all erased, and the total weight is adjusted accordingly Then all student averages are re-calculated, based on the remaining scores. While you cannot move a test offline, a simple way to remove it from any calculations is to change its weight to zero. You now have the option of using the scores again later on, perhaps with a diff- erent weight. Deleting a test follows the same steps used to delete a student. There are two opportunities to cancel the deletion. Once deleted, the data is permanently erased from memory. IMPORTANT: A deletion does not affect the file on disk, until ~~~~~~~~~ you SAVE the file to disk. In other words, if you have accidentally deleted a test or student, you can retrieve the lost data from disk by immediately re-loading the file from Main Menu. Moving a student online ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To get a list of students that are offline, press Alt-O, and then select the student you wish to move online. All class - 16 - and test averages are immediately updated to reflect the change. Class Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Press Alt-C for a quick class summary. Find out how many students are listed, how many students are offline, how many tests have been assigned, the standard deviation, class average and median, the number/percentage of 'no scores', total attendance figures, and the percentage/number of students failing. This function is also available in Graph and Report. Use Prt Sc to get a hard copy. Temporary exit to DOS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you need to copy some files or format a disk, you can exit to DOS by pressing Alt-T (for Temporary exit). As a precaution, you are warned to save the file you are working on if any changes have been made. This is because there is no absolute guarantee that you will be able to return to the program, although if you exit just to perform some command line operations like formatting a disk, you should encounter no problems. If you try to run other programs however, you may find that on returning to MTG, that screens are 'messed up' i.e. different colors, columns of data missing, etc. This is usually because the other program you ran used some of the same video pages used by MTG. In general there's no problem with ordinary DOS operations, but avoid running TSR's, word processors, etc. To re-enter MTG, type EXIT at the DOS prompt. Saving a File ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pressing Alt-S saves the file to disk. During a data entry session, you should save the file every fifteen minutes or so; that way, if the power is suddenly shut off, you won't have to re-enter as much data. If you have pressed Alt-S and suddenly realize you don't want to save the file, press ESC to cancel the save; the file on disk remains as it was, and you are returned to the spreadsheet. MTG uses the following method to save a file. First a new file (^^TEMP^^.MTX) is created, and this is where your new data is stored. When this temporary file has been saved and verified, the original file is deleted. Finally, the temporary file is renamed to match your original file. All this is transparent to the user, but this method minimizes the possi- bility of file corruption and data loss, compared to the usual method, which is to save the new file directly over the old. Quitting ~~~~~~~~ To quit entering data, press Alt-Q. MTG keeps track of whether you have entered any more data since the last save to disk, and asks if these changes should be saved before quitting. Press ESC to cancel the operation and return to the spreadsheet. - 17 - Press 'N' if you want to quit without saving recent changes, and 'Y' if you wish to save the changes and then quit. If there have been no changes since the last save, this menu is displayed: 1. Return to Main Menu 2. Quit Making The Grade Returning to Main Menu allows you to work on another file, go to Change Setup, etc. If you select 'Quit Making The Grade', MTG exits to DOS. You now have enough information to start a new file and enter your own class data. Jump directly to QUICK START at this point, or continue to follow the tutorial, which next looks at Graph and Report. ___________________________ Using Graph ~~~~~~~~~~~ With MTG you can produce a graph for a student, a test, or the whole class. To graph an item, follow these steps. First, select the file you wish to edit from Main Menu, and load the file. If you are following the tutorial and have just quit to the Main Menu, re-load the sample file CHE.3A1!. Graphing a Student ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Move the cursor to: Thurston, Sheila and press Alt-G. This type of graph is called a 'cumulative average' bar graph. The vertical axis is labelled with from one to eight test names. If more than eight tests have been assigned so far, the last eight will be displayed on the graph, and a small white 'down' arrow appears next to the start and end dates in the lower right corner. By pressing the down arrow, the graph scrolls up the screen and you can go back as far as the first test. The horizontal axis shows the student's overall average as a weighted percentage. It is a cumulative graph,because each red bar shows a student's average at that time, in other words, just after that particular test was entered. The green bar shows with the class average after that test, with the student's average subtracted out. If a student misses a test, a 'no score' shows as an asterisk just to the right of the test name, and the average is carried over from the last test written. Under 'Last 3 tests:' you can see how much a student has lost or gained, compared with his/her average 4 tests ago, and compared with the rest of the class. As you scroll the graph up and down, the start and end dates, and the trend over the last three tests change to reflect the portion of the graph you are looking at. If a student's average is greater than 100%, a '>' at the end of the bar shows - 18 - that it extends beyond 100%. Note: This is great stuff for parent/teacher nights if you want parents to get the big pic- ture. To print a graph, make sure your printer is in IBM mode and press Prt Sc. Press Pg Up or Pg Dn to page through the other students. To return to Edit press Alt-E, or press ESC for a list of options. Alt-H displays the Help screen for Graph. (Press the space bar to hide those white arrows prior to printing). Graphing a Test ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Select any test you wish from the list, and press Alt-G. This graph is a 'frequency distribution'. Each interval on the horizontal axis contains 10 percentage points: 0-9, 10-19, and so on. (The last interval cheats a little and includes 100, for a total of 11 points.) The vertical axis shows the frequency -- in this case, how many test results fall within a particular grade interval. For example, percentages of 51, 54, 55, and 59 all fall within the interval 50-59, and the frequency is 4. If a frequency is greater than 16, the actual frequency is shown at the top of the bar. The title includes the weight for that test. To the right are listed some useful statistics: the average on this particular test, the median, standard deviation (SD), range of scores, number of scores, and percentage/number who failed the test. Adjusting Grades ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One technique for adjusting scores is known as 'grading on the curve', while another assigns letter grades according to a formula: so many A's, so many B's, so many C's, etc. All methods of adjustment tend toward a common goal: center the scores about an ideal mean, i.e. a figure the teacher (or administration) selects to represent the average student, and secondly, control the amount of spread between highest and lowest scores, or in other words, adjust the standard deviation to our requirements. In a typical class, the scores are almost always dispersed more widely then a normal distribution curve. Take a moment to look through some of the test graphs from the sample file, and note how many standard deviations exceed 15 and even 20. Compared to a normal distribution, more students' scores fall at the low and high ends of the curve. Recall that in a normal distribution of scores between 0 and 100, one standard deviation has a value of approximately 10. To adjust a set of scores therefore, you need to do two things: move the scores toward a new mean that you have set, and either narrow or broaden the curve. The formula for doing this correctly is as follows: - 19 - New score = New mean + ((Old score - Old mean) x New SD / Old SD) MTG does these calculations for you. Follow the steps below to practice adjusting scores. 1. Begin by graphing one of the sample tests. Then press ESC to bring up the 'Options' menu. 2. Select 'Try another mean and SD' from the menu. Another box pops up, and from here you can either accept the default standard deviation and mean (17 and 70%), or use the left and right arrows to change them. Press RETURN when finished, or ESC to back up a step. 3. MTG will graph the new data according to the mean and standard deviation you have set, adjacent to the original graph for comparison. The new mean, median, SD, range, and number failing are also displayed. NOTE: This will not alter the original scores, either in memory, ~~~~ or on disk. The new scores resulting from the changes you have made are only temporary and are eventually discarded. Thus, you can continue to try other means and standard deviations, without fear of losing important data. TIP: If you teach statistics in a Math course, Graph can be used ~~~ to teach some of the basic concepts in a highly visual and interactive way. 4. You can go a step further at this point, and see the actual scores that would result, were you to make the adjustments permanent. Press ESC again to bring up the 'Options' menu. Select 'Look at the adjusted data'. The first column of figures shows the original percentage scored by each student on the test. The second column shows the new percentage, and the third column shows the raw score a student would need to produce the new percentage. 5. If you would like to print this screen, switch the printer on first, and then press Alt-H. ESC will return you to the graph. NOTE: I purposely left out the capability to automatically ~~~~ insert these new raw scores into a file. I feel that this capability would encourage a certain amount of quick and careless adjustment of marks; a student's academic record is too important for idle tampering. The hard copy how- ever, allows you to go back and enter the adjusted raw scores by hand on the Edit screen (not a huge task, but enough to discourage casual adjustments). Graphing a Class ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To graph the class, go to either the TEST or STUDENT - 20 - screen, move the cursor over the class name (CHE.3A1 in the sample file), and press Alt-G. The frequency distribution graph shows the distribution of student averages, and is similar the the test graph. The mean and standard deviation can be adjusted here as well, and in fact, this is where adjustments are usually made, at the end of the semester or school year. Other Ways to Adjust Scores ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MTG makes it easy to adjust scores globally, or on an individual basis. To lessen the overall effect of a particular test, simply reduce its weight. To remove it entirely, either delete the test, or set its weight to zero. ** See Addendum 2.0 at the end of this doc for more information on weights. If for some reason you wish to make the maximum score higher or lower, this can be done even after the raw scores have been entered; a maximum score can be as large as 999. A raw score can be as big as nine times the maximum (to a possible 8991), which allows extra credit to be awarded. This feature is also useful if, for example, a student has missed a test, or has just joined the class and marks are needed to generate a grade for assessment. By doubling his/her raw score on another test of equal worth, you can compensate for missing data. Some teachers prefer to drop each student's lowest score at the end of the course. This is easily done by entering an asterisk, which converts the low score to 'no score'. CAUTION: to be fair, only scores of equal weight should be dropped. If a test worth 10% is dropped for one student, and a quiz worth 2% is dropped for another student, based solely on these being their lowest scores, the first student gains an advantage over the second. More Than 40 Sets of Scores? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you 'Duplicate an existing roster' (under 'Start a new class'), you have the option of carrying forward all student averages and attendance data from the first file. This is use- ful if you have more than 40 sets of scores in a semester, or if you want to carry averages and attendance data forward to the next term. When the roster to be duplicated has loaded, you are asked: Forward student averages? Yes No Forward attendance data? Yes No If you choose to keep the student averages, the following happens: a. A new test name called 'So.Far' is created in the new file. The maximum score is 100, the weight is the total weight from the other file, and the raw scores are the - 21 - student averages from the other file. The test average is calculated from these student averages, so it also represents the class average at this point! A test description is entered for you: Student averages to date. Change the test name (TERM.1 for example) and the description to whatever you like, and you may also want to enter a date for the transfer, under TDate. If this file is merely a continuation of the same term or semester, you will probably want to leave the weight as is; it represents the total weight so far. If you're beginning a new term however, and the previous term only contributes (say) 30% toward the final grade, now is the time to adjust the weight of this 'test'. In this way, your new file accurately reflects the year's progress for each student. If you like, temporarily make the weight for 'So.Far' zero. Now you can see how students are progressing just in this term, and the weight for the first term can be re-entered later on. CAVEATS ~~~~~~~ Before carrying the student averages forward, the old file should be as complete as possible. That is, all 'no scores' should be resolved; are they zeros or 'no scores'? The weight and maximum score you assigned for each test should also be finalized. The reason is simple: these data all affect the student averages, which you are carrying forward into another file. If, for some reason, you must go back and change something in the old file, and this change alters one or more student averages, you have to be sure to copy these changes by hand into test 1 in the new file. Tip: in Edit, bring up a Test screen, which lists all student averages in a column, and press Prt Sc. This gives you a handy reference to update the new file, in case any late changes have to be carried forward. One advantage of the above method is that you know a stu- dent's over-all standing at any time, and not only his standing for a particular term. If the arithmetic seems a little convoluted, practice with the sample file to famili- arize yourself with how it works. You may still prefer to keep each term completely in its own file, but this means the final grades will have to be calculated by hand at the end of the year. Since a weight can be as little as 0.1%, and the total weight can be as big as 100%, as many as 1000 sets of scores can be accommodated, although it's unlikely you'll ever need this many. The method of carrying averages forward, outlined above, can be applied to several files in succession. The file at the end of the 'chain' will still accurately reflect the year's work. Just be certain that any retroactive change you make is entered man- ually into successive files. - 22 - Keep attendance data? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Decide whether you want to carry forward absences, unauth- orized absences, and lates into another file. If the new file is a continuation of the same term or semester, it makes sense. If the new file starts a new term, it may make more sense to maintain a discrete record for each term. Using Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~ To use Report, first select a file to edit from Main Menu (use the sample file CHE.3A1 for practice). When you reach the Edit screen, press Alt-R, which takes you to Report. You can also go to Report from Graph, either by pressing Alt-R, or by selecting 'Go to Report' from the 'Options' menu, and then 'Prepare a report'. Follow the steps below to produce each type of report. IMPORTANT: Report expects you to have at least entered a class ~~~~~~~~~ list. This enables you to print attendance reports, blank attendance charts, student information reports, and a few others. Other reports, such as the gradebook, missing assignment, and progress reports, require at least one set of scores to work with. As well, you should check the printer setup before preparing a report to see that your printer is correctly installed. To do this, go to Change Setup from Main Menu, and then select 'Choose a printer'. Your printer must also be in non-IBM mode to access the correct printer codes. (This is a nuisance, be- cause the printer must be switched to IBM mode to print graphs and other screens correctly. Unfort- unately, some of the needed printer codes are unsup- ported in IBM mode on many printers.) Progress Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. You are first asked: Print a report for every student? (Y/N) The default reply is 'Yes', so just press RETURN if you wish to do the whole class. 2. If you reply 'No', the class list is displayed. Use the up and down arrows to move to a student, and press the space bar to select the student; a marker appears to the left of the name you have selected. To de-select a name, again press the space bar. To de-select all names and start over, press ESC. Press RETURN when you're finished. 3. There are 120 comments available (60 English, 30 French, and 30 blank), and they can be edited with any word pro- - 23 - cessor to suit your needs. The last page of comments gives instructions for changing the comments to something else. MTG now lists the comments (30 on each screen, press Pg Up or Pg Dn to cycle through pages 1 to 4). A name is dis- played at the bottom, along with average and attendance information. You can select one or two comments from either screen, by pressing the space bar on a comment. Press RETURN when finished with a student, i.e. after one or two comments have been selected. If you select no comments at all, underscored blank lines are printed instead, and you can enter remarks by hand after the reports are printed. You are then prompted: RETURN for next student, ESC to back up If you are not satisfied with the comments selected, this is your last chance to change them. Press RETURN to advance to the next student. 4. The second line from the top tells you how many students remain after the one you're working on, and which page of comments you are looking at. 5. Next, press Pg Up/Pg Dn to select the date format you wish to print, and press RETURN. The four available formats are: 91/01/13 13 Jan 91 Jan 13, 1991 91-01-13 6. From the two columns, select the title you wish to display above 'PROGRESS REPORT'. Choose 'Blank' from both columns if you don't want any title. Press ESC to start over. 7. MTG then asks you which attendance data should appear in the report. The defaults are YES for 'Days absent', NO for 'Unexplained absences', and NO for 'Times late'. Select any combination you wish. MTG uses information from the attendance records entered during Edit. If you haven't been using this feature, but still wish to show 'Days absent', answer NO to all three. MTG will then print a 'Days absent' column with underscored blanks, so you can enter your own data by hand afterwards. 8. Decide whether you want 'Near Letter Quality' or 'Draft'. (This option will appear only if your printer supports NLQ.) 9. Select the number of copies you want to print. This does - 24 - not refer to how many individual reports, but to how many times you wish to print the entire set of reports. You then see: Turn printer on, with print head at perforation. Press RETURN when ready. The perforation should be even with the top of the print head (the part that goes back and forth). MTG inserts its own linefeeds where necessary, so don't worry about starting too close to the top. Two reports are printed per page, which can then be cut in half. Two extra blank lines are printed under the selected comments, so you can write something else by hand if you wish. 10. Finally, you can press any key during printing to stop printing. If you do this, also turn the printer off, since most printers have at least a 2K buffer of their own which will continue to output characters. NOTE: The shareware version of MTG prints a row of underscores ~~~~ after 'Teacher:' instead of your name. The commercial version prints your name here. Gradebook Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This report gives a typical spreadsheet-like printout of all students, tests, scores, percentages, weights, etc. Nine tests can be printed per page. The column to the extreme right shows each student's current average, and the underscored number in the lower right hand corner is the current class average. 1. You are asked if you want to print every test. Since they are printed in groups of nine, you may only need to print the last page of tests. For example, if your file contains 13 tests so far, and you have printed gradebook reports before, you need only print from test #10 to #13, and add this page to your printed records (unless you have made adjustments to earlier tests since the last printout). 2. If you don't want to print every set of scores, you are then asked to select a range of tests. Press the space bar to select a starting point, move to the finish point, and press the space bar again. To print one test, select the same test for start and finish. Press ESC to start over. That's all there is to it. You should print this report after each data entry session. It provides a paper-based record of all vital data, and supplements the back-up copy of your data disk. If your data disks were somehow erased tomorrow, you could re-construct the file from this printout. Play it safe! - 25 - Attendance Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have been using the built-in attendance feature, and have kept it up to date, the attendance report gives a complete summary of days absent, unexplained absences, and times late for each student (or any combination of these three). By answering NO to all three, a 'days absent' column will be printed with underscored blanks, so you can enter the figures from your own records by hand if you wish. Student Information Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This report will list the contents of the two optional categories (the default is 'Homeroom' and 'Student Number'). You can list either, or both. If you specify neither, the two headings will be printed, with underscored blanks where the data usually appears. TIP: this blank report is useful at the start of the year for gathering data; you can later enter the information into MTG. Missing Assignments Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This report lists each student who has missing tests, along with the name of each test. MTG determines that an test is missing if a raw score is a 'no score', another good reason for keeping the 'no score' status as long as possible, rather than immediately entering a zero. At the end of the listing, a separate page lists each test name, and the test description beside it. Beside each student and the list of missing assignments, is the student's current average, and what his average will be if the missing assignments are not completed. Print the report with student numbers if you want to post the list on a bulletin board. Class Summary Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This report lists all students and their current averages, shown as a percentage and a letter grade. The number of students in the class is included, and also the number/percentage who are failing. The Class Summary report also checks to see whether or not you are using the attendance tracking feature in Edit. If any non-zero figure is found for Total Absences, the Class Sum- mary report will include an extra column listing the total ab- sences for each student. This feature is handy when filling in report cards, where both the grade and number of absences are are required. Many schools, at the end of the school year, raise a grade that is within 3 marks of passing to a pass, and also raise a bare pass by one mark. For example, if the passing grade is 50%, grades between 47% and 49% are raised to a 50%, and a legitimate grade of 50% is raised to a 51% (to distinguish it from a raised pass). MTG will do these manipulations if you - 26 - wish (based on whatever passing grade you have installed); a raised pass will print in bold face, and will be underscored. Blank Attendance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This report is simply a class list with a blank for the month at the top, and a grid for recording absences, lates, etc. There are five blank lines at the bottom for new students, and also a blank line to record totals each day. This blank report can easily be used as an order form or a tally sheet. Blank Seating Plan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Specify how many seats across the front, and how many seats deep, and MTG will print a blank seating plan that fits the size of your classroom. The plan can be dimensioned from 2 x 5 up to 12 x 12 (after an exhaustive survey of area teachers, the author concluded that hardly anyone needs a 1 x 1 seating plan). The blank seating plan is also useful any time you need a grid or game board of a particular size, or for making a bunch of paper strips, which you can then cut out. Score Sheet ~~~~~~~~~~~ This is similar to the blank attendance report, but has wider columns for entering raw test scores. Normally, it is recommended that scores be entered directly into Edit from the test papers (less chance of an error). The mark sheet is handy when work is marked right in class, and can also be used as a general purpose tally sheet. __________________ New Features (versions 1.1 through 1.5) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This shareware program is version 1.5 and thus contains all of the new features described below: Version 1.1, July 8, 1990 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Arranging By Test Results ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can now sort the roster based on the results of a test or assignment you have just marked, or perhaps a previous set of scores. To do this, bring the test you want to sort into the Test screen (i.e. so that 'TEST.1' for example is at the top of the screen). Next press Alt-A to bring up the Arrange menu, and you should see 'Results of TEST.1' on the list of options. Move down the list and select this option; the student list will sort in descending order based on the figures in the 'Per' column. The feature is not available when the test average is less than zero (i.e. no scores have been entered yet). - 27 - 2. Individual Grade Report ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From the Report menu, individual grade reports can be printed for selected students or for the entire class, for a selected range of tests or for all tests. Each report in- cludes test names, scores, weights, test averages, the stud- ent's over-all average and attendance figures, and class average. This report is suitable for including with a pro- gress report or as a transcript if a student transfers to another class or another school. 3. Group Weight Adjustment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although the total weight need never sum to 100 percent, the Group Weight Adjustment feature allows you to do precisely that, among other things. Here are a couple of scenarios in which this feature can be useful: a. At the start of the term, you decided that term work will be worth 60% and the final exam 40%. At the end of the term however (before the exam), the total weight is greater than 60% or less than 60%, which is no problem). Group Weight Adjust- ment lets you reduce a total weight of say 75%, to 60%, distri- buting the reduction in the correct proportion among individual est weights. This is done precisely as you would do by hand with a calculator. You can now allot exactly 40% for the final exam. b. You wish to adjust the weights of only some tests. For example, you notice that the six labs you have assigned have a total weight of 30%, and you would prefer (perhaps because they were so poorly done) to reduce this total to 20%. Group Weight Adjustment lets you select any group of tests and then specify a new total weight for that group. Using Group Weight Adjustment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before doing any adjustments, the current file should be saved, including any new data that has been entered. You should then make a hard copy of both screens (any Test screen and any Student screen) by pressing Prt Sc. Then move to a Student screen (which shows all test weights) and press Alt-W: Current total weight is: 75% -- adjust ALL weights? YES NO In a case like that in (a), answer YES. You are then prompted for a new weight. There are a few things to consider when choosing a new weight: 1. The program requires that there be a large enough diff- erence between the old total weight and the new total weight you have entered. If the difference is too small, a significant rounding error tends to accumulate and it becomes very difficult to maintain the correct ratio of one test weight to another. A rounding error results whenever you must round a newly calculated weight to one decimal - 28 - place, which is the maximum precision you are allowed. To prevent gross inaccuracies, MTG requires the difference between new total weight and old total weight to be 0.2 x the number of test weights being adjusted. For example if there are 12 tests in the group of weights to be adjusted and the current total weight for that group is 75%, then the new total weight must be either greater than 77.3% or less than 72.7%. Don't be overly concerned about this -- MTG will alert you if there's a problem and will not at- tempt to make the adjustment. 2. Remember that weights of 0% will be unaffected by a group weight adjustment because zero x any weight adjustment ratio is still zero. 3. If the new total weight you have entered is much smaller than the original weight, there is a possibility that one or more test weights will reduce to zero through rounding. MTG does the calculations and then warns you of this situ- ation. You then have the option of continuing or backing out. 4. After MTG has done the calculations, there is often a small, cumulative rounding error, typically between 0.1% and 0.3%, positive or negative. MTG reports this error and then asks permission to make up the difference by adding or subtracting the error from the largest weight in the group you have selected. Making a corrective adjustment to the largest weight results in the least amount of error (you can see at a glance that one penny is missing from a pile of ten, but not from a pile of one hundred). With permission, MTG makes the changes and then advises that you may wish to make further minor adjustments by hand (e.g. take that +0.3%, split it in three and distribute the parts more evenly). Or you can back out of the operation and try something else. Note that many of your tidy, whole number weights will become decimal fractions after a weight adjustment. 5. Another consequence of rounding error is that a weight ad- justment is usually irreversible. In other words if you change the total weight from 75% to 60% and then back to 75%, it's unlikely you'll have the same individual test weights you began with. Rounding errors are made and com- pensated for in both directions so that the adjustment is made to a different set of numbers each time. This is why you are asked to get a hard copy of the Student screen -- if necessary the original weights can be entered by hand, or you can simply reload the file. 6. When all weights are adjusted, student averages should re- main exactly as before. Check them against the hard copy you made of a Test screen however -- rounding error may have changed one or two slightly. - 29 - If you answered NO to 'adjust ALL weights?', you can now move the cursor around, pressing the space bar to select each weight you want to change; the cumulative total of these weights is shown at the top of the screen. The same restrictions and cautions apply as those outlined above, with this additional caveat: when changing only a group of weights from among many, student averages will almost certainly change, often by an ap- preciable amount. Be sure to compare the newly calculated ave- rages with the old (from your screen hard copy) to see whether the desired result was achieved. Remember that adjustments are also applied to students that are offline. Finally, if you are uncertain of the principles and arithmetic involved in weight adjustment, experiment with the sample file CHE-3A1! provided on the program disk. If you're still hesitant to use Group Weight Adjustment, it's probably best that you don't use it; misused, it can create havoc. ________________________ Version 1.2, August 1, 1990 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Arranging By Random Selection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If for some reason you wish to randomly scramble the order in which students are listed, select 'Arrange By Random Sel- ection' from the Arrange menu (Alt-A). You might want to do this when posting test results by student number so that results are posted in no particular order, or to decide in what order presentations will be given (so that Aaron A. Aardvark doesn't always go first). 2. Setting The Trend Period ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By default, Class Stats (Alt-C) gives the class trend for the last three tests. This trend is calculated by first finding the class average three tests before the set of scores you last entered, and substracting that from the current class average. For example, if the last test you entered scores for was Test.6, and the three tests previous to that are numbered Test.5, Test.4, and Test.3, then the class average after Test.3 is sub- tracted from the class average after Test.6. This results in a positive, negative, or zero change, indicating how the class performed as a whole during this period. The default trend period is three, but can be anything from the last two to the last nine tests. Press Alt-P (for trend Period) in Edit or Graph, and use the arrow keys to select a new trend period. If you select a trend period that is too large for the number of tests in the file, the trend value will simply be unavailable. The new trend period is not saved between sess- ions; it will be 3 again next time you run MTG. The same trend period is used when you graph a student (Alt-G). In the lower right hand corner is the caption 'Last 3 - 30 - tests:' (or whatever trend period you have set). Below this caption is the trend for both student and class during this per- iod. If there are more than eight cumulative averages on the graph, you can scroll with the up/down arrows to see the rest of the graph. When you scroll the graph, the trend is updated as well, calculating from whichever test is displayed at the top of the graph. Note that test dates are also updated. Experiment with this feature to see how it works (it's easier to see than to explain). 3. Arranging By Trend ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This sort arranges students by recent trend, highest to lowest, using the trend period you have set (or the default of 3), and based on the test currently displayed at the top of the Test screen. To use this sort effectively, do the following: a. Set the trend period you want with Alt-P. b. Zoom on the test (Alt-Z) you want at the end of the trend period, so that it appears on the Test screen. Usually, this will be the most recent set of scores, but you can go as far back as you like. c. Press Alt-A for the Arrange menu and you'll see on the list (for example): Trend: Test.2 - Quiz.5 Select this item after making sure this is the trend period you wanted. The selection will be unavailable if your trend period goes back further than there are scores for. When the sort is complete, all positive trends are display- ed on a green background, negative trends on a red background. You can do a 'print screen' (Prt Sc) at this time or press any other key to clear the trend indicators. From these indicators, you can quickly identify students who are beginning to 'lose it', or those who have dramatically improved. You may also wish to graph certain students (Alt-G) for a more detailed view of their performance. 4. Class Stats ~~~~~~~~~~~ The 'Class Stats' listing (Alt-C from Edit, Graph, or Report) now also gives the range of student averages (the high- est average minus the lowest average), as well as the class trend described above. 5. Grading On The Curve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After selecting a new standard deviation and average, you may wish to look at the adjusted data (test averages or over-all averages depending on whether you graphed a test or the class). - 31 - Adjusted averages that are higher than the original averages are now displayed on a green background, those that are lower on a red background. This gives a highly visual indication of how the class is affected by the experimental settings. You may then want to go back and try different settings. ________________________ Version 1.3, September 1, 1990 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Correlation Coefficient ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you graph a test in version 1.3, the statistical data now includes the correlation coefficient for those test results versus student averages before the test (abbreviated as 'C.Coeff'). The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is a unitless index telling you how close a relationship exists between students' averages before the test was given and their marks on the test you have selected to graph. The statistic only becomes available after the fourth test has been entered, so that student averages have had time to stabilize. Normally, one would expect a positive linear relationship between past performance and future performance. That is, stu- dents with high averages will tend to score high on the next test and those with low averages to score low. So this statis- tical index answers the question: How close are these test re- sults to the results you would have predicted, based on past performance? Another way to put it is: How consistent are these test results with results obtained previously? Did students on the whole, perform typically on this test compared with previous tests? In statistical work, a correlation coefficient of +0.7 or higher indicates a strong linear relationship. Such a rela- tionship is typically found between height and weight, or be- tween those having blonde hair and blue eyes. A coefficient less than +0.3 indicates a very weak relationship, the kind of relationship you might find were you to compare students' grades in Math with those in Art. A coefficient of 1.0 indicates an exact correlation. An exact correlation doesn't necessarily mean that each student's test score is exactly the same as his average, only that there is perfect consistency. In other words, if the test was more difficult than previous tests, a coefficient of 1.0 shows that each student scored lower than usual by the same amount. A correlation coefficient of zero indicates that there is no linear relationship whatsoever. Such a relationship might be found between shoe size and preference for Coke or Pepsi. A coefficient less than zero (to as low as -1.0) indicates an in- verse linear relationship. In Making The Grade, a negative co- efficient would result if high-average students did poorly on a particular test, and low-average students did well on that test. - 32 - What Are The Implications? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A low correlation coefficient (less than 0.3) should alert you to the fact that for whatever reason, this test did not produce typical results. Students may express surprise, some claiming they did much better then they expected, and some worse then they expected. Remember that if everyone performed worse than usual, or everyone better than usual, the strong linear re- lationship is maintained; a low coefficient indicates unexpected or scattered results. By studying the responses to individual questions on the test, you may discover that certain questions are worded am- biguously. Students have interpreted the questions in a number of ways, each believing he is answering the question correctly. Or perhaps the test has many multiple choice questions and everyone did a lot of guessing. The test is certainly suspect if you give the same test to different classes, or in different semesters, and get similar correl- ation coefficients. You may want to change or eliminate some questions. Another possibility is that a particular group in the class, independent of scholastic ability, scored poorly on cer- tain test items. For example, several students who happen to be in the school band, or are on the football team, all missed a class in which an important topic was covered. This may account for the discrepant test results. To minimize the effect of an atypical set of test scores, you can either lower the test weight so it is worth less, or even eliminate the test by setting its weight to zero. Alter- nately, you may wish to experiment with 'grading on the curve' (press ESC from the Test graph screen) to try and 'smooth out the wrinkles'. (Actually, this has only a small effect on the correlation coefficient). In conclusion, the underlying assumption throughout this discussion has been that students perform in a predictable fash- ion, and that results from tests administered over a long period of time should reflect this assumption. The correlation coef- ficient therefore, either confirms that everything is pretty much as you expected, or signals to you that something may be amiss. A more thorough mathematical treatment of correlation coefficients (and the closely related linear regression) can be found in any first year university statistics or psychology textbook. ________________________ Version 1.4, October 6, 1990 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When editing a cell, you can now press one of the four arrow (cursor) keys when finished, instead of pressing RETURN. Pressing a cursor key completes the entry, and then moves the spreadsheet cursor in the direction indicated by the cursor key. ________________________ - 33 - Version 1.5, February 24, 1991 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Under DOS 4.1, MTG 1.4 incorrectly reported the amount of free space on the data disk as 0 K. This has been fixed in version 1.5. As well, version 1.5 comes with an installation program to make copying the program files to your hard drive a little easier. Insert the MTG program disk in a floppy drive (A: or B:) and log on by typing A: (or B:). Then type INSTALL and follow the directions on screen. Version 2.0, March 22, 1991 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All file I/O routines have been re-written for greater speed. Loading files from a hard drive is about 9 x faster then previous versions. To accomplish this, the file struc- ture has been changed and version 2.0 cannot read files in the old format (1.5 or earlier). A utility named CONVERT is included with the registered version to help you convert old files to the new format. You may now use a `total marks' scheme rather than assign a weight to each test. Using this method is extremely simple: just don't enter any test weights! If you enter even a single test weight, MTG reverts to the weighting method. When using `total marks', the `TotWgt' heading reads `TotMks' -- this in fact is the default when you begin a new file. IMPORTANT: You can't mix the two methods within a file so you should decide which method you want to use at the start of a semester. Switching from one system to the other in mid-semester would almost certainly affect student averages. The Legal Stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While every precaution has been taken to ensure the correctness of the software and its accompanying manual, Coffee Mug Software cannot assume any responsibility or liability for any damage or loss caused by the software. Coffee Mug Software reserves the right to make changes and improvements to the manual and software at any time without notice. It is the responsibility of the user to make the necessary back-ups for his/her data and program diskette. About The Author ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am a high school teacher in the Frontenac County Board of Education in southern Ontario, Canada. Currently, I'm attempt- ing to break away from teaching and make a living by writing educational software on a full-time basis. ______________________ - 34 -