Is there a way to import grades from a non-Webwork assessment into Webwork? Since around here for some courses all assessments but the midterm and final are completed in Webwork, one of our profs was asking if midterm grades could be entered into Webwork, thus he would not have to keep a separate gradebook.
I know there is moodle integration, but the University here supports blackboard, so we won't be using another course management system. Maybe the answer is to see how the blackboard integration comes along..
Danny
If you want a full featured gradebook you need to use Moodle integration (or Blackboard -- which is in alpha test stage).
However, you can do what you want in WeBWorK alone. It is a bit of a hack, but it works for me.
First use excel or some other spreadsheet app to create a .csv (comma separated variable) file with the relevant grades.
In my case I usually download all the homework grades using the WeBWorK scoring tools to a .csv file. Import this into excel. Add the midterm and final grades and do any additional calculations for the grade and then export the result into a file called report_grades.csv
It is important to call this file report_grades.csv. In addition to grades this file also has columns corresponding to the studentLogin and the studentID.
Upload this file using the File Manager to the "scoring" directory
courseName/scoring (this is at the same level as the courseName/template directory that you see first in the File Manager)
Now the contents of this file (or rather the row that applies to them) will appear when ever the students look at their Grades (link in the left hand margin). If I remember correctly the "key" is the studentID number rather than the studentLogin but I'd make sure not to touch either column when adding the midterm and final grades. You can also use this report_grades.csv file together with the "Email students" feature to mail a report of individual grades to the student.
The procedure is a bit fussy (I'm the main person to use it as far as I know) but it goes pretty fast once you are used to it.
Here are some further references
http://webwork.maa.org/wiki/Sending_Email
http://webwork.maa.org/moodle/mod/forum/search.php?search=report_grades&id=3
Hope this helps while you are waiting for Blackboard integration.
-- Mike
Hi Mike,
This didn't work for me. I did what you say below:
...download all the homework grades using the WeBWorK scoring tools to a .csv file. Import this into excel. Add the midterm and final grades and do any additional calculations for the grade and then export the result into a file called report_grades.csv.
So I added an extra "Test" column at the end of the homework scores, and adjusted the "summary" and "%score" columns in accord, then renamed the file to report_grades.csv. Nothing new showed up under student grades, neither under the student's account, nor in the instructor's gradebook. I only see the same homework scores. I tried to delete some header rows/columns in the spreadsheet and upload again, but it changed nothing.
Did I miss something? Any ideas? It might be helpful if you could attach a template report_grades.csv example file?
Thanks,
Lars.
Hi Lars,
Looking through the references (especially the second link below) again:
The procedure is a bit fussy (I'm the main person to use it as far as I know) but it goes pretty fast once you are used to it.
Here are some further references
http://webwork.maa.org/wiki/Sending_Email
http://webwork.maa.org/moodle/mod/forum/search.php?search=report_grades&id=3
Here are some further references
http://webwork.maa.org/wiki/Sending_Email
http://webwork.maa.org/moodle/mod/forum/search.php?search=report_grades&id=3
I find that the merge file needs to be named report_grades_data.csv and the message file which accepts the merge data is named report_grades.msg. I'm afraid that I conflated the two when I wrote the original post.
The references also acknowledge that the documentation on this feature is nearly non-existent -- mainly because it has not been widely used. That's also why it is fussy -- the file names and so forth are all hardwired into the code.
The most explicit reference I have been able to find is from the scoring page help reference (the little yellow question mark):
If you upload your file on the web with the name: <code>report_grades_data.csv</code>
and also create an email message with the name <code>report_grade.msg</code> with the
approriate <code>$COL</code> variables then not only can you email the message
with the embedded grades to the students, but files with those exact names are
automatically appended to the "Grades" page seen by the students.
I confess that I have not used either the grading or the emailing feature recently and my advice is mostly working from memory. I now run courses through moodle whenever possible and use the moodle gradebook which is much better and easier to use.
The relevant code is in the subroutine "scoring_info()" in the file ContentGenerator/Grader.pm for anyone who would be interested in bringing the capabilities of this feature up-to-date and making it more flexible.
If you get it working perhaps you could add a post on the wiki documenting the method. It might be helpful for others who are not using the moodle connection or connection with some other LMS
-- Mike
Hi Mike,
The email merge thing I can get to work. I'm more interested in the Grades page though, but I can't get any additional scores to show there.
Lars.
OK. I'll take a look at it as soon as I can and try to get it to work here. Then I can give you more explicit instructions. I've given you most of the data that I'm going to use to investigate the issue. I'm just back from the Joint Meetings so first I have to catch up with the week of classes that I missed. :-)
-- Mike
I know this thread is months old now, but I was just looking to do the same thing and this is what worked for me:
Score some homework sets and download the .csv. Then add columns for test scores or whatever, and save it as report_grades_data.csv. Upload using file manager, and put it under scoring/, which is the same level as templates, so you have to go up a level to see it.
Next, open Email. From the merge pull-down, select the file you uploaded, report_grades_data.csv. Now I could access all the columns in the file. It showed me the column data for me, so that I knew what column went with which index. (This would be even more helpful if most of my scores weren't 0's, haha).
I entered a simple message: Your first test score was $COL[n]. Your current homework average is $COL[m]. Your current/projected grade is $COL[k].
I saved this message as report_grades.msg. I did not send it to the students.
Now, when I or students go the grades page, they see at the bottom the message I typed with their scores filled in. So they don't get their whole row of grades unless you put that in the message, but you can show them additional grades.
We are running the newest update, version 2.9, so your mileage may vary!