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GETGOING.DOC
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GETGOING.DOC Page 1
INSTALLING AND RUNNING MTG
If you want to run Making The Grade from your hard drive
and you haven't yet installed it, put the program disk in
floppy drive A or B. Assuming you're using drive A
(substitute 'B' if not), log on to drive A by typing A: at the
DOS prompt. To install MTG, next type INSTALL, and let the
installer copy all program files into C:\MTG. When
installation is complete, MTG can be run directly from the
installer, or exit to DOS and type MTG at the prompt.
If you've already installed MTG or you're running it from
a floppy disk, log on to the drive and subdirectory containing
MTG. For example, if the program is in C:\MTG, type C:, then
CD \MTG, then MTG to run the program; MTG must be started from
inside its own subdirectory.
CHANGING THE SETUP
The Main Menu is the 'control center'. The first thing
you need to do is to select the correct printer and modify a
few other items, so select 'Change program setup'. From the
Change Setup menu, select 'Choose a printer'. If your printer
isn't listed, try the Epson FX-85 or one of the Alternates.
Try the printer test if you want to make sure everything's OK.
You may want to change a few other things in Change
Setup, such as the letter grade format, default data disk
location, optional categories, password (registered version
only), or you may wish to skip these for now. When you're
finished, press Esc or select 'Return to Main Menu'; the items
you changed are saved to a configuration file for next time.
STARTING A NEW CLASS
You'll need a list of students and preferably a set of
test scores to complete the rest of this exercise. First, you
need to decide where the data file will be stored; if the
current drive and path at the top of the screen are OK, you
can skip this step. If not, choose a new data drive, then a
data pathname from the Main Menu. The data path can be set
permanently at the Change Setup menu so you don't have to go
through this process every time. If there isn't enough room
left on the disk you've chosen, you'll hear a couple of beeps
and the space remaining will appear as yellow lettering on red
background at the top of the screen. You may need to exit and
format a fresh disk at this point, or select a different disk.
Next, select 'Start a new class' from the Main Menu, then
select 'Start from scratch'. At the 'Administrative Details'
screen, fill in the missing information: school name,
Page 2 GETGOING.DOC
telephone number (could be your office number, school's front
office, Guidance, etc.), course name, and course description.
Use upper and lower case when you enter the information and be
sure it's accurate; it is printed at the top of many of the
reports. When all information has been entered, you can
select 'Advance to the Edit screens'.
ENTERING DATA
The cursor begins in the upper left corner of the screen,
about three rows down. This is where the first student name
goes. Data can be entered in two ways; either type directly
into the space (cell), or press the space bar first, which
brings up an edit box. The edit box is useful in that it
shows you exactly what kind of data (student name, test name,
date, etc.) is expected -- you may wish to try it now.
Pressing Esc while in an edit box erases anything you've
entered and pressing Esc again closes the box.
Type the first name on your list into the first cell, in
last name, comma, first name format, using upper and lower
case (any way you like really, but use a consistent format).
When finished, press the down-arrow cursor key (if you don't
have a separate cursor keypad, you'll have to turn off Num
Lock and use the upper row to enter numbers). This moves the
cursor down to the next cell where you enter the next name on
your list. Don't worry about alphabetical order; the names
can easily be sorted later. Twenty names fit on the left side
of the screen. Press down-arrow when you reach the bottom and
continue down the right side, forty students maximum.
When you've entered all the names, press and hold down
Alt, and press A. A box pops up offering different ways to
arrange (sort) the student names. Choose 'Arrange By Student
Name'. Next press Alt-S to save the file; it's a good idea to
save a data file every twenty minutes or so just in case you
kick the plug out of the wall or something.
Press the Home key, which takes you to the top of the
screen right beside 'Test:'. Type in a name for the test for
which you are entering scores, maximum six characters. 'Test'
here represents any assignment. Numbering them is useful, so
you might want to call it Test.1, Lab.1, Essay1, HmWk.1, for
example. Next, move to the large cell just to the right where
it says 'Topic:' and enter a test description. This can be
something like 'Unit 1: Cell Structure', '2000 words on global
warming', or '20 multiple choice questions'. Move to the next
row just to the right of 'Max:' and enter the score this test
is begin marked out of; because all percentages will be
calculated for you, there's no real need to have 'tidy'
maximum scores -- a maximum score of 97 involves no more work
on your part than 100.
GETGOING.DOC Page 3
Next, move all the way to the left and enter a weight for
this test. If you're not sure how much it should be weighted,
stick with a relatively small percentage for now. In general
a quiz would be 1% or 2%, a test worth perhaps 5%, term paper
10%-15%; they can be changed at any time. The total weight
need never be 100%; MTG can still calculate averages. You may
also use the 'total marks' format in which each test is
weighted solely on its maximum score compared with the sum of
all maximum scores; to use total marks, just don't enter any
weights. The manual goes into much more detail on weights,
and you should read this section carefully. There is also a
discussion on weighting by category at the end of the
WHATSNEW.V21 file you might find useful.
Move to the right now and put the cursor on 'TDate:'
which stands for 'Test Date'. This will likely be the date
the marks are entered, but it could be the due date or date
assigned. Rather than enter a date, press the space bar
instead. Today's date appears, and you can press Tab to
change the date format, or press Esc and enter your own date.
You can now enter the raw score for each student. Move
the cursor into the first column to the right of the student
name column, under the maximum score. Raw scores can contain
one decimal place, and may exceed the maximum score if you
wish to give extra credit. A 'no score' can be assigned
instead of zero by typing in an asterisk (as you can see, this
is the default before any scores are entered). 'No scores'
are simply removed from all calculations rather than count as
zero, and are preferable to zeros for reasons explained in the
manual; they can always be converted to zero at the end of
semester. As each raw score is entered, the percentage
appears immediately to the right under 'Per', and the over-all
weighted average in the next column under 'SAvg' (for the
first test, this will be identical to the test percentage).
In the upper left corner appears the test average (TAvg).
When all raw scores have been entered, you can sort on
the results of this test. Press Alt-A again, and select
'Arrange By Results Of xxxxxx'. This is a good time to save
the file again by pressing Alt-S.
Move the cursor so it's on the test name, and press Alt-
G. This gives you a histogram of test scores and is useful
for getting a better idea of the distribution of scores; note
the statistics to the right. Press Alt-C to view class
statistics, then Esc to erase this box.
Press Alt-R, which takes you to the Report menu, and
select Gradebook report. Follow the prompts and print a
gradebook report. This report completely replaces your paper-
based gradebook and can be used to print the results of just
one test, a range of tests, or the whole works. This report
can then be 3-hole punched and kept in a binder. Notice that
during the entire process you wrote nothing on a piece of
paper; the marks go directly from test papers into the
program.
Page 4 GETGOING.DOC
WHAT TO DO NEXT
After printing the gradebook report, press Alt-Q to quit
the program, and select 'Quit Making The Grade' twice to exit.
This is the bare minimum you need to get started with MTG. We
have barely touched on the many features that make this
program more than just a scorekeeper. You should next print
out the manual contained in MTG21.DOC (about 53 pages) if you
haven't done so already. To print this file, follow these
steps:
The file is in compressed form in a file named
MTG21DOC.EXE. To decompress it, type MTG21DOC at the prompt,
which creates a bigger file named MTG21.DOC. Now type
PRINTDOC at the prompt, and follow the directions given there.
You should also read the WHATSNEW.V21 file by typing at
the prompt BROWSE WHATSNEW.V21. A sample file CHE-3A1! is
provided for experimentation, and pressing Alt-H or F1 in the
program brings up a Help screen which summarizes all commands.
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