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GRADESHEET 2.2 Grade management for the professional educator Cypher Mountain Systems P.O. Box 307 Williamstown, MA 01267 Copyright (C) 1992 Cypher Mountain Systems, all rights reserved. GRADESHEET is a trademark of Cypher Mountain Systems. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------- | ____|__ | Asociation of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------- |___|___| MEMBER This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. - i - REGISTERATION BENEFITS: Please Register! It's easy, the expense is modest, you will support improvements in the software, and it will entitle you to the following benefits: 1) A user id number and instructions to prevent Registration Reminder screens and "please register" messages from appearing in the program. 2) Free upgrades. Your registration number will work on all future shareware versions of GRADESHEET (and we have some lovely things planned for next fall). 3) Prompt notification of all upgrades and improvements. You may download a new release from a variety of Services and BBS's, or obtain a new release directly from us for a $5.00 shipping and handling fee. 4) Technical support. Requests for technical support can be made 24 hours a day on our answering machine at (413)-458-3799. Technical support will be provided between 6 and 9 PM EST, within 24 hrs of your request. 5) You may purchase a laser-printed and bound manual from us when you register for an additional $5.00. 6) As a registered user, your suggestions will play an important role in the future of the GRADESHEET program. - ii - SHAREWARE LICENSE This program is distributed as Shareware. It is not free. Use of the GRADESHEET program for any amount of time constitutes acceptance of the following agreement; if you do not like the agreement then don't use the program. This usage agreement applies to individuals and organizations. USE: You may install and use this program in your computing environment for 30 days. At the end of 30 days you must either obtain a license to continue using the program, or remove the program from your computing environment and stop using the program. Continued use of the program after 30 days without obtaining a license is strictly prohibited and constitutes a copyright violation. Any and all laws governing theft of software may be applied to the use of this software. Organizations that can be shown to have implimented this software for over 30 days without a license will be prosecuted. LICENSING: You may obtain an individual license for using GRADESHEET by sending $35 check / money order to: Cypher Mountain Systems, P.O. Box 307, Williamstown MA 01267. A registration form is included in the supporting files for your convenience. Group discounts, site licenses, and customized versions of the software are available. Call (413)-458-3799 for further information. DISTRIBUTION: As an individual user, you are encouraged to share the GRADESHEET program and supporting files with others that may be interested, so long as: (1) you do not share your GSH.REG file which contains your name and user id number, (2) the other party is aware that the program is shareware and must be licensed for continued legal use, and (3) no fee is charged. Distributors & Librarians may distribute the GRADESHEET package and/or make it available to the public only under the following conditions: (1) the package is offered as shareware and consumers/users are clearly notified that the package is shareware, (2) the package is not altered in any way and is distributed in entirety, including all documentation and support files (we can provide you with a complete package free of charge) and (3) only a nominal processing fee is charged for distribution, such fee must be in line with industry norms for the distribution of shareware. - iii - NOTICE: THE GRADESHEET PROGRAM AND ALL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ARE COPYRIGHT 1992 BY CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE. YOU MAY NOT ALTER THE GRADESHEET PROGRAM, DOCUMENTATION, OR SUPPORTING FILES. YOU MAY USE AND DISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AND FILES ONLY AS ALLOWED IN THE SHAREWARE AGREEMENT. `GRADESHEET' AND `CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS' ARE TRADEMARKS OF CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS. THIS PRODUCT IS DISTRIBUTED "AS IS". ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. THE PERSON USING THE GRADESHEET PROGRAM BEARS ALL RISKS AS TO THE QUALITY, SUITABILITY, DESIGN, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. SUCH RISKS INCLUDE (BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO) LOSS OF DATA AND DAMAGE TO FILE STRUCTURES ON DISK DRIVES. CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS, AND OWNERS AND EMPLOYEES OF CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS, WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE WHATSOEVER RESULTING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT WILL CYPHER MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS' LIABILITY EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE. - iv - Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------- I. INTRODUCTION .....................................pgs 1 - 2 II. A SHORT TOUR .....................................pgs 2 - 5 III. FEATURES .........................................pgs 5 -23 IV. REFERENCE ........................................pgs 23-35 ----------------------------------------------------------------- ASP Ombudsman statment ................................... i Registration Benefits .................................... ii Shareware License ........................................iii Legal Notices ............................................ iv I. INTRODUCTION ............................................. 1 A. Capacity and System requirements ........................ 1 B. Installation ............................................ 1 C. Getting help ............................................ 2 II. A SHORT TOUR ............................................ 2 III. FEATURES ............................................... 5 A. Starting GSH ............................................ 5 B. File loading, file saving, and quitting ................. 5 1. Backup your data! ...................................... 5 2. File loading ........................................... 6 3. Starting a new file .................................... 6 4. Quitting GSH ........................................... 6 C. Getting to know GRADESHEET .............................. 6 1. GRADESHEET layouts ..................................... 6 2. Student data boxes ..................................... 7 3. Locking Fields ......................................... 7 4. Deciding final grades .................................. 7 D. Data management ......................................... 8 1. Adding students ........................................ 8 2. Deleting a student ..................................... 9 3. Sorting and exchanging name/id ......................... 9 4. Pop up adder .......................................... 10 5. Entering Scores ....................................... 10 E. Statistics ............................................. 11 1. Letter Grades ......................................... 11 2. Types of averages ..................................... 12 a) Total Points ......................................... 13 b) Normalized Total Points ............................. 14 c) Dropping scores in the total points methods .......... 14 d) Weighted Average ..................................... 15 e) Grade Point Average .................................. 15 3. X's, XX's, *'s, H's, L's, E's and err's ............... 16 4. Computing averages ................................... 17 5. Distributions ......................................... 18 6. Dropping scores ....................................... 18 7. Z-scores .............................................. 19 - v - F. Printing ............................................... 19 1. Printer Options ....................................... 19 2. Routing the output .................................... 20 3. Basic printing ........................................ 20 4. Custom printing ....................................... 21 5. Print editor .......................................... 21 G. Note editor ............................................ 22 1. Viewing, editing and deleting student notes ........... 22 2. Editing the class note ................................ 22 3. Printing Notes ........................................ 23 IV. REFERENCE .............................................. 23 A. Reference: Data structures ............................. 23 B. Reference: The Menus ................................... 24 1. File Menu ............................................. 24 2. Layout Menu ........................................... 25 3. Roster Menu ........................................... 25 4. Stats Menu ............................................ 26 5. Print Menu ............................................ 26 6. Edit Menu ............................................. 27 7. Horizontal Scroll .................................... 27 C. Reference: The Dialog Boxes ............................ 27 1. Load File Pick List ................................... 27 2. Student Data Box ...................................... 28 3. Lock Fields Dialog Box ................................ 28 4. Add Students Dialog Box ............................... 29 5. Averaging Method Dialog Box ........................... 29 6. Enter Scores Dialog Boxes ............................. 30 7. Select Score Columns Dialog Box ....................... 31 8. Custom Print Dialog Box ............................... 31 9. Print Options Dialog Box .............................. 31 10. Printer Output Dialog Box ............................ 31 D. Technical Reference: File Structures ................... 32 1. Files created by gsh .................................. 32 2. Importing Ascii files ................................. 32 3. Fixing damaged files .................................. 33 - vi - I. INTRODUCTION Welcome! The GRADESHEET program combines elements from spreadsheets, databases, statistical packages, and information managers to create an integrated environment for processing student grades. The program is geared towards instructors in Universities, Colleges, and High schools using the lecture format of instruction. The "Short Tour" section is designed to give you a quick walk through of the program and some of it's properties. The "Features" section gives a more in depth conceptual treatment of the program. The "Reference" section contains explanations of every menu choice and every dialog box in the program. The "Technical Reference" section contains file format information for the use of adepts trying to import data to the program or possibly salvaging damaged files. A.Capacity and System requirements GRADESHEET will handle up to 24 scores for up to 200 students. GRADESHEET runs on IBM compatible personal computers running DOS 3.3 or later. A hard disk and at least an 80286 processor is highly recommended. A color monitor is nice. You should have AT LEAST 500K of available memory to run the program (run CHKDSK to find out how much free memory you have). Although GRADESHEET is well-behaved, it is recommended that you not use TSR's (i.e. pop-up applications) while running GRADESHEET since the program requires large amounts of memory (version 2.2 is planned to incorporate state-of-the-art memory management to get more data into less memory). B.Installation The GRADESHEET program is distributed in a self-extracting archive program file named GSH200.EXE. To install the program on your hard disk, (1) make a directory with a suitable name, such as "GSH200", (2) copy the archive program file GSH200.EXE into the directory, and (3) run the archive program file GSH200.EXE. If you are uncomfortable with this procedure, perhaps you could get assistance from someone more familiar with DOS. - 1 - C.Getting help A request for Technical support can be made 24hrs a day by calling the GSH helpline (413)-458-3799. Support will be provided between 6 and 9 PM EST within 24hrs of your call. II. A SHORT TOUR If you are exploring GRADESHEET and get stuck, remember that the ESC key almost always does something and almost never hurts anything. You can exit the GRADESHEET program without saving the data by choosing the "Exit" entry from the "File" menu: you can do this while the highlight is in the data area with the key sequence ALT-F X RETURN. Start GRADESHEET by executing the GSH.EXE file (if you are using a laptop, you may want to add "/lt" as a command line parameter). The opening screen will contain a box with three buttons: LOAD, NEW, and ABOUT. Use the arrow keys to move the highlight from button to button. Choose the LOAD button by highlighting it and pressing return. You will promptly get a list of the directories of your disk and GRADESHEET data files with a .GSH extension. Move the highlight up and down this list with the arrow keys. You may load data files by selecting them; that is, highlighting the desired item and pressing return. You may move up the directory structure by selecting the "..\" entry, and move down the directory structure by choosing the desired directory. Find the SAMPLE.GSH file and load it by highlighting the entry and pressing return. The GRADESHEET screen has several elements: a top line menu, a data area, a bottom line message area, and a number of dialog boxes that appear during various operations. After loading, the data area should contain some fictitious student information arranged in one of two layout modes. Pressing the F3 and F4 keys will switch you between the two layout modes; F4 initiates the spreadsheet layout and F3 initiates the roster layout. Make sure you are in the spreadsheet layout by pressing the F4 key. You should see a spreadsheet-like arrangement of student names and scores. Move the highlight vertically by using the up and down arrows, and move sideways by using CTRL-ARROWS or TAB and SHIFT-TAB. You can move up and down the list a page at a time using the PgUp and PgDn keys. You can activate the top line menu by pressing the F10 key. You can toggle back and forth between the data area and the menu by pressing the ESC key successively. You can navigate around the menu with the arrow keys and select items with the ENTER key. Each of the pulldown menus can be activated - 2 - by holding down the ALT key and pressing the highlighted menu letter. For example, with the cursor in the data area, press ALT-F to activate the file menu and then S to save the data file to disk. You could have accomplished the same task by pressing F10 F S or ESC F S. Since you should save your data file often, this task also has a special "hot key" combination, ALT-S, and that's the easiest and fastest way to save your data to disk. This hot key combination, and several others, appear on the menus as reminders. Exploring the menu system is a good way to get to know GRADESHEET. Remember that you toggle the cursor between the menus and the data area using the ESC key, and make sure the cursor is in the data area before using hot keys and keys that navigate the spreadsheet. In the spreadsheet layout, student scores are stored in 24 columns. Use the SHIFT-> key to scroll up through the columns or the SHIFT-< key to scroll down through the columns. Use CTRL-PgDn and CTRL-PgDn to page through the columns six at a time. In the default mode, you can edit the fields by moving the highlight to the target field and typing in or deleting information. You can also lock fields to prevent them from being inadvertently edited. Pressing F6 will lock all fields, CTRL-F6 will lock only the score columns, and F5 will unlock all fields. You can also set the field locks from the Layout menu (ALT-L L). When all the fields are locked you can move about using just the arrow keys and no edits to the data fields will be permitted. Try it. Compute the average of the scores by using the ALT-C hot key or use the Stats menu (ALT-t C). If you update the scores, you must compute the average again to update the average. An asterisk will appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen to indicate when a recalculation of the average is needed. You can sort the students alphabetically (ALT-A or ALT-o A), rank them by average (ALT-R or ALT-o R), sort them by a score (ALT-o S), or group them by section (ALT-o G). Switch the layout to the roster format by pressing the F3 key. Moving the highlight to a student and pressing ENTER or F2 brings up a student data box with all the information for that student. You may move through the fields, edit the fields, and even page through the students with PgUp and PgDn keys (or the NEXT and PREV buttons). Going to the next or previous students will automatically save your edits on the current student. Selecting the CANCEL button will throw out the edits on the last student only. Save your edits and close the window with the DONE button (ESC ENTER or quickly with CTRL-ENTER). - 3 - The student data window can be activated with the F2 key from either the roster or the spreadsheet layouts. The student data window will enable you to edit the students data even if the spreadsheet fields are locked. Thus, it is advisable to simply leave the fields locked (F6) and access the data only through the data windows. Several tasks are streamlined in the GRADESHEET package. Most notably entering student names and entering scores. To enter a number of students at once, select the "Add new students" item from the roster menu (ALT-o n). You will then get a dialog box with a scrolling list that has columns for name, id number, and section number. Entering the first name and pressing return moves the cursor to the id number column, entering a number and pressing return moves the cursor to the section number, entering a section and pressing return moves the cursor to the name field of the second entry. Selecting the ACCEPT button (ESC ENTER or quickly with CTRL-ENTER) will enter the new students into the roster. Up to 50 students at a time may be entered in this way. Entering scores always seems an arduous task-- usually because it is performed when one is tired from grading. The "Enter scores" utility on the Stats menu (ALT-t E) will make the process easier. After Selecting this item from the Stats menu, you will be prompted to select Numerical or Letter scores. Select either and you will get a dialog box asking the title and date of the score, whether the score is eligible to be dropped (see the section on dropping scores), the total points for the score (for numerical data), the weight the score is to have in the average (see the section on averaging), what column you want to enter the scores into, and whether or not you want to use a couple of quick entry features. For letter grades, you can use the quick keys feature by setting "Quick:" to "Yes" and this will map the number keys on the numeric keypad to letters instead of numbers. For numeric scores, you can make an adder pop up automatically when proceeding to the next student; this allows you to sum up and enter test scores in one operation. See the section on Entering Scores for more details on these time-saving features. GRADESHEET strives to accommodate a number of grading styles, which means offering a variety of methods for averaging scores, setting letter grades, and dropping scores. Much of this is managed through the "Averaging Methods" dialog box accessible from the "Stats" menu or with the hot-key ALT-M. This dialog box allows you to manipulate a number of items relating to the scores entered in the data set; including Title, Date, Points, Weight, Type (letter or numeric), and whether the score can be dropped. If you use the enter scores facility, this information will have been - 4 - entered when each score is entered. You can also set the type of average you want to compute from the "Averaging Methods" dialog box. The choices are: Total Points, Normalized Total Points, Weighted Average, and Grade Point Average. See the section on statistics for more information on averaging methods. For setting numeric equivalents of letter grades, use the "Letter grades" facility on the "Stats" menu. GRADESHEET contains a number of time-saving features, and you are encouraged to explore them fully with the sample data set before creating your own data set. Browsing the pull-down menu system is a good way to familiarize yourself with the capabilities of the program. While working, remember to save your data often by pressing ALT-S (or Alt-F S). Save your data and exit the program by using the ALT-Q key combination (or Alt-F Q). Student grade data is valuable data; make a habit of regularly backing up your data files. III. FEATURES A.Starting GSH The syntax for starting GRADESHEET is as follows: GSH [-bw][-lt] [filename[.gsh]] All command line parameters are optional and irrespective of order. The -bw (or /bw) flag will force black and white colors and -lt (or /lt) will force laptop colors. You may also specify a data filename for GRADESHEET to load on startup. B.File loading, file saving, and quitting 1.Backup your data! Student grade information is too important to lose. A PRINTED COPY IS THE BEST BACKUP. I recommend making regular backups of all of your data, and getting a printed copy every time significant information is added, such as exam scores. For backup purposes, files with extension .GSH contain the main data, and files with extension .GSN contain the note data. Files with extensions .BKH and .BKN are backups of the data and note files respectively. - 5 - 2.File loading If you don't specify a filename on the command line, you will be asked to load a file or start a new file (see the "Quick Tour section). You may load a file at any time from the file menu (ALT-F L). You current data will automatically be saved before another file is loaded. 3.Starting a new file You can create a new data file when starting GRADESHEET or at anytime by using the file menu (ALT-F N). When starting a new file and entering numerous student names you will probably want to use the "Add new students" feature on the Roster menu (ALT-o N). 4.Quitting GSH To save your data and quit GRADESHEET, use the hot key combination ALT-Q or use the menu (ALT-F Q). To exit GRADESHEET without saving your data you must use the file menu (ALT-F X); you will be asked if that is what you really want to do. C.Getting to know GRADESHEET 1.GRADESHEET layouts GRADESHEET has two different layout modes for the data area, roster mode and spreadsheet mode. You can switch between the modes using the F3 and F4 keys or the menu (ALT-L C). Roster mode only shows name/id and section numbers and is appropriate for having on your computer screen when visible to students. The spreadsheet layout puts a bunch of information on the screen in a spreadsheet-like format, and is appropriate for when you are working with the grade information, such as entering scores or deciding grades. In this mode, the spreadsheet columns from left to right are: line number, average, grade, note flag, name/id, section number, and then six columns for the first six scores. The CTRL-ARROW keys are handy for navigating the spreadsheet, and you can page between banks of six scores by using CTRL-PgUp and CTRL-PgDn. You can swap names and id numbers by using ALT-X. - 6 - 2.Student data boxes A "student data box" is a facility that places all of the data for one student on the screen. It displays the students name, id, section, average, grade, all 24 scores, and indicates if there is a note associated with the student. You can activate the student data box from either layout by highlighting the student's name and pressing F2; you can activate the box from the roster layout by simple pressing return. The student data box allows you to easily view and edit data for a student. Be aware that these edits will override any locks you currently have on the data fields. 3.Locking Fields The idea of the spreadsheet layout is to put as much data on the screen as possible, allowing you to page through, examine and alter that data. Any time you have that much data available there is a danger that it may be inadvertently changed-- say a cat walks across the keyboard, or you drop a stack of finals on the number keypad. Have no fear: GRADESHEET allows you to lock the data fields on the roster and spreadsheet layouts. You can activate and deactivate the locks from the "Lock fields" utility on the Layout menu (ALT-L L), or quickly using the function keys. The F6 function key will lock all fields and not allow any direct edits to the data; the only way to edit data while this lock is on is through the student data boxes. The function key CTRL-F6 will lock only the score columns and allow direct edits in the name, id, section and grade columns; this is a handy lock to use while deciding final grades. The F5 key will deactivate all locks and allow direct edits in any column. Each of these options are also available from the "Lock Fields" dialog box (ALT-L L). A letter "L" will appear on the lower left hand corner of the screen to indicate that all fields are locked, A letter "S" will appear if score columns are locked and no letter will appear if all locks are disabled. 4.Deciding final grades Before deciding on the final letter grades make sure that your average is up to date; recompute it if necessary (ALT-C). You will also probably want to Rank students by average (ALT-R). If you are dropping scores, make sure that dropable scores are correctly marked in the - 7 - "Averaging Method" dialog box (ALT-M) and that the proper drops have been made. If you have entered or adjusted scores since the last time you dropped, you will need to go through the dropping procedure again (see the section on dropping scores). Once a fresh average has been calculated and students have been ranked, you will have a list of your highest to lowest scoring students. You can now go through the process of deciding and entering grades in the Grd column. This process is accommodated by a "carry-down" feature. If you have entered a grade in the grade column you can carry the same grade down to the next row by simply hitting return (if the next field down is empty). For example, suppose the grade column is completely empty, you have just computed the average (ALT-C) and ranked the students by their averages (ALT-R). Place the highlight in the grade column (the one marked Grd) on the first line that has a correct average (there may be a couple of "err"s at the top of the list after ranking). You will probably want to give this student an "A", so press the "A" key and an one will appear in the grade column. You may want to give the next student an "A" also. Just press return and the "A" will automatically be carried down from the above entry. Continue pressing ENTER until you get to the first student to receive a "B". Press the B key and a "B" will replace the "A" in the grade column. Pressing ENTER will carry the "B" down as far as you want. This carry-down feature makes entering grades easy, and conforms well to the process most teachers use to make grade decisions. The carry-down feature WILL NOT write over a field that already contains a grade. D.Data management 1.Adding students You can insert a single student into the list or add several students at a time. To insert one student, choose the "Insert student" item from the List menu (ALT-o I). This will insert a blank data line into the data area after the row that currently has the highlight. You may edit data in this new row as you normally would. For example if you were adding a late student you would insert a blank row (ALT-o I), fill in the name of the new student, exchange the name/id (ALT-X), fill in the id number, and then perhaps place an "X" in the first score column to excuse the student from the quiz she missed. You - 8 - may have to unlock the fields (F6) before editing this data directly. Alternatively, you could place the highlight in the new blank row and press F2 to add the desired information in the student data box. When starting up a class, you will want to add many students' names, id numbers, and sections at once. This is facilitated with the "Add new students" feature from the Roster menu (ALT-o n). This will create a dialog box on screen with a name column, id number column, and section column. Place the highlight in the first entry of the name column. Type in the name of the first student and press ENTER, the highlight will move to the id number column, and you can type in the id number. Pressing ENTER again will move the highlight to the Section Number column and pressing ENTER a third time will place the highlight in the second entry of the name column and you may proceed with the second entry. When you are finished, Press the ACCEPT button (ESC ENTER or CTRL-ENTER) to add in the names and exit the routine. Up to 50 names can be entered at once, but I recommend only entering 20 or 30 at a time, exiting the routine (CTRL-ENTER) and saving your data (ALT-S). This will give you some protection from power outages, system hangs, and other brain-scrambling disasters. 2.Deleting a student You may delete only a single student at a time. Place the highlight in the row of the data area that you wish to delete and choose the "Delete student" item from the Roster menu (ALT-o D). You will be asked before the row is actually deleted. 3.Sorting and exchanging name/id The Roster menu contains the four ways you can sort the data records: Alphabetical, Rank by average, Sort by Score, and Group by Section. The alphabetical sort will sort the data alphabetically by name or id number, whichever is currently visible in the name field. The alphabetical sort is initiated by the hot key ALT-A or by the menus (ALT-o A). Rank by average will sort the data records in the numerical order of the average column, high scores first. Any "err"s in the average column will be put first and any "*"s will be put last. The Rank by average sort is initiated by the hot key ALT-R or by the menu (ALT-o R). - 9 - The Sort by Score feature will sort the data records by the score column that the highlight is currently in (if the highlight is not in a score column, the program will beep and do nothing). The data is sorted with high scores first and low scores last, with erroneous values and *'s placed at the bottom of the list. To initiate a sort by score, place the highlight on the score column that you want to use and choose the "Sort by Score" item from the List menu (ALT-o S). You may also arrange the entries grouped by section using the Group by Section entry in the List menu (ALT-o G). 4.Pop up adder One nice feature for late night grade entry is the pop-up quick adder. First, make sure Num-Lock on your keyboard is on, and place the highlight in a blank score field and press the grey "+" key on the numeric keypad, You will see a tall box appear on the screen. You may enter a number and press "+" (or "-" for subtraction) to move the highlight to the next line for another number. After entering a column of numbers, you can move up and down the list with the arrow keys and make corrections. When you are done press ENTER and the numbers will be summed at the bottom of the list. Press ENTER again and the quick adder will disappear and the sum will be entered in the blank score field. This makes entering a stack of unadded test scores a breeze. 5.Entering Scores Using a computer to manage grade data offers tremendous advantages in organization and ease. The flip side of computer slickness is that all that data has to be entered into the computer first. This usually being done after your mind has turned to putty from grading 100+ exams. Fix yourself a nice cup of tea first. GRADESHEET tries to minimize the labor involved. One nice feature is the "Enter scores" facility on the Stats menu. Selecting this item will present you with a sequence of decisions to tell the program what kind of data you are entering and finally will present a scrolling list of student names (sorted as they are appear in the name/id column) with a field to the left of each name for you to enter the stack of scores. This minimizes eye fatigue and makes the entry process go as fast as possible. The first choice is whether you are entering numeric or letter score data. You will then get a dialog box where you can enter a title for the score (such as "Quiz #1"), a - 10 - date for the score (the program will enter today's date as a guess-- as if you get your grading done in the same day as the exam!), whether the score is eligible to be dropped, a weight for the score, and a total points for numeric data. (Note that the weight is only used in the weighted and grade point average methods.) You will then have the option of turning on or off certain features designed to ease data entry. For letter scores, you can set "Quick:" to "Yes" and the keys on the numeric keypad (on the right of most popular keyboards) will be translated to letters. Pressing 1 or 7 produces an A; 2 or 8 produces a B; 3 or 9 produces a C; 4 produces a D; 5 produces an F; and 6 produces an * (It makes sense-- look at the keypad). Using these remapped number keys and the + and - keys on the numeric keypad makes entering letter grades a cinch. Make sure NumLock is set to ON before using this feature, or it just won't work. For numeric scores, you can set the pop-up adder (discussed in the previous section) to automatic. This is for use when you have a stack of unadded tests. For example, suppose you have a stack of calculus tests that have been corrected with points awarded for each of the questions. You have to take each student's exam, add up all the points on the exam and enter that total for the students score. Setting the pop-up adder to "Auto" will cause the adder to pop up automatically each time you move down the score entry list to the next student. This helps one to develop a rhythm when performing this chore. Try it first on the sample data and see if you like it. The other option is to set the pop-up adder to "Grey +" and it will only pop up only if you press the grey + key on the numeric keypad, as is usual for score fields. E.Statistics 1.Letter Grades GRADESHEET accepts the entry of standard letter grades of A,B,C,D, modifiable by + and -, and a single failing grade F. The program handles these grades by converting them to numeric equivalents. You can change the default numeric equivalents on the "Letter grades" facility on the Stat Menu. You can specify that a given column is to contain letter scores by the enter scores procedure discussed earlier or by setting the entry in the Type column of the "Averaging Methods" dialog box to "Let". If you are only using letter grades in your course, then it is recommended that you use the Grade Point Average method. - 11 - All of the averaging methods rely on accurate information as to the top number of points on a given score. The top letter grade can be taken as "A" or "A+", and you can choose either one on the "Letter Grades" dialog box from the Stats menu (ALT-t L). You should select "A" as the total points if you have no intentions of giving out A+'s, or if you consider A to be the top grade with an A+ as going beyond that. Otherwise you can take A+ as being the maximum grade. If you only have letter grades and use the recommended Grade Point Average method then the choice of A or A+ will make no difference in calculating the average, but will have a small effect on the Normalized distribution. When using a different averaging method, the choice of A or A+ as the top score will determine the scale on which letter grades will be interpreted. Be aware that GRADESHEET reads data entries left to right, so that "A+?!" is interpreted as "A+" whereas "?!A+" is interpreted as an error. GRADESHEET currently has no facility for converting from numeric scores back to letter grades. The philosophy here is that the only time one needs to convert from a numeric average to a letter grade is for generating a report, such as a final report. This process is rarely done by formula, and almost always involves some element of human judgment. GRADESHEET works to facilitate the judgment process. To assign grades it is recommended that you compute a fresh average (ALT-C) and rank the students by average (ALT-R); the students are then ordered from highest to lowest average and letter grades can be assigned in the Grd column. This process, along with the graphic distribution facility, carry-down grades in the Grd column, and possibly the Z-Scores conversion facility, provides a sound and easy way to organize important data so that a clear grade evaluation can be made. See the section on "Deciding final grades" for more details on the procedure. 2.Types of averages An average is a conglomeration of a number of data points into a single value that is to somehow express the overall bias of the data points. There are lots of ways to perform this conglomeration, and each way of averaging has to be examined carefully with regard to suitability for your purposes and how excused and dropped scores are to be handled. GRADESHEET provides four types of averaging methods that are most popular with instructors. They are Total Points, Normalized Total Points, Weighted Average, and Grade Point - 12 - Average. Each is explained below with considerations for excused and dropped scores. The different averaging methods are selected from the "Averaging Methods" facility on the Stats menu (ALT-M or ALT-t M). It is a good idea to read and reread the following sections that explain the averaging method you intend to use, and then check the method with a few sample data points and a calculator to make sure the average is being done the way you think it is being done. a)Total Points The total points method is the simplest, and computes the average by adding the scores for the student. To illustrate, suppose we had four scores for each student: S1, S2, S3, and S4, from four separate exams. Suppose that the total allowable points on each score were MAX1, MAX2, MAX3, and MAX4 respectively. That is, if the first three scores were from 100-point exams and the fourth score was from a 200-point final, we would have MAX1=MAX2=MAX3=100 and MAX4=200. The average would then be computed as: S1 + S2 + S3 + S4 This method does not use weights, and any entry in the Weight column of the "Averaging Method" dialog box will be ignored. This method does use the allowable total points for excusing scores and for normalizing distributions, and so it is important to have an accurate entry in the Points column of the "Averaging Method" dialog box. Now suppose that the third score is excused (by an X or XX). Then GRADESHEET will compute the average as follows: S1 + S2 + S4 ( -------------------- ) (MAX1 + MAX2 + MAX3 + MAX4) MAX1 + MAX2 + MAX4 This will put the student with an excused score on the same scale as other students, and reflects the fraction of points awarded over points available to that particular student. Although this averaging method is not particularly suited for letter grades, it will compute the average by converting any letter grade to its numeric equivalent. Dropped scores for this method are discussed in a subsequent section. This method does not use weights and will disregard any entries in the "Weight" column of the "Average Method" dialog box. - 13 - b)Normalized Total Points This method is the same as the total points method except that averages are expressed in percentages. A basic average will be computed as: S1 + S2 + S3 + S4 ( --------------------------- ) x 100 MAX1 + MAX2 + MAX3 + MAX4 If the third score is excused (by an X or XX). Then the normalized total points average is computed as follows: S1 + S2 + S4 ( -------------------- ) x 100 MAX1 + MAX2 + MAX4 The difference between this and the previous method is that Total Points will be distributed in the range of 0 to MAX1+MAX2+MAX3+MAX4 and Normalized total Points will be distributed in a range of 0 to 100. c)Dropping scores in the total points methods Both the Total Points and the Normalized Total Points methods rely on a calculation of the total possible points available to students. Dropping scores will change this total possible points. For example, if the first three scores were from 100-point exams and the fourth score was from a 200-point final, and you wanted to drop the lowest of the first three scores then the total allowable points would be 2 x 100 + 200 = 400 points. Scores in the Total points method will be distributed from 0 to 400, and scores in the Normalized Total Points are obtained by dividing by 400 (not 500). This will generally work the way you want it to for excused scores and for normalizing the distribution. It can get messed up, however, if the scores that you are dropping have different point values. For instance, dropping the lowest of last two scores will generate essentially meaningless data since one is a 200 point score and the other is a 100 point score. To avoid this, ensure that the scores eligible for dropping have the same point value. That is, everything with a "Yes" in the "Drop" column of the "Averaging Methods" dialog box should have the same point value. If this is not practicable, you will need to use the weighted average method to accommodate dropping the scores in a meaningful manner. - 14 - d)Weighted Average The weighted average method uses weights assigned to each score to calculate the average. You must insure accurate information in both the Points and Weight columns in the "Averaging Method" dialog box (ALT-M). As before, suppose we had four scores for each student: S1, S2, S3, and S4 and the total allowable points on each score were MAX1, MAX2, MAX3, and MAX4 respectively. Suppose we had assigned weights WT1, WT2, WT3, and WT4 to the four score respectively. That is, if you want each of the first three score to count 20% and the last score to count 40% then you would set WT1=WT2=WT3=.2 and WT4=.4. You could equivalently have set WT1=WT2=WT3=20 and WT4=40 or even WT1=WT2=WT3=1 and WT4=2 as the sum of the weights does not matter; only their relative sizes are significant. The students weighted average would then be computed as: S1 S2 S3 S4 WT1 ---- + WT2 ---- + WT3 ---- + WT4 ---- MAX1 MAX2 MAX3 MAX4 ------------------------------------------------- WT1 + WT2 + WT3 + WT4 The average is put into percentage form by multiplying the above result by 100. Suppose now that the third score is excused or dropped (either by an X, XX, H or L). Then GRADESHEET will average around this score by computing the average as follows: S1 S2 S4 WT1 ---- + WT2 ---- + WT4 ---- MAX1 MAX2 MAX4 ------------------------------------- WT1 + WT2 + WT4 This fraction is then expressed in percentage form. This method produces averages on a scale of 0 to 100, regardless of whether numeric, letter, or both types of scores are used. e)Grade Point Average The Grade Point Average method is specifically tailored to letter scores. If S1, S2, S3, and S4 are all letter scores with assigned weights WT1, WT2, WT3, and WT4 - 15 - respectively then the grade point average is calculated as (WT1)(S1) + (WT2)(S2) + (WT3)(S3) + (WT4)(S4) ----------------------------------------------- WT1 + WT2 + WT3 + WT4 and if S3 was excused or dropped then the average is calculated as (WT1)(S1) + (WT2)(S2) + (WT4)(S4) ---------------------------------- WT1 + WT2 + WT4 Here the letter grades are converted to their numeric equivalents before the average is computed. This is how one should think of the Grade Point Average for letter scores. In actuality, this method is identical to the Weighted Average method except that the scores are not normalized to a 0-100% scale. Instead they will be normalized to a scale from 0 to the top score; this top score being either the numeric equivalent of "A" or "A+" depending on your choices in the "Letter Grades" dialog box (ALT-t L). For example, if "A" has a numeric equivalent of 4.0, and you select "Total Points" to be based on "A", then this method will produce averages in the range of 0 to 4.0. This averaging method works if the columns contain numeric, letter, or both types of scores. 3.X's, XX's, *'s, H's, L's, E's and err's An entry in the average column contains either a numerical average, a "*", or an "err". A "*" in the average column means that one of the score fields was flagged in that it contains an "*", you probably put it there to remind yourself of something. If for some reason the program can't compute the average for a line and that line contains no "*", then an "err" will be displayed in the average column. The score columns can contain 5 characters of any text data. Usually these fields will contain either numerical or letter score entries, or will be blank. Some letters have special meaning in the score fields and they are X, *, H, L, and E. An "X" in a score field means that that student is excused from that score; his or her average will be computed around that score and will not include it (averaging methods are explained in a prior section). A single "X" - 16 - means that this excused score will not be chosen by the Drop low scores command, and two x's, "XX", means that this score may be chosen by the Drop low scores command. A "*" in a score field means that the average will not to be computed for this line. Instead, a "*" will be entered into the average column the next time averages are computed. This is useful for reminding yourself about something or for flagging a student. For example, if a student missed an exam and you don't know why, a "*" may be preferable to a blank (giving an "err" in the average column), a zero, or an X. GRADESHEET can amend scores by dropping the lowest score, dropping the highest and lowest scores, and dropping the next lowest scores. You access this feature through the Stats menu under "Drop scores" (ALT-t r). When a low score is dropped an "L=" appears before it and it will not be included in the average (it will be excused in the weighted average method and ignored in the total points method). Similarly when a high score is dropped an "H=" will appear before it and it will not be included in the average. The score field is six characters wide, but the leftmost character is reserved for special symbols. If you attempt to write in the leftmost column with anything other than an X, *, H or L, the program will beep and replace the leftmost character with an "E". An "err" will appear in the average column the next time you average. 4.Computing averages To compute the average of scores use the hot key ALT-C or the Stats menu (ALT-t C). When this command is issued, GRADESHEET looks at all the score columns (both visible and off-screen ones) and uses every score column that has any entry in it. Thus if some column contains a single entry and a bunch of blanks you will generate a lot of "err"'s in the Aver column. The program then computes the average based on information supplied in the "Averaging Method" dialog box (ALT-M), the "Letter Grades" dialog box (if appropriate), and the scores entered in the data set. See the prior section on types of averages for details on how averages are computed. Sometimes you may want to compute the average of a select group of scores. You can do this through the "Average of..." entry in the Stats pull-down menu (ALT-t o). The selected average routine will create an "Select Score Columns" dialog box on the screen with a list of Score 1 through Score 24. Initially there will be check-marks next to any score that has something entered in its column. You - 17 - can navigate this list using the arrow keys and toggle the selection of scores with the SPACE BAR. The ENTER key will both toggle the entry and move down one line. When you are done, make sure that there is a check mark next to each score you want to include in the average and no others. Then select the Accept button (ESC ENTER or CTRL-ENTER). 5.Distributions The distribution routine will give basic statistics including median, mean, and standard deviation for the average column or for any score column. A graphical distribution of scores is also given. This routine will normalize all statistics and all numeric scores to a scale of 0-100. You may want to compute a fresh average (ALT-C) before viewing distributions. You initiate the distribution feature by the hot key ALT-D or from the Stats menu (ALT-t D). The distribution screen has four buttons. The "Next" and "Prev" buttons allow you to page forward or backward through the score columns (the average score column is right before score 1 and right after score 24). The "Print" button allows you to print the current distribution, and the "Exit" button to quit the routine and return to the data area. the first time you choose the print button, you will be asked where you want the output to go. The options are covered in the section "Routing printer output" section below. The total number of scores, the number of errors (score entries that either could not be interpreted or are off the scale), and the number of scores displayed are also reported. If the distribution does not appear right, or there seems to be too many erroneous scores, check to make sure that the information is correct in the "Averaging Method" dialog box (ALT-M); accurate maximum scores must be entered even if using the total points method. If you are dropping scores, you may want to check that scores are properly dropped. 6.Dropping scores Various means of dropping scores are available through "Drop scores" facility on the Stats menu (ALT-t r). The options are to "Drop low scores", "Drop next lowest", "Drop high and low", and "Un-drop all". "Drop low scores" will first unmark any previous drops and then for each student will search the eligible scores for the lowest value and mark it with an "L=". The eligible scores are taken as any score that contains a "Yes" in the - 18 - "Drop" column of the "Averaging Methods" dialog box. A score marked with an "L=" is then excused from any subsequent average. Excused scores marked with a single "X" will not be taken as low scores, but scores marked with two x's, "XX" may be taken as low scores. "Drop next lowest" functions the same as "Drop low scores" except that it does not clear the previous marks first. This enables you to throw out the two lowest scores, for instance. "Drop high and low" functions similarly, but marks the highest score with an "H=" and the lowest with and "L=". Neither the high or low score will be included in subsequent averages. The "Un-drop all" command will remove all "H="'s and "L="'s from all the data. Thus a subsequent average will include all scores. You can override the computer's amendments by deleting H's and L's and putting them wherever you want; such edits will be removed by the "Un-drop all" command. Remember to reprocess your dropped scores every time you add new scores to the data. Also, be aware that dropping scores with different point values can seriously affect a total points average; see the section on types of averages. 7.Z-scores A Z-score is a score that has been normalized to have mean 0 and standard deviation 1; any numeric data set can be normalized in this manner. You can convert the average score column to Z-scores from the Stats menu (ALT t Z). Be aware that the "Normalized Distribution" utility (ALT-D) will not work well with Z-scores since the two methods of normalization are incompatible. F.Printing 1.Printer Options You can select a couple of options for printer output in the "Print Options" dialog box activated from the Print menu (ALT-P O). You may choose to send output to LPT1 or LPT2 (the default is LPT1). You can also choose whether to use IBM graphics characters in your output, using graphics characters will print out distributions like they appear - 19 - on screen. If you are uncertain whether your printer supports graphic characters, try setting this option to "Yes" and printing out a distribution. If it looks horrible, set it back to "No" and the distributions will print out on standard ascii characters. 2.Routing the output There are several print routines in GRADESHEET for printing student information, distributions, and notes. Each of these routines will first ask were you want the print output sent. Your choices are to send it directly to the printer, to send it to a file, or to send it to the print editor. Sending it to the printer will attempt to send the data to LPT1 or LPT2, whichever is selected in the "Printer Options" dialog box. If you want to send the output to a file, you will be asked for a filename. If the file already exists you will given the options of overwriting the file, appending to the end of the file, or canceling the operation. You may also send your output to the print editor were you can edit the output before printing it. This makes it easy to customize your output with titles, dates, etc. If you send the data to the print editor you will be asked for a filename to hold the data while editing it. The print editor is discussed in more detail in a later section. 3.Basic printing There are two basic printing routines for the data set, "Print Gradesheet" and "Print Roster". These routines will first print out an information page with score titles, dates, points and weights. The print roster routine will simply print a list of names and id numbers of students in the data set. This is handy for keeping attendance, although you may want to customize it with the print editor or a word processor. The Print Gradesheet routine will attempt to print out data in a usable form. The data will be sorted in the order it currently appears on the screen and either the name or id number will be printed, whichever is currently visible. All scores that are not blank will be printed. The output will look pretty much as it currently appears on the screen, except that all off-screen scores will also be printed. - 20 - 4.Custom printing Teachers are a finicky lot, and each one probably has different preferences on how data should be printed out. The "Custom print" routine allows you to choose what data to print and in what order it should be printed. Even this will not satisfy all, but in combination with the print editor or your word processor it makes a powerful tool for printing the data in exactly the form you want. Initiate the custom print routine from the Print menu (ALT-P C). This creates a box on the screen containing titles for all the basic data elements, such as name, id number, row number, and score 1 through score 24. Navigate around these titles with the arrow keys and select them in the order that you want them printed with the space bar. When finished you select the Accept button or press CTRL-ENTER. For example, suppose that for each student you wanted the student name followed by the average on one line and then scores 1, 2, and 3 on the next line. (First make sure your average is up to date.) Use the arrow keys to move the highlight to the "Name" title and press spacebar. A number <1> should appear next to the "Name" title. Now move the highlight to the "Average" title and press spacebar, a <2> should appear next to the average title. Now move the highlight to the "Newline" title and press spacebar, a <3> should appear next to the "Newline" title. Selecting scores 1, 2, and 3 in a similar manner should make a <4>, <5>, and <6> appear next to the scores in the order you select. Pressing CTRL-ENTER concludes the selection and asks where you want the output sent. Sending it to the editor or to a file allows you to further customize your output with the print editor or your own word processor. 5.Print editor The print editor is a simple editor with search and replace, and block cut, copy and paste. Since much of the information is arranged in columns, you can select column blocks as well as regular character blocks. You can toggle between insert and overstrike modes and insert the current date into the text. The editor will use the text filename you specified when directing output to the print editor and will enable you to print the text to the printer. The print editor is no match for a good word processor, but is just the thing you need for doing basic modifications to your output before printing it. All of the features and functions of the print editor are available through the top menu which is activated with - 21 - either the ESC or F10 keys and navigated with the arrow keys. Some hot keys are available in the print editor and are indicated in the pull-down menus. You can save your file and exit the print editor (thereby returning to main GRADESHEET screen) by using the hot key ALT-Q. The editor also has full mouse support: you can pull down menus, choose menu items, move the cursor, select and copy text, and also pop up a "quick menu" of often used commands by clicking the right mouse button. G.Note editor 1.Viewing, editing and deleting student notes You can attach a note to a student containing up to 8k (8,192 characters) of text. To do so, place the highlight in the row containing the student you wish to annotate and press the hot key ALT-N or use the menus (ALT-E N) to pop up a Note Box. The note box will indicate the student's name, and will insert the current date into the text area. You may then enter text into the text area (the text will be automatically wrapped. When finished you can select the ACCEPT button (ESC ENTER) or press CTRL-ENTER. The note will be saved to the disk and an "*" will appear in the note column to the left of the students name to remind you that a note has been entered for that student. To update the note, place the highlight in the row and press ALT-N (or use the menus) and the Note Box will appear containing the previous text appended by the current date. You can then add or edit text, and exit the same as before. You can also delete the note by selecting the DELETE button (you will be asked before the note is actually deleted). To view a note without editing it, place the highlight in a row with a "*" to the left of the name field, and press the hot key ALT-V or use the menus (ALT-E V or ESC E V or F10 E V). A View Box will pop up allowing you to view the note, and you can scroll through the note with the up and down arrows or PgUp and PgDn as necessary. You exit the View box by pressing the ESC key. 2.Editing the class note In addition to student notes, you may keep a larger note for general things about the class: reminders, test dates, rooms, whatever. You can open the class note with the hot key SHIFT-ALT-N or use the menus (ALT-E C). A larger Note Box will pop up into which you can enter text. When - 22 - finished you can save the note and exit by pressing CTRL-ENTER or selecting the DONE button (ESC ENTER). 3.Printing Notes You can obtain a printout of all your notes from the Print menu. The class note will be printed first followed by student notes on individual pages. You will be asked where to send the output. If you only want certain notes you can print to the editor and delete what you don't want. IV. REFERENCE A.Reference: Data structures One of the main functions of GRADESHEET is the management of data structures. Understanding these structures will help understand the program and how it works. The most significant data structure is the student records. Each record consists of a name, id number, section, average, grade, note flag, and 24 scores. The name and id number are text data fields that may be up to 25 characters long. The grade and section are also text and can be 2 characters long. The average field is not accessible to the user, but is a text field 6 characters long. The note flag is a single text character that is either a "*" to indicate that there is a note associated with that data record or a blank if there is none. The 24 score fields are each 6 characters long, with the leftmost character being reserved for the program's use in marking fields (any attempt to write in the leftmost character will cause the program to beep and replace the leftmost character with an "E"). These fields are text fields, but are unique in that the program must be able to read and interpret the contents as a number (like 78.24), a letter grade (like A, B-, F), and excused score (X or XX), a dropped score (with an "H=" or a "L=") or a flagged score (with an "*"). Whether the program attempts to interpret the scores as a number or letter depends on if the column is marked to hold numeric or letter scores in the "Averaging Method" dialog box. If the program cannot interpret the contents of a score field then it will place an "err" in the Ave column when computing an average. Be aware that GRADESHEET reads the contents of score fields from left to right, so "A+?" and "56.2?" will be interpreted as A+ and 56.2, but "?A+" and "?56.2" will generate errors. The next most significant structure is the score information structure. This structure contains 24 records, one for each score column. Each record contains fields for - 23 - the title, date, type, drop eligibility, points and weight for one score. The title and date are text fields of length 12 and 8 respectively and can hold any text you want. The type is either "Num" for numeric scores and "Let" for letter scores. The drop eligibility is either "Yes" or "No" depending on whether you want to make the score eligible to be dropped by the "Drop Scores" utilities. The Points and Weight are numeric fields that accept numbers such as 250.0, 0.1, etc. The points field is ignored if the type is set to "Let". This data structure can be edited by using the "Averaging Method" dialog box. Adjunct to the score information structure is the letter grade equivalents structure. This contains numeric equivalents for the letter scores of A+ down to F. These can be set using the "Letter Grades" dialog box. Two other important pieces of information maintained by GRADESHEET are the averaging type and the top letter grade. The averaging type can be set to either Total Points, Normalized Total Points, Weighted Average, and Grade Point Average in the "Averaging Method" dialog box. The top letter grade can be set to "A" or "A+" in the "Letter Scores" dialog box, and this will determine the scale on which letter grades are to be interpreted. These data structures, along with some additional information, are kept in data files demarked with the ".gsh" extension. In addition to these data structures and the data file, GRADESHEET maintains a text file containing the class note and all the student notes. Each student note in the file is tagged with an internal reference number and the first few characters of the student name field as it appeared when the note was created; this portion of the name is kept with the note to facilitate salvage of a damaged note file should that ever become necessary (knock on wood). The note file is demarked with a ".gsn" extension. B.Reference: The Menus 1.File Menu Save File: Saves the current data file to disk. Load File: Saves the current file and produces a Load File Pick List for you to choose another data file to load. New File: Saves the current file a New File Entry Box for you to enter a the name of a new data file to be created. - 24 - Save and Quit: Saves the current data file and exits the program. Exit: Exits the GRADESHEET program. You will be asked if you really want to exit without saving. About..: Displays a screen identifying the source of the GRADESHEET program and instructions on how to register. Key reference: Displays a reference screen of functions and keys. 2.Layout Menu Change Layout: Toggles between a list-oriented layout style and a spreadsheet-oriented layout style. Save as default layout: Makes the current layout the default layout. This layout will be used the next time this data file is loaded. Student Data: Initiates the "Student Data" box-- a facility for editing the entries in a student record Lock fields: Allows you to set/unset various locks on the data fields that can prevent inadvertent editing. 3.Roster Menu Add new students: Initiates the "Add Students" dialog box-- a facility for adding up to 50 new names, ids, and section numbers to the data file. Insert one student: Adds a single new student to the data file. Will insert a single blank data record above the currently active record. Delete student: Deletes the currently active student record from the data set. The record containing the highlight will be removed and all lower records will be moved up. You will be shown the name, id number, and section of the student and asked if you really want to delete this student. Alphabetize: Sorts the data set in alphabetically order using the name/id column. Rank by average: Sorts the data records from highest to lowest entry in the average column. "err"'s and "*"'s will be placed at the top of the list. Sort by score: Sorts the data records from highest to lowest entry in the score column that currently contains - 25 - the highlight. Uniterpretable entries will be placed at the bottom of the list. Only accessible from the spreadsheet layout. Group by section: Groups the records according to section, then alphabetize on the name/id field. Exchange name/id: Toggles between displaying the name or id number in the name/id column. 4.Stats Menu Enter scores: Initiates the "Enter Scores" dialog box-- a facility for entering a column of scores. Averaging Method: Initiates the "Averaging Method" dialog box-- a facility for managing information associated to scores such as title, date, points and weight, and for choosing the type of average to be computed. Letter grades: Initiates the "Letter Grades" dialog box-- a facility for setting numeric equivalents to letter grades and choosing the top letter grade. Compute Average: Computes the average of the data set according to the options specified in the "Averaging Method" dialog box and "Letter Grades" dialog box. The average will be placed in the "Ave" column of the spreadsheet layout. Average of.. : Allows you to select a subset of the current scores and computes the average over that subset. Distributions: Displays a graphical distribution of the scores, allowing you to page through the score columns and print the distributions. Z-scores: Normalizes the average column to have mean zero and variance one. Drop scores: Allows you to drop the lowest, next lowest, or highest & lowest from the set of scores marked for dropping in the "Averaging Methods" dialog box. Also allows you to un-drop all previously dropped scores. 5.Print Menu Print Gradesheet: Prints the data set pretty much as it appears on the screen, except that all off-screen score columns that contain any data will also be printed. - 26 - Print Roster: Prints a list of all names, id numbers, and section numbers currently in the data set. Print Notes: Prints all notes that are associated with this data set. This includes the class note and all notes on students. Custom print: Initiates the "Print Custom" dialog box-- letting you choose which data elements are printed and in which order. Printer Options: Allows you to select which printer port to print to and whether your printer will support IBM-graphics characters. 6.Edit Menu Edit note: Produces a pop-up note pad to edit the note associated with the currently active student recorded. If no note is associated with the current student record, one will be created. Class note: Produces a pop-up note pad to edit the note associated with this data file. For keeping text information specific to this class but not specific to any particular student. View note: Produces a pop-up viewer to examine the note associated with the currently active student record. Will beep and do nothing if no such note is available. 7.Horizontal Scroll <<: Pages down the score columns six at a time. <: Scrolls down the score columns one at a time. >: Scrolls up the score columns one at a time. >>: Pages up the score columns one at a time. C.Reference: The Dialog Boxes 1.Load File Pick List The "Load File" pick list is a scrollable list containing three types of entries: "..\", meaning the parent directory of the current DOS directory. - 27 - CAPITALIZED entries followed by a "\", such as "ENG101\" indicating the subdirectories of the current DOS directory. Uncapitalized filename entries such as "sample.gsh" that end with the ".gsh" extension. You choose entries in this list by moving the highlight to the desired entry with the arrow keys and pressing ENTER. You can use this list to navigate the directory structure of a disk and load a file. You can move up the directory structure by choosing the "..\" entry, and you can move into a subdirectory by choosing the desired directory. Moving to a new directory will produce a similar list for that directory. If you select a filename, such as "sample.gsh", GRADESHEET will attempt to load that file and the "Load File" pick list will disappear. You may press ESC at any time to cancel the operation and return control to the previous screen. 2.Student Data Box The "Student Data" box allows access to all data elements in a student record and can be activated from either layout style with the F2 key. The box contains fields for name, id number, section, average, grade, note flag, and 24 scores. You can navigate around the fields using TAB, SHIFT-TAB, or CTRL-ARROWS. You may edit all fields except the Average and Note() fields. The "Student Data" box allows you to edit the data regardless of any locks that may be active on the spreadsheet/roster fields. Thus you may "Lock all fields" (F6) and still access the data through the "Student Data" box. You can save the edits for the current student and move to the next/previous student by selecting the Next/Prev buttons, or using PgUp/PgDn keys. Selecting the Cancel button will discard the edits for the current student only. Selecting the Done button, or pressing CTRL-ENTER will save the edits and close the box. 3.Lock Fields Dialog Box The "Lock Fields" dialog box allows you to set and unset locks on the fields in the data area of either the spreadsheet or roster layout. No edits will be allowed on a locked field. - 28 - The three choices are to "Lock all fields", "Lock score columns", and "Unlock all fields". Select your choice with the arrow keys and press RETURN or SPACE-BAR. A check mark should appear next to your selection. Select OK using the arrow keys and ENTER, or ESC ENTER, or quickly with CTRL-ENTER. 4.Add Students Dialog Box The "Add Students" dialog box allows you to add up to 50 students at a time. The dialog box has a scrolling list containing columns for name, id number, and section number. The ENTER key will move the highlight to the right or to the beginning of the next line. After entering a list of names, you can add them to the data set by selecting the Accept button (ESC ENTER or CTRL-ENTER). Cancel the operation by selecting the Cancel button at any time-- you will be asked first if that is what you really want to do. 5.Averaging Method Dialog Box The "Averaging Method" dialog box contains a scrolling list of 24 lines; one line for each column of score information. Each line contains fields for Title, Date, Type, Drop, Points, and Weight. The Title and Date fields can contain any text you wish to place in them. The "Type" field is an option field and must be either "Let" or "Num" for letter or numeric scores. Pressing SPACE-BAR with the highlight in the "Type" column pops up a menu containing the two choices, you can pick one by using the arrow keys and ENTER. The "Drop" field is also an option field must be either "Yes" or "No", and you may similarly choose by pressing SPACE-BAR and selecting a menu choice. The "Points" field is a numeric field containing the maximum points allowed for this score. If the Type is set to letter then the Points is automatically set to the point value of "A" or "A+" depending on your choice in the "Letter Grades" dialog box: any edits to the Points field of a letter-type score will be discarded. The Points data is used for computing averages and normalizing scores for the distribution. The Weight field is a numeric field containing the relative weight the score is to carry in an average. The weights can be any numbers. The Total Points and Normalized Total Points methods of averaging will disregard any weight assignments made to the scores. - 29 - Beneath the scrolling list, the dialog box contains a field to select the type of average to be computed. You can move the cursor out of the scrolling list to this field by pressing the ESC key. Once the highlight is in the "Average Type:" field you can press SPACE-BAR to pop-up a list of choices. Use the arrow keys and ENTER to select a choice. Pressing the Accept button (ESC ENTER or CTRL-ENTER) will implement your choices and edits. Pressing the Cancel button will throw out your choices and edits. 6.Enter Scores Dialog Boxes There are two dialog boxes for entering information relating to the new column of scores, one for numerical scores and one for letter scores. The two function similarly in that you move the highlight with the arrow keys and edit entries either by direct edits or by pressing SPACE-BAR and choosing from a list of options. After these options are completed, a score entry dialog box opens to accept the entry of the scores. The letter scores information dialog box contains text fields "Title" and "Date" which will accept any text you wish to use to identify the score column, a numeric field for the weight the score is to have in the Weighted or Grade Point averaging methods, and a "Quick-keys" option field that can map the number keys on the numeric keypad to the letters A,B,C,D and F for quick entry. The numeric scores information dialog box is similar and contains text fields for Title and Date which will accept any text you wish to use to identify the score column, a numeric field for the total possible points for the score, a numeric field for the weight the score is to have in the Weighted or Grade Point averaging methods, and a "Auto-adder" option field that can make the Pop-up adder appear automatically while entering scores to facilitate adding up and entering exam scores in one step. After the initial information dialog boxes, the "Enter Scores" dialog box will appear with a scrolling list of names or ids in the same order as they currently appear in the roster/spreadsheet layout. To the left of each name will be a text field to hold the entry of the scores. When all scores are entered, select the Accept button (ESC ENTER or quickly with CTRL-ENTER) to add the scores and score information to the data set. Selecting the Cancel button will cancel the whole operation-- you will first be asked if that is really what you want to do. - 30 - 7.Select Score Columns Dialog Box The select scores dialog box enables you to choose a subgroup of score columns from those that currently hold information. The box presents a scrolling list of records each containing the title, date, and column number of a score column. Initially all scores have a check mark to the left indicating that all are selected. You can toggle the check marks on/off with the SPACE-BAR and both toggle and move down a line with the ENTER key. After ensuring that the subgroup of scores you wish to select are marked with checks, select the Accept button (ESC ENTER or quickly with CTRL-ENTER). Select the Cancel button to abort the operation. 8.Custom Print Dialog Box The "Custom Print" dialog box contains a field for every element in a student data record, and some fields for Tab, New Line, and New Page. These fields can be navigated with the arrow keys and selected with the ENTER or SPACE-BAR keys. Selecting the fields in the order you want them printed will make sequential numbers appear next to the selected fields. When you have selected the fields you want, select the Print button to initiate printing. Selecting the Cancel button will cancel the operation. 9.Print Options Dialog Box The "Print Options" dialog box contains two option fields to select the port for printer output and to select whether IBM-graphics printing can be used. Placing the highlight in either field and pressing SPACE-BAR will pop up a list of options. Select an option with the arrow keys and press ENTER. The options for printer output are LPT1 (the default) and LPT2, the options for IBM graphics characters are either Yes or No. 10.Printer Output Dialog Box The "Printer Output" dialog box lets you choose where to send the printer output. Navigate the options with the arrow keys and make a selection with the ENTER key. The options are: Printer, which will send the output directly to the printer; File, which will send the output to a file; and Editor, which will send the output to a file and initiate the print editor on the file as soon as all printing is complete; and Cancel which will cancel the print operation. - 31 - D.Technical Reference: File Structures 1.Files created by gsh Four data files are maintained for each GRADESHEET data set managed by the program. For the sample data supplied with the program, the four files are the main data file SAMPLE.GSH, a backup of that file called SAMPLE.BKH, the note filename called SAMPLE.GSN, and the backup of the note file called SAMPLE.BKN. The data files are intentionally stored in a very simple format, this makes translating data to/from GRADESHEET an easier task. You could make a copy of the SAMPLE.GSH file and load it into a word processor and easily format the information for printing or merging or whatever (make sure you make a copy first- DO NOT edit the actual data file since GRADESHEET expects to find certain things at certain places and may become addled if it's not there). The data file begins with information about version number, type of average, number of students, points & weights, and other information items. This is is followed by the student data with one data record per line (a non-wrapped line). Any line in the data file that begins with a "#" is a comment and is ignored by the GRADESHEET program. The note files also have a simple format. The note file begins with the class note. Subsequent notes are separated by a star symbol (hex 0x0f) followed by a three character digit to uniquely identify the note, followed by the first 6 characters of the original student name the note was written for, followed by the actual text of the note. Deleted notes are never actually deleted, but are kept in the file and marked with a "0": you can easily retrieve them with a word processor. 2.Importing Ascii files Often instructors can be supplied with a list of student names in ASCII format on a floppy disk. A future version of GRADESHEET will come with a utility for importing ASCII lists of names, ids, and section numbers. Presently, you either have to enter them manually, or if if you're handy with a flat file text editor you can kludge it. This section describes how to do it. There is probably little danger in trying-- either it will read your file correctly or or you'll know it (still, it's a good idea to check your data carefully). Step 1: Start GRADESHEET and create a new file with the desired name (lets just call it "new.gsh" for now). Without doing anything else, save the file and exit. This - 32 - creates a file with a correct preamble and one blank student record. Step 2: Load the "new.gsh" file into your handy-dandy text editor. Begin entering records on the very next line after the "#Student records" line. For each name you want to enter make sure that: a) name is between columns 11 and 35 inclusive b) idnum is between columns 37 and 61 inclusive c) sect is between columns 63 and 64 inclusive d) "0" is in column 66 e) blanks in columns 67 to 239 inclusive f) the line must be terminated by a cr/lf pair (0x0d 0x0a). Name, idnum, and sect can be blank, but there MUST be a 0 in column 66. The name and idnum fields should be left aligned. It does no harm to have a few extra blanks extending beyond column 240, but each record must be less than 300 characters. Don't use tabs. Step 3: Count the number of students EXACTLY. Go to the line immediately after the "#Total students" comment (near the top of the file). This line should presently contain a "1". Delete the "1" and replace it with your count. That is, if you entered seven student records replace the "1" with a "7". Put a few blanks after your number for good measure. Step 4: Save the file and try to load it into GRADESHEET. Inspect the student records for accuracy. There should not be any "*"'s in the note flag column to the left of the student name/id (if there are, go back and make sure that a "0" is in column 66). Check the "Averaging Methods" and "Letter Grades" dialog boxes for garbage. Of course, if you were a REAL techno-nerd you'd write a program to do this. 3.Fixing damaged files Hey, it happens. Usually for no discernible reason. Sometimes because of a virus. Always at a bad time. Remember the stars, and the earth, and the galaxies upon galaxies extending on and on into space and how insignificant all of this will be in 5,000 years. Tell everyone to wait, fix a nice cup of tea, work on recovering what you can from the disk, reconstruct what you can from what other sources you have, and let go of the rest. - 33 - If you are not comfortable with DOS, or don't have a good text editor or disk utilities, you will need to get some help. Finish your tea first, and get ONE competent person to help you. The last thing you need right now is a ad-haste committee crowding around your computer pushing buttons. First, you need to rescue whatever pieces you can with a disk utility such as chkdsk; or better yet, the Norton Utilities, Mace Utilities, or PC Tools. For the note files, print out what pieces you can find, tag them together with tape and put them in your desk drawer. You can type them back in later if you want. Each note is preceded by the first few letters of the name column as it appeared when the note was made so you can kinda figure out which note goes to which student. If you have damaged data files, retrieve as many pieces of the data file as you can with a disk utility. Store them on a safe disk. To reconstruct a readable data file you must do three things: 1) precede the data with a proper preamble; 2) make sure the data is one student record per line; and 3) insert the proper number of students into the preamble. 1) Start reconstructing your file by making sure it contains a readable preamble: 42 lines that contain score information and other stuff. You can create a good preamble by creating a new empty data file with GRADESHEET or use the SAMPLE.GSH file. It won't contain the right student count or points and weights, but that can be fixed later. Cut and paste the good preamble into your reconstructed file with a text editor. 2) The preamble should be followed by the student records immediately after the "#Student records" comment line. Each student record has to occupy its own line and contain at 239 characters- pad with blanks if you have to, and going over 236 is alright as long as the record is less than 300 characters long. Each record should be terminated by a cr/lf pair. (turn off word wrap on your text editor so you see true lines.) The data should line up nicely in columns, and column 66 should contain a "0" or possibly something like "0x01". Compare the columns to those in a good data file (such as sample.gsh) to make sure the column placement is correct. 3) The fourth line of the data file should read "#Total students", and the fifth line should contain a single number, which is the number of student data records GRADESHEET expects to find. Edit this number to make sure that it matches exactly the number of student data records - 34 - you have in the file. If you count 23 student data lines, enter 23 followed by a few blanks into this line. Heaven willing, the program should be able to read the reconstructed file. If you patched in a preamble from another data file, you will have to fix the score information (ALT-M) and possibly the letter grades information (ALT-t L). Remember, the best backup is a printed copy. - 35 -