UserPreferences

EdventureAdminHelp

1. Introduction

Welcome to the Administrator's On-line Manual for Edventure.

For help on Edventure system issues (such as configuring, installation, and use) see EdventureSystemFAQ.

Edventure is a prototype research project at Bryn Mawr College, PA USA.

Although Edventure is being created to examine how artificial intelligence can enhance on-line testing and learning, it can be used right now to help in some more traditional ways for any instructor.

Currently, Edventure can be used as an online testing program and integrated gradebook which can give instructors the ability to directly compose and edit their own online tests. In addition to these abilities, instructors have the ability to track students' grades online so that their students will be able to monitor their own progress.

The interface for these functions resides completly on the web, and allows much power, so this tutorial has been assembled to aid instructors in learning how to use these facilities to their best advantage. Any questions or problems should be directed to Dr. Douglas Blank.

WARNING: this help file applies to the previous version. The current version works substantially differently. This file will get updated soon. Feel free to edit me!

2. Main Menu: Identified Functionality with Comments

Version 0.8.1: 

Log out

My Stuff
Homepage
 (no way of editing this link so be careful when using it. Suggestion
 add | edit | delete)

You should be able to edit it under Profile. 

  When you click on this you'll get a framed browser. In the middle
  you'll see many of the options from the left frame. It'll show
  you have created many courses but will not show any of them as active
  under the My Admin> Courses box.

  As, well it seems 'impossible' to delete the courses. There doesn't appear
  to be an interface to do that.

Yes, it is currently impossible to 'delete' but you can mark it as 'hidden' or inactive. 

/My Links
 Edit
  (Editing means create new one. Editing old name for new will 
   leave you with the old name and the new name when done)

That's a bug. 

   Add
   Del (delete. No prompt. Be careful.)
 my link
Send Email
  nice simple interface here allowing everyone from a class to 
  receive an email, however, 'spam' is not the best word to use to describe 
  this functionality  IMHO ;)

True, I was being playful :) How about just 'Class'? 

Profile

My Courses
samplecourse1
 Course Homepage (click on it, no way to edit/ change/ add)

There is now a Setup button next to it. 

 Documents (click on it, no way to edit/ change/ add)
 Assignments (this area has some interesting functionality) 
   Assignment Submission Status
     [edit] [del] 1. testing [View] [Post] Assigned
     [add] Create a new assignment
     
     You must create an assignment to use the gradebook. The 'gradebook column' is 
     permanently set to 'none'. What is it used for?

If you add columns in the gradebook, they will show up there. PLANS: be able to add a new column right there. 

     Suggestion: While creating new assignment it would be nice to have a way of browsing to a 
     document and uploading an existing assignment description.

Hmmm. Wonder how that would work? 

    
 Classmates 
   [ Setup ][ View ][ Add ][ Email ][ Reports ] (all produced =Access Error: Illegal access.)

   You can't add students = Access Error: Illegal access. So there's no way of testing gradebook
   or assignment functionality.

Someone let us know if that is still a problem, and what might be causing it. 

 Gradebook
   in order for the gradebook to work you must create assignments. The gradebook at this
   time does not appear to handle classroom participation, breakdown by tests, quizzes or
   assignments.

Sure it does! You need to go to Setup and enter those items. It will automatically calculate breakdown of grades as follows:

For each grade in a category (ie, Homework) sum up the weights, and score each grade appropriately. If you have a Homework that you want weighted x2, give it a weight twice as much as the others. The weight can be any number. Use zero to ignore the grade.

Currently, the gradebook view for students will show an estimated final grade, using 100% for any category for which there is no evidence. Overly optimistic. PLAN: instructor should be able to turn that off. 

 Assessment
  Nothing currently available.

 '''Suggestion''' move as much of the setup | add | edit | view | etc. to the

Done. 

  front of the interface...
  drilling down doesn't increase functionality, though it  
  may increase coding simplicity (???) by having lots of sub pages.

samplecourse12
samplecourse123

Config
 /Users
  Add (done by hand, no connection to the existing database of previously 
  enrolled students for other classes. Ideally an interface for low tech 
  teachers to allow for an upload of a CSV file of students info... If nothing else
  as students browse available courses it would be nice if they can just audit the 
  courses as well. All of the information below should be student accessible so they
  can fill in the info then the teacher can select from those students ambitious enough to 
  enroll...

There is now a plugin slot for a datawarehouse-type upload of all roster information. A sample can be found at http://dangermouse.brynmawr.edu/Edventure/download/datawarehouse.tgz

Put the resulting datawarehouse.php in the /edventure/ directory, add security, and you can get data from some connection. 

   furthermore: for classes with co-teachers/ teacher aids it would be nice under
    config>add>user there would be a rolldown for assigning priveleges
   priveleges should be set for 
    editing questions
    editing assignments
    editing announcements
    editing/ adding new students
    editing grades

Great idea! Security hasn;t really been added yet, so this will be taken into account before version 1.0. 

    Course:
  Login ID: (this refs. the existing database so you can't add same student twice)
  First name:
  Last name:
  Email:
  Webpage:
  Biography: 

 List (list of names linked to student profile but no connection to 
  classes taken, grades recieved etc.)
 Delete
Sync

My Admin
 /Courses ( there doesn't appear to be a way to add students to the courses)

[Add] after selecting a course. 

  New course
 /Archived
/Assessment
 Exams
  You are able to select questions from a list and preview them but your
  test will not be saved in any meaningful manner. 
  Suggestion: previewing the exam is good but it would be nice to have the scoring
  enabled while previewing so as to catch any possible confusion or errors.

Good idea. Slated for this next weeks' edition... 

 Manager
 Analysis

Edventure
/Folders
Main
Help

Misc

All Courses
samplecourse1
samplecourse12
samplecourse123
Edventure, © 
1996-2002. Version 0.8.1
Q:How do I access Admin for adding students?

A: Course> Classmates > ADD

3. The Basics

This section describes the basic operations under Edventure that the first time user would encounter when creating and maintaining a gradebook.

3.1. Creating a Course

This is the first step in creating a Edventure Course and associated gradebook. This must be completed before the course gradebook can be created.

  1. In the left Menu, under Course, click the "New" folder.

  2. In the page that opens enter the name for the new course (the naming format is 'DEPT-NUMBER SECT' (eg, CSCE-2343 001)) It is important to be consistent with the syntax.

  3. Click "New" (in this window) to finish creating the course.

There's no 'course setup' button or a 'wizard'... so keep looking for the link that says 'Frontpage' like this one http://opensourceducationrocks.com/edventure/ed_right.php?click=My+Courses_dgfd_Frontpage then you'll be able to add data... and look closely at the top frame, the content might be hidden... there doesn't appear to be an auto-resize function for the frame data so information might be hidden.

There doens't appear to be an edit/ add/ etc. function...

After completing the course creation there is no review or editing of course information, no prompt to add students, assignments, calendar, course requirements, To Do list, holiday information... all of which could be integrated into a step by step form to complete a viable course description / plan.

  1. Now proceed to Gradebook Setup

3.2. Question: How to delete a course

A: Suggestion: Ask the course creator if they'd like to archive the course rather than delete it. Archiving, I imagine, would be in SQL format or is it in CVS? Once archived is there a way of reloading the archived class after usage?

3.3. Select Course

In order to interact with a course, it must first be selected.

  1. Choose the Course you wish to view.

  2. Note that additional (blue lettered) folder icons appear (Setup, Gradebook, Add, etc.)

3.4. Gradebook Setup

In order for course grades to be calculated correctly, the course gradebook must be setup. This requires that the instructor input the Grade Breakdown for the class assignments. This information will be used to categorize assignments and correctly calculate grades.

  1. Select Course you wish to edit.

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, click the "Setup" folder.

  3. In the "Edventure Setup Course xxxx" window which appears, Input the course information.

  4. Replace the "Course Description" with your class name.

  5. See Self Enrollment, If you would like to allow students to self-enroll.

  6. Edit the "Course Home Page URL" to point where you prefer.

  7. Make the "Grade Breakdown" area match your grading. This is important if you intend the gradebook to actually categorize assignments and correctly calculate for you.

  8. Click Save. Your course is now setup, proceed to the Adding Students Section.

3.4.1. Grade Breakdown

This area allows Edventure to calcuate the class grades based on the breakdown the instructor desires.

  1. Under type, enter the assignment category.

  2. Then enter the percent of the total grade that that category makes up. Make sure that the percents add up to 100. If they do not, Edventure will not calculate final grades correctly.

  3. the Drop field allows the instructor to indicate how many assignments to drop from the grade assignment.

3.4.2. Adding Students

**Suggestion: Add yourself as a student to any and all of your class rosters! Not only will it give you a chance to see things from their perspective, you'll occasionally wish to verify your grading formula, take an exam, etc., and do a bit of troubleshooting when necessary.

  1. Select Course you wish to add students to.

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, Gradebook, click the "Add" folder.

  3. Then you need to choose whether Edventure will automatically send email notification to newly added students.

  4. When Add new Students You have three choices:

    1. Data Warehouse Roster Connection (local UA users only): Searches Data Warehouse for roster and imports students.

    2. Import Delimited: requires that you enter the student information by hand.

    3. Import SAFARI: requires that you copy students from rosters sent via electronic mail.

Suggested Alternative:

3.5. Suggestion: Submit Appeal to Enroll

It would be VERY nice if students could send a request to enroll in a class via the course interface. This would greatly relieve the burden of having the teacher fill in the student information.

A: Ok, we'll do. How about options to:

for each course.

Course creator would then recieve a URL requesting teacher to allow/deny request. The interface would show

Course creator/ admin would then be able to click on accept/ deny with a small text field for a note/ rational of decision. The course interface would show status of Course Enrollment: (Boolean). Candidate for enrollment would recieve an email with the URL indicating status and further information.

3.5.0.1. Data Warehouse Roster Connection

This option is only available between the hours of 8am and 9pm any day of the week, locally at the University of Arkansas

  1. Make Sure to select whether Students should be notified about being added to Edventure. (see Adding Students)

  2. Under the Heading "Data Warehouse Roster Connection", Select year, semester, and enter SAFARI number.

  3. Click "Import Roster" button.

  4. A few minutes later the gradebook view will appear with the students added. (Please be patient, it may take a few minutes to import the roster, depending on the amount of use the data warehouse is undergoing during that time.

3.5.0.2. Import Delimited

  1. Make Sure to select whether Students should be notified about being added to Edventure. (see Adding Students)

  2. Under the Heading "Import Delimited", note the syntax of, and then delete the sample data in the window (loginid::LAST, FIRST::email@school.edu)

  3. Use this syntax to add your students into the text box.

  4. When all the students have been added, click the "Add Student(s)" button.

  5. The Gradebook view will appear with the students added.

Question: Is this feature still available

3.5.1. Editing Table Structure

The gradebook table structure must be maintained by the instructor. In order to insert grades new columns must be created and setup. If the column is not setup the course grades will not be correctly calculated.

3.5.1.1. Create Gradebook Columns

The feature creates a new gradebook column that appears after the last entry in the current gradebook.

  1. Select Course

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, Click Gradebook Folder

  3. The Course Roster will appear, Click Edit Table Structure

  4. Enter Name of Assignment in first empty slot

  5. For General Purposes Leave the fields: Align, sort, visible, formula/weight, and link alone. If you wish to give this assignment a different weight (see Assignment Weight)

  6. Enter the desired width of the Column.

  7. Choose type of Assignment in the Type field.

  8. Enter the Maximum possible points for the assignment in the "max poss field".

See Grade Entry for more information.

3.5.2. Insert Columns

This feature allows Columns to be inserted into the Gradebook in-between already created columns.

  1. Select Course

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, Click Gradebook Folder

  3. The Course Roster will appear, Click Edit Table Stucture

  4. Click on the 'ins' button for the column you wish to insert the new column before.

  5. This will insert the column called "New Field" and take you back to the Course Roster.

  6. To rename the column go to Editing Table Structure

3.5.3. Delete Columns

This feature allows the deletion of already created columns in the current gradebook.

  1. Select Course

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, Click Gradebook Folder

  3. The Course Roster will appear, Click Edit Table Stucture

  4. Click on the 'del' button for the column you wish delete.

3.5.4. Sort Gradebook Entries

Under each Column name in the gradebook there are two arrow buttons. In order to sort the gradebook by a specific column, click the arrow corresponding to the way the column needs to be sorted. Down arrow corresponds to Ascending order (A-Z), the Up arrow coresponds to Descending order (Z-A). See Grade Entry for information about the edit button.

4. Grades

Edventure contains a gradebook feature that allows users to easily maintain grades. Edventure is able to store current and calculate final grades. It also allows students to access an account that lets them view their current grade in the course. This section contains information on how to enter and manipulate grades. 4.1. Grade Entry There are two ways to enter grades:

  1. One Assignment at a time.

  2. One Student at a time.

To enter the grade for an assignment for all students:

  1. Click the edit button of the column you wish to enter the grades into. If this column is not yet created see Editing Table Structure.

  2. A new window will appear: enter the grades for each student.

  3. Click update.

  4. Close the window. Warning: if you Close the window before clicking the update button, the scores will not be recorded.

See Sort Gradebook Entries, on information about how to sort by grades.

To enter the grade for one student:

  1. Find the student in the gradebook.

  2. Click the edit button besided their name.

  3. Enter the grade into the column in which it belongs.

  4. Click the update button.

  5. Close the window. Warning: if you Close the window before clicking the update button, the student's score will not be recorded.

4.1. Assignment Weight

Need to make a homework worth more (or less) than the others? Simply change the weighting in the structure editor. Less than 1.0 will make it worth less; more than 1.0 will be worth more.

4.2. Calculate Final Score

Edventure will calculate a final/current score based on the Grade Breakdown the instructor specified during the Gradebook Setup.

* Edventure will update the calculation when new scores are added.

  1. Select Course.

  2. Make sure that the course Grade Breakdown is correct. (see Gradebook Setup).

  3. In the left Menu, under Course, click Gradebook.

  4. In the view Roster window click Edit Table Structure.

  5. In the first availiable slot, enter the title for the current/final grade column.

  6. Under Link, choose final.

  7. Enter a width

  8. Leave type and formula weight at the default values.

  9. Set the Max Poss to 100.

  1. Click Update Table Structure.

  2. The current/Final grade will now be calculated.

* This field will display a chart for the students to view and determine where they fall in the grade distribution.

5. Report, Email, and Update

To find out about more functions, see the Report Codes Section. You can also use reports, email, and updates in combination with the filter.

5.1. Report

Reports can be generated from the current gradebook. Generating Reports are good ways to print out the gradebook.

  1. Select Course from which to create report.

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, Gradebook, Click the "Report" folder.

  3. In the Report drop down box choose

  4. "Sort By" allows you to sort the report.

  5. See filter for more information on that selection.

  6. Enter the desired Report Codes. The default report code listed will display the entire gradebook.

  7. Click report to display the created report.

5.2. Email

  1. Select Course to email.

  2. In the left Menu, under Course, Gradebook, Click the "Email" folder.

  3. In the To drop down box choose

  4. "CC Raw Message" allows you to send a carbon copy of the raw message (message containing the Report Codes, if any, used to create the message). This can be left blank.

  5. Place a Check mark in the "Copy of each" box to have a carbon copy of each message sent to your email box.

  6. See filter for more information on that selection.

  7. Change the subject to pertain to the message

  8. Use Help to get codes such as $ufirst that inserts the email recipiants first name into the message.

  9. Click e-mail to send the message

7. Student

7.1. Set/Reset Student Password

students will have to send email to edventure@school.edu Subject line must contain the word Password. Password will be sent directly to students' email address

7.2. Checking Student Login

Edventure allows the instructor to check on which students have logged into the system to check their grades.

  1. Select Gradebook

  2. Click on a students login ID to view their account access.

7.3. Student View of Edventure

To see the Student View of Edventure click on the students name. This student's view will be displayed in a new window.

* Edventure also displays graphs based on the students preformance on each assignment within each category and Compared to other students. This allows the student to view how he/she is doing in the class graphically.

7.4. What If Calculator

The What If Calculator allows the student to play with their current grades to determine what grades he/she needs to make in a certain category order to make the desired grade in the class.

8. What to do when the semester is over

When the semester is over there are several things to do in Edventure to tie up all lose ends.

  1. Report Grades

  2. Lock all Open Exams

  3. Archive Gradebooks

8.1. Lock Exams

All Exams should be locked after the final is taken. This will prevent anyone from taking an open exam that they missed.

It is a good idea to lock every exam after it has been administered. This will prevent any problems with the system.

8.2. Report Grades

Edventure will calculate the final grade. See Final Grade.

8.3. Archive Gradebooks

When the semester is over it is a good idea to archive your gradebooks. This will remove the course from your gradebook, so you can start new gradebooks for the next semester.

How to archive the course(s).

  1. Login

  2. Choose Select from the left menu

  3. select the course from the drop down menu, then

  4. Click archive button.

If you should need it back at some future time, you can use the Retrieve from Archive button to do so.

6. FAQ

Q: How do I Make Past Quizzes/Exams Available to Students?

A: Want to make a student's exam available for them to see? In the structure editor, mark a column as type 'edventure' and enter the exact name of the exam in the formula/weight box. When they log in, they can click the button, and see the exam.

This will require you to make a column in a course gradebook so students can access their earlier quizzes.

* E.G., Removing a question from the exam. -- the score won't be given for that question. Adding a new question after having given the exam -- students won't get credit. "Fixing" a question -- score at the bottom of the page WILL reflect the regrade. See Regrading

How do I Fix Exam Questions in Place so that Edventure does not randomize them?

NOTE: If you have already added question bank questions to an exam, you'll first need to remove them. Do this by at Exam level, by choosing "select all" then "remove".

  1. Add the questions in the order you intend (click 'Add Questions', click 'Select Some', mark those desired, click 'Add Selection')

  2. Repeat process with this or additional banks, until done.

  3. Now, click on the exam page choose 'Select all', then click 'Relative'

When Editing Table Structure, I ran out of Columns. What do I do? Normally, Edventure will automatically add new columns to the Gradebook when it sees that you've filled-up all columns initially provided, and SHOULD happen any time you choose "Edit Table Structure", while viewing a gradebook. HOWEVER, Edventure needs to *see* a value in the last "max poss" column before it will figure out that it's time to add more columns.

A: You may have left the last "max poss" column empty in your gradebook.

How can I give a URL for a edventure Anonomous Survey?

One can refer to an anonymous survey with the following type of URL:

http://edventure.school.edu/survey/?survey=EXAMNAME

For example,

http://edventure.school.edu/survey/?survey=springer%20survey

Note that this isn't the description name, but exam name. One problem with this is that it could be the case that someone else has an exam by that name. To ensure uniqueness use:

http://edventure.school.edu/survey/?survey=EXAMNAME&sid=EDVENTUREID

for example:

http://edventure.school.edu/survey/?survey=springer%20survey&sid=gholmes

NOTE: spaces in EXAMNAME are encoded with %20

Q: How can I refer to a question from another question?

A: Of course, you could assume that the order won't change, and just enter the position of the ordering of the question that you want to refer to (ie, hardcode it). This is dangerous for two reasons: 1) this doesn't work for randomized questions, 2) what if you insert a new question.

You may refer to a question's ordering number without hardcoding it. For example, say you have a question (Q34) that you want to refer to another question (Q566) you would do so this way:

- in the Question or Explanation fields of Q34, write "Go to Question {Q566} if you answer yes".

That would render as "Go to Question 5 if you answer yes", given that Q566 is the 5th question as it appears on the screen.

If you write {QID} in the Question or Explanation text areas, that will be replaced with the literal order number of that question's position.

You can also use that in a link:

Go to <a href=#Q566>Question {Q566}</a>

That would be turned into "Go to Question 5" where "Question 5" is a link, given that Q566 is the fifth question to appear on that exam/survey.

Note that this does not depend on any particular ordering (ie, you may refer to questions that appear above or below the current question).