It’s time again for your final spring semester chore. Grade confirmation reports for the spring 2006 semester will be mailed to departments this week. If you graded on line (115 screen), please check that your grades are accurate and then sign and grade confirmation report and return it to me.
If you used the bubble sheets to grade, please look at the grade confirmation report with extra care to make sure all your students have the correct grade. Every semester I guarantee you that there are students with incorrect grades and sure enough, every time we send out the grade confirmation report there is a flurry of grade change/correction forms returning to R&R. What goes wrong? Lots of things.
The most common problem was that the bubbled in grade did not match the grade written in the grade column. Plus and minus bubbles were not filled in or a C+ was bubbled in instead of a B+. Some of the grade rosters were not in perfect alignment and, although heroic efforts were made on your part, the grades bubbled in did not go with the student for whom they were intended.
Sometimes a grade was written in the grade column but nothing was bubbled in and therefore the student wasn’t graded. We had a few instructors who didn’t bubble in ANY of the grades. This grade reporting technique makes easy work for the scanner but a disappointing grade report for the student!
In some cases the bubbles were not filled in but, rather, a light penciled dash was scribbled across them. Sometimes the scanner picks that up and sometimes it doesn’t and sometimes it picks of the bubble next to the correct grade it if the dash is overly exuberant.
The good news is that in Banner there will be no more bubble sheets! All grading will be done through Banner Self Service. I will be able to go on vacation during the entire grading period as I will have no work to do. If Betsy isn’t reading the Trib today she will never know! She is usually afraid to talk to me during grading so she’ll never notice that I’m not here! Can’t wait. I think I’ll leave right now…
Deborah Benjamin
Registration and Records
06/12/2006 |