Although grade policies differ, Mallard always keeps a student's highest grade on a quiz. Also, there is never a limit on the number of times a student can submit a quiz for correction - even if there is a limit on the number of attempts a student can make to improve a grade.

Creating or Modifying a Grade Policy

Prior to the 98F Mallard release, only Mallard administrators could set up grade policies. It is now possible for course directors to add but not modify or delete policies.

Creating a new grade policy: Go to the link at the bottom of the View Grade Policies page. You will need to choose a name for your policy. It is recommended that the name start with the course ID (e.g., PHY101_homework, PHY101_practice). Then you select a grade policy to modify (hopefully somewhat similar to your own) and enter in the appropriate values that you wish. Note that it is not necessary to fill in every field: if a particular field is not relevant, just let it default to whatever values are there. For instance, if your grade_type is percent, then students will see their Mallard quiz scores as percentages and letter-grade cutoffs are irrelevant.

Grade Policy Variables

grade_type:

percent - grades are displayed as a percentage

letter - grades are displayed as a letter grade

passfail - grades are displayed as completed/attempted/not attempted

Note: Mallard grades are always stored as percentages. This variable only affects how they are displayed. Since all the numerical grade information is retained, you may at any time change from passfail to letter grades, modify cuttoffs, etc.

pass_cutoff:

<a number> - minimum passing percentage.
If grade_type = passfail, this is the minimum score which gives a grade of "pass".
If grade_type = percent, this is the minimum possible non-zero grade.

<letter>_cutoff:

<a number> - percentage for letter grade cutoff (letter is in a-d).

<letter>_plus_cutoff:

<a number> - percentage for letter grade plus (e.g. A+) cutoff (letter is in a-d).

<letter>_minus_cutoff:

<a number> - percentage for letter grade minus (e.g. A-) cutoff (letter is in a-d).

use_plusminus:

yes - use + and - for letter grades

no - don't use + and - for letter grades (default)

go_back:

yes - allow students to use the 'back' feature of their WWW browser and re-submit the same quiz to improve a score.

no - require students to reload a (new) quiz in order to improve a score.

question_version:

same - a student is always given the same version of the question until the question is completed

new - a student is always given a different queston version (if possible)

random - question version is randomly selected

partial_completion:

no - no cumulative credit is allowed. To improve a score, the student will need to redo all questions.

question - questions can be completed individually. If a student answers questions 1 and 4 correctly on a 4-question quiz, then she only needs to answer questions 2 and 3 when she retakes it. (Partial-credit, if applicable, is also remembered.)

input - similar to question, except cumulative completion is allowed at the input level

Note: Cumulative credit by input will only work if the questions are written in a safe manner. That is, all versions of every question id in a given question pool must have the same number of input tags.

num_times:

<a number> - the number of times a quiz may be taken for full credit. A num_times value of 0 means that the students may take the quiz an unlimited number of times for full credit.

num_times_penalty:

<a number> - the percentage taken off per time exceeding num_times. For example, the second time beyond the num_times time the quiz is taken, twice the value of num_times_penalty will be removed off the top.

num_times_final:

<a number> - the final (total) number of times a quiz can be taken for any credit. A num_times value of 0 means that the students may take the quiz an unlimited number of times for full credit.

Example: Consider the following number-of-times parameter settings:

num_times = 10

num_times_penalty = 5

num_times_final = 14

On attempts 1-10, 0 points are deducted from the student's raw score (the student receives full credit). On the 11th attempt, 5 points are deducted. 10 points are deducted on the 12th attempt, 15 points on the 13th attempt, and 20 points on the 14th attempt. Beyond the 14th attempt, the student receives no credit.

late:

no - no late assignments are accepted

yes - late assignments are accepted

late_penalty:

<a number> - percentage off if late

late_penalty_compounded:

0 - late_penalty occurs once

<a number> - how often the late penalty accrues, in days

late_period:

<a number> - how late something can be in days before no credit is awarded

Example 1: Consider the following late parameter settings:

late=yes

late_penalty=50

late_penalty_compounded=0

late_period=7

This would give students up to a week to submit quizzes for half credit (50 points off). After that they would receive no credit. If a student submits the quiz 3 days late for a raw score of 85%, the adjusted score is 85%-50% = 35%.

Example 2: Consider the following late parameter settings:

late=yes

late_penalty=10

late_penalty_compounded=2

late_period=6

If a student is 0-2 days late, she has a maximum possible score of 90%; if 2-4 days late, her maximum possible score would be 80%; if 4-6 days late, the maximum possible score is 70%. The late penalty gives the number of points subtracted from the student's score. If the student receives a raw score of 85% on the 3rd day, the adjusted score is 85%-20% = 65%.

Some Sample Grade Policies

• Policy #1:

  Variable settings:

  num_times = 0

  pass_cutoff = 100

  late = no

  go_back = yes

  grade_type = percent

  partial_completion = question

  Interpretation:

  Students may submit a quiz as many times as desired, but must get 100% to pass it. No late quizzes are accepted. Students can "go back" and partial_completion by question is allowed. Grades are displayed as percentages.

• Policy #2:

  Variable settings:

  num_times = 10

  num_times_penalty = 5

  num_times_final = 15

  pass_cutoff = 80

  go_back = no

  partial_completion = no

  Interpretation:

  Students may submit a quiz at most 10 times for full credit, and must get at least 80% to pass the quiz. Submissions in excess of 15 times will receive no credit. Students cannot go back, they must take a new quiz in order to improve a score. There is no partial completion credit. Likewise there is no late penalty.

• Policy #3:

  Variable settings:

  late = yes

  late_penalty = 10

  late_penalty_compounded = 1

  num_times_final = 10

  pass_cutoff = 80

  go_back = no

  partial_completion = no

  Interpretation:

  There is a late penalty of 10% a day; this 10% a day is subtracted from the raw score. If a student is one day late and gets a raw score of 89% on a quiz, the the adjusted score is 0 (because 89%-10% late penalty is below the minimum cutoff of 80%). In order to have a nonzero score during the second day, the student would need a perfect raw score of 100%. Students will receive zero credit for submissions in excess of 10 times, regardless of the date of submission. Students must reload a new quiz to receive credit and improve a score. Cumulative completion of a quiz is not allowed.

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Comments? Questions? General harassment? Mail it to maiko@wocket.csl.uiuc.edu