Duplicate your content between Sakai sites

Posted on 05/15/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

stacked_booksMany instructors teach the same course during different academic terms, and often times they reuse the same course material. Instead of having that material stack up on your computer to be recreated in your new course sites,  you can duplicate content from one Sakai site to another. Save yourself valuable time by reusing material in Sakai sites in which you are an Instructor or Organizer.

**If reusing assessments from Tests & Quizzes, the pending version of the assessment must still be on the Sakai site. Published assessments cannot be copied between sites as student data is linked to those tests.

Re-use Material from Other Sites You Own

As you create your course site, you have the option to Re-use Material from Sites You Own:

  1. Begin creating your course site
  2. On the Course Site Tools page, check tools you want duplicated and any other tools you want to use in the site you are creating
  3. Scroll down to Re-use Material from Other Sites You Own and select “Yes, from these sites”
  4. Select sites from which you want to duplicate content and click Continue
    1. Hold down CTRL (Windows) or Command (Mac) key to select multiple sites

  5. Check tools you want duplicated and click Continue
    1. You must check tools you want duplicated in Step 2 to make them available
  6. Select whether you want your site published or in draft mode and click Continue
  7. Click Create Site

Import from Site

If your site has already been created, you can use the Import from Site tool to duplicate your content:

  1. Go to Sakai site where data will be imported and select Site Info
  2. Select Import from Site from top menu
  3. Select your Import Data method: Replace Data, Merge Data, or Merge Users
    1. Replacing data will delete existing content in your site
    2. Merging data will add imported content to existing data
    3. Merging users will only merge users that were manually added to the Sakai site. Users attached to a ConnectCarolina roster will not be merged

    import_from_site

  4. Check sites from which you want to import data and click Continue
  5. Check tools you want to import and click Finish

Show other sites in Resources

Instead of importing all content within Resources, you can select to copy or move specific items and folders from Resources in one Sakai site to another:

  1. Go to Sakai site where content will be copied and select Resources
  2. Click on “Show other sites” link below your list of Resource items. Your Sakai sites in which you are an Instructor/Organizer will displayshow_other_sites
  3. Locate item you want copied, click on its Actions menu, and select Copy
    1. If copying multiple items, check box by each item and click Copy at top of page
  4. Scroll back up to current site’s Resources, locate folder where you want item copied, and click on folder’s Paste icon or select Actions > Paste copied items

paste_item

NOTE: For easy navigation on a single page, instead of clicking directly on a folder’s name, click on the folder icon to the left of the folder’s name to display items within that folder.

open_folder_1

Contact the ITS Help Desk at 962-HELP or submit a help ticket if you have any questions!

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Plan ahead and relax this Summer

Posted on 05/08/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

CC-licensed photo courtesy of Epanastasi

Final exams have concluded and Summer is officially here! Now is the time to plan ahead and get your Sakai course sites ready, so you can take a well-deserved break and relax for the Summer.

All Summer and Fall semester rosters are now available in Sakai for you to create your course sites.

ConnectCarolina

stoplightThe first thing you want to do is verify with your departmental scheduling officer that you are listed in ConnectCarolina as the Primary Instructor, Secondary Instructor, or Proxy for the course. This will attach the course roster to your account in Sakai so you can create the course site. Your TAs must also be listed in ConnectCarolina so that they have appropriate TA permissions according to FERPA regulations.

NOTE: Rosters are not attached to TAs in Sakai. Only the Instructor listed in ConnectCarolina can create the course site.

Create Course Site

Once you are set up in ConnectCarolina, you can create your course site in Sakai:

  1. In your My Workspace tab, select Worksite Setup
  2. Select New
  3. Select the appropriate Academic term
  4. Continue through the following steps
Create Course Sites

NOTE: This process will create only one course site at a time. Selecting multiple rosters [step 3] will attach those multiple rosters to the course site you are currently creating.

Set up Course Site

Now that you have your course site created, it is time to design and set up your course site! You have the flexibility of utilizing whatever tools you want from the list of available tools in Sakai, which can be added or removed according to your needs at any time. Here is a list of some of the more commonly used tools:

Depending on what tools you use, you can set up the items ahead of time with time parameters when applicable.

Publish Course Site

Once your course site is ready to be accessed by students, publish your site:

Need assistance? You can register for a one-on-one consultation with a Teaching & Learning consultant to help you get started. We are here to help you!

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Gradebook Tips & Tricks

Posted on 04/24/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

Gb_checklistLast month we introduced the Gradebook Blog Series to better assist faculty who are using the Gradebook tool in Sakai, and we hope to have provided you all with useful tips and information! For this semester, we have +1,330 course sites using the Gradebook!

To conclude the series, here is a checklist for instructors to check off as they finalize grades in the Sakai Gradebook:

  1. Verify all grades are entered
  2. Check items are included in final grade calculations
  3. Calculate course grades
  4. Release final grades to students

Once you have finalized grades in Sakai, don’t forget to enter grades into ConnectCarolina! Grades are due 72 hours after the scheduled time of your final exam.

Gradebook Tips & Tricks

Get Help

Join us at our Gradebook Workshop to get an overview of the Gradebook, make sure your grades have been entered correctly, calculate final grades in preparation for ConnectCarolina, and more!

Gradebook Workshop: [Register here]
Wednesday May 1
10am – 11am
UL 034

If you need one-on-one help, sign up for a personal Gradebook consultation at your convenience. You can also call the ITS Help Desk at 962-HELP or submit a help ticket.

Posted in Faculty, Gradebook, Workshop/Training | Comments Off

Don’t forget: Calculate your final grades

Posted on 04/18/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

calculate_coursegradeIt’s hard to believe that classes end next Friday, but as instructors make preparations for the end of the semester, don’t forget to check off calculating course grades in the Sakai Gradebook!

Before you calculate course grades, the Gradebook will not include ungraded Gradebook items, which could result in higher course grades for students. Calculating course grades will enter a “0″ for any ungraded items and therefore include all Gradebook items in course grade calculations.

Verify Gb Items are included in Course Grade

First verify that all appropriate entries will be included in course grade calculations on the Gradebook Items page. There will be a “Yes” in the “Included in Course Grade” column if the item is included.

include_Gbitem

If a Gradebook item is not included:

1. Click Edit next to the item’s Title
2. Check boxes to “Release this item to Students” and “Include this item in course grade calculations”
3. Click Save Changes

Calculate Course Grades

To calculate course grades:

1. Select Course Grades
2. Click on Calculate Course Grades at the bottom of the page
3. Verify you want to calculate course grades by clicking on Continue

Calculating course grades is irreversible, so if you need to remove any zeroes in student grades, you will have to manually go into the Gradebook item and remove/edit the grade.

NOTE:  You can override a student’s final grade on the Course Grades page in the Grade Override column. We recently added additional letter grades to the Gradebook.

grade_override

Release final grades to students

Once you have finalized course grades, release final grades to students:

1. Select Course Grade Options
2. Check box to Display course grade to students now
3. Click Save

NOTE:  You can view the Gradebook as a specific student in your course to verify what students are seeing in the Gradebook.

Posted in Faculty, Gradebook, Micro-tutorial | Comments Off

Secrets of Gradebook Categories & Weighting grades

Posted on 04/16/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

grading_smallSome instructors prefer to use Categories and Weighting in their Gradebook to help them organize assignments into groups that are worth a certain percentage of the final grade. With this setup, instructors create their categories and place graded items within those categories, which allows them to organize and assign weighted values with minimal confusion.

**It is NOT necessary for all instructors to use Categories as the Gradebook is essentially a calculator. It all depends on how you prefer to set up your Gradebook.

Setting up Categories

1. Select Gradebook Setup from the top Gradebook menu
2. Select how you will enter grades, points or percentages
3. Click on the Categories & Weighting option
4. Enter Category names and their weight (total must equal 100%)
NOTE: Click on Add a Category to enter multiple categories
5. Click Save Changes

Assigning Gradebook Items to Categories

Now that the Categories have been set up, you will need to create Gradebook entries and assign them to their proper Categories:

1. Select Gradebook Items from top Gradebook menu
2. Select Add Gradebook Item(s)
3. Enter a title and the item’s relative weight/point value
4. Assign a Category
5. Place a check in both Release this item to Students and Include this item in course grade calculations (if included in final grade)

NOTE: If a Gradebook Item has already been created, simply click on the item’s Edit link on the main Gradebook Items page to assign it to a Category.

Gradebook Setup Reminders

Some important notes to keep in mind when setting up the Gradebook with Categories:

  • All Gradebook items calculated in the final grade must be assigned to a Category, even if only one Gradebook item will be in the Category
  • Assign the same weight to all items within a category to make them equal. Assigning more points to an item will make that item count more as Sakai calculates the total number of points given in a category
    • E.g. An item worth 200 points weighs twice as much as an item worth 100 points within the category
  • If a Gradebook item is not included in final course calculations, the class average for that item will be displayed in parentheses on the main Gradebook Items page
  • If you want to create a Category that is not included in course grade calculations, enter 0% for the weight

Here is a video explaining how to set up Categories and assign Gradebook Items, along with our tutorial:

Need help? Sign up for a one-on-one consultation.

Posted in Faculty, Gradebook, Micro-tutorial, Video | Comments Off

Upload Scantron exam results to Gradebook

Posted on 04/11/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

scantronWhen administering tests with scantron sheets for students to fill in their answers, instructors can easily upload those scantron results into the Sakai Gradebook. Whether you use the ITS Exam Scanning Services or another departmental service, you should receive a spreadsheet with the graded scantron results.

Upload Scantron results into Gradebook

1. Open scantron spreadsheet in Excel or Numbers
2. Confirm student names and IDs (Onyens) are in first 2 columns and column headers are properly named in 1st row
NOTE: Scantron title must contain maximum points in brackets, e.g. “Exam [100]“

scantron_columns3. From File menu, Save As csv or xls file
4. In your Sakai course site, select Gradebook
5. Select Import Grades from top Gradebook menu

6. Under step 3. Import Spreadsheet, click Choose File

scantron_import

7. Browse for and open your file
8. Confirm file upload by clicking Continue
9. Click Import Spreadsheet
10. If your spreadsheet is properly formatted, the next screen will display the spreadsheet with the exam as a Gradebook Item. Verify data is correct by clicking OK

scantron_verify

The exam with grades should now show up as a Gradebook Item in Sakai. You can verify this by clicking on All Grades from the top Gradebook menu.

Download spreadsheet template

Instructors can follow this same process to import multiple Gradebook Items and grades. We recommend downloading the spreadsheet template found in step 1 in Gradebook > Import Grades as it is in the proper format to upload into Sakai. Enter your new grades in this spreadsheet and then import the spreadsheet following the steps above.

scantron_template

NOTE: We recently upgraded the Gradebook to display student PIDs in Sakai and the downloadable spreadsheet templates. Spreadsheets with and without PIDs will upload into Sakai.

Here is a video, along with our tutorial, explaining this process:

Posted in Faculty, Gradebook, Micro-tutorial, Video | Comments Off

New graduate H,P,L grade scale and letter grades

Posted on 04/09/2013 by Thao Nghi Bui

We recently updated the Gradebook and added a new grading scale and additional letter grades in Sakai, according to the University Registrar Grading System. Instructors now have the option of selecting the Graduate H, P, L  grading scale, as well as additional letter grades for final course grades in all newly created Sakai course sites! The updates include:

  • Graduate grading scale: H, P, L
  • New course letter grades: AB, FA, IN, PS, SP, W

H, P, L Grading Scale

When setting up the Gradebook in a new course site, instructors can select the new grading scale:

1. Select Course Grade Options from top Gradebook menu
2. For Grade Type, select H,P,L Grades from drop-down menu
3. Click Change grade type
4. Click Save

HPL

New Letter Grades

When evaluating final course grades, instructors can override grades in Sakai and now have these additional options with the Letter Grades (with +/-) Grade Type scales:  AB, FA, IN, PS, SP, W

letter_grades

To override course grades:

1. Select Course Grades from top Gradebook menu
2.Enter new letter grade in Grade Override column
3. Click Save Changes

grade_override

NOTE: The Grade Override will only accept letter grades.

Create Summer and Fall Course Sites

Get a head start–Summer and Fall 2013 course rosters are now available in Sakai! Once your new site is created, the Gradebook updates will be available. Here is how to create your course site:

Create Course Sites

NOTE: You must be listed as the course Primary Instructor, Secondary Instructor, or Proxy in ConnectCarolina to be able to create the course site in Sakai.

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