Revised August 2014

Sakai: Just the Basics Syllabus | Course Materials & Readings | Gradebook

http://sakai.providence.edu

GETTING help

Email: sakaihelp@providence.edu

Online tutorials and handouts: www.providence.edu/ihelp

FINDING your course

Sites are listed across the top navigation menu

Don’t see all your courses? Click on “More Sites”

Customize the menu by clicking on “Preferences”

PUBLISHING your course (making the site accessible to students)

Enter the course site

Click “Publish Now” in upper left

You can unpublish/publish at will through the Site Editor > Manage Access

Unpublished course is invisible to students

SYLLABUS option one: uploading a single file

Click on Syllabus on left menu

Click on “Add Item”

Type in a title (such as Syllabus)

Click on “Add attachments”

Browse the computer to locate the file

Click Continue

Click the TRIANGLE to view the attachment

Click the LIGHTBULB to publish the syllabus Lightbulb must be yellow for students to see the syllabus

Revised August 2014

SYLLABUS option two: creating multiple sections

Click on Syllabus on left menu

Click on “Bulk Add”

Provide a title

Option to create sections by number or by dates

Click “Post”

Sections appear to add content

Yellow LIGHTBULB icon indicates that each section is published for students to see by default.

Click the section name to edit

Click TRIANGLE to add content

Revised August 2014

Click “add body text” to copy-and-paste or type directly into the browser

For copy-and-paste, click the Word icon

Click the CHECKMARK to save

Revised August 2014

What the students see

Toggle between “Expand All” and “Collapse All”

Revised August 2014

RESOURCES (this is where you add materials like PDFs, PowerPoints, links to websites, embed YouTube

videos, anything the students need to read/watch/consume)

Click on Resources on the left

Click on “Add”

Select what you want to add (folder, upload a file, website link, etc.)

What you see in Resources, the students see unless you restrict access

Restrict access / set release dates

Click on “Actions > Edit Details” next to the specific document or link Set specific view dates or click the button next to “hide this item”

GRADEBOOK

Site Editor > Edit Tools > Check box next to Gradebook > Continue > Finish Gradebook now displays in the left menu bar. Click on Gradebook Step One Edit > Gradebook Settings

SETTING ONE: How do you grade?

Grading: Option A Course assignments are in categories. Each category carries specific weight.

Case Studies = 30% Midterm = 20% Final = 25% Individual Project = 15% Class Participation = 10%

Use “Weighted Categories” – if this is you, skip to next setting.

Revised August 2014

Grading: Option B Course assignments are worth a total number of points. Student’s grade calculated based on his points divided by total course points. Course = 800 points

Case Study 1 = 50 points Case Study 2 = 50 points Case Study 3 = 50 points Case Study 4 = 50 points Case Study 5 = 75 points Midterm = 150 points Final = 200 points Individual Project = 100 points Class Participations = 75 points

Use “No Categories” or plain “Categories” if you want an organized gradebook. Complete the remaining options and then skip to the directions for “Points-based Gradebook.”

SETTING TWO: Do you grade with points, percentages or letter grades? Select appropriate grading option.

Revised August 2014

SETTING THREE: What do you want students to see? Check boxes as appropriate: course average, mean/median/mode, etc.

Click on “Save/Close” Now your gradebook is ready to have categories and assignments added. NOTE: If you need to edit your Gradebook set-up, go to Edit > Gradebook Settings

Revised August 2014

Step Two for Weighted Categories Click File > Category A menu opens on the right of screen. Type:

1. Category name 2. Weight percent 3. Other options 4. Confirm “Include in Grade” is checked 5. Save/Close

Do this until all your categories are entered.

Revised August 2014

Step Three for Weighted Categories Click File > New Item (an item is an assignment) A menu opens on the right of screen. Type:

1. Name of an assignment 2. Select the category the assignments falls under 3. Enter its points 4. Other options 5. Confirm “Include in Grade” is checked 6. Save/Close

Do this until all your assignments are entered.

Revised August 2014

Weighted Categories: Entering Grades Your gradebook is now set up and ready to enter grades. Categories and assignments appear in the left panel. Students’ names appear in the right panel. Check the box to the left of an assignment. It appears in the right panel. Click in the cell/box on the right and type in the grade. Press the TAB key to jump to the next student. Type in the grade. Tab > Type until you’re finished. A grade is saved automatically as soon as you enter it in the cell.

Revised August 2014

Step Two for Points-based Gradebook Click File > New Item (an item is an assignment) A menu opens on the right of screen. Type:

1. Name of an assignment 2. Enter its points 3. Other options 4. Confirm “Include in Grade” is checked 5. Save/Close

Do this until all your assignments are entered.

Revised August 2014

Points-based Gradebook: Entering Grades Your gradebook is now set up and ready to enter grades. Assignments appear in the left panel. Students’ names appear in the right panel. Check the box to the left of an assignment. It appears in the right panel. Click in the cell/box on the right and type in the grade. Press the TAB key to jump to the next student. Type in the grade. Tab > Type until you’re finished. A grade is saved automatically as soon as you enter it in the cell.

Revised August 2014

Gradebook Idiosyncrasies Color Coding The gradebook uses color-coding to indicate how assignments are applied to the course grade. In the left panel

If an assignment is BLUE & BOLD, students can see it.

If an assignment is plain black and non-bold, it has not been “released.” Students

cannot see it.

If an assignment is in italics, it is not included in the course grade.

To make any changes to how assignments appear/are calculated, double-click the assignment’s name. A menu appears in the right panel. Put a check on “include in grade” and “release scores.”

Revised August 2014

Moving items in the gradebook Drag-n-drop items to change the order of appearance. I’m linking the gradebook to Sakai tools. How does this work? Create the item in the Gradebook BEFORE linking

Forums

Assignments – only if you want to enter grades via the gradebook and not in the Assignment tool Tool creates the item automatically Move the item to the correct category if using Categories/Weighted Categories after it is created

Tests & Quizzes

Assignments – must enter grades via the Assignments tool Turning Course Tools On/Off Site Editor > Edit Tools