MEAGER:MEAGER:MEAGER:MEAGER:

Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft ExcelAutomated GraderAutomated Grader

What does MEAGER grade?

• Text labels• Numbers • Formulas• Worksheet names

• Fonts– Face– Size– Style (B/I/U)– Color

What does MEAGER grade? (continued)

• Cell– Alignment (L/R/C)– Fill Color– Indent level– Orientation (tilt)– Number format

• Currency• Percent• Accounting

• Borders– Color– Style

• solid/broken

– Thickness

• Row Height• Column Width• Merged Ranges

What does MEAGER grade? (continued)

• Charts– Type, Subtype– Location– Height/Width– Source Data– Source Title– Legend– Embedded vs. Worksheet

What does MEAGER NOT grade?

• Chart components– Object color– Labels (fonts/# fmt)

• Embedded objects– Pictures– Clip Art– Org charts– Word Art

• Conditional formatting

• Drawing objects– Shapes– Lines– Drop shadows

• Controls– Buttons– List Box– Text Box, etc.

4thQtrSales by t3smithjohn.xls

Attachment Executive

Gathering, Grading, and Returning Assignments

Nightly Unattended

(Log generated)

EvaluationsEvaluationsEvaluationsEvaluations

Student Survey: Grader Accuracy

Extremely accurate, 21

Accurate, 38

Extremely inaccurate, 1

98% Accurate or Extremely Accurate

No one answered “Inaccurate”

Student Survey: Grader Fairness

Fair, 38, 72%

Extremely fair, 10, 19%

Hard/Harsh, 5, 9%

80% Fair or Extremely Fair

7 students selected “no opinion”

Student Survey: Preference

c). no opinion, 29, 49%

d). prefer automated grader,

22, 37%

e). strongly prefer automated grader,

2, 3%

b). prefer instructor, 5, 8%

a.) strongly prefer instructor, 2, 3%

40% Preferred Automated Grader

Grader preferred over instructor 3:1

Instructor Survey

• Spring 2003– MEAGER more accurate than myself (2 for 2)

• Fall 2003– Extremely Accurate (3 for 3)– Learning Curve: Easy (3 for 3)

• Extremely easy was an option– Student Complaints

• 4 student complaints from 392 total students (1%)– Total Lockups: 2 (restarting: temp DB locked)– Files Skipped: 2 (chart extraction/wrong key)

Instructors: Hours Saved Per Week (Estimated)

6

15

10

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Instructor 1 Instructor 2 Instructor 3

How to use MEAGERHow to use MEAGERHow to use MEAGERHow to use MEAGER

Selecting Files

• User must select the correct worksheet– click on browse file button (or type filename)– navigate to file– select correct excel file

• Next, select folder containing student workbooks– Use browse button or type filename

Points to Deduct

• Variable grading scale• Instructor enters # of points to be deducted per

error– Mistyped/missing labels or numeric constants– Incorrect formulas– Formatting errors– Charts

Workbook Grading• Extraneous values and formats ARE NOT deducted by default

• The same amount is deducted for all types of formatting errors.

• Format errs applied to ranges (fill color, borders, number formats) are deducted for each cell in the range.

Options: Deduct Extraneous

• To count any extra formatting or cells values against the student

• If student enters name, class, date information, these will marked as incorrect

Plagiarism• Helps discover possible plagiarism• Considers a pair of students at a time

INPUT #1– Min number errors students have in common?

• More errors, more evidence of plagiarism

INPUT #2– What percent of a student A’s errors were also made

by student B? (<100% decreases confidence of plagiarism)

Grade Report

•Kept until cleared

•Errors List•Last folder processed (no history)

Possible Plagiarism•Last folder processed (no history)

Unattended Processing

UNATTENDED.BAT (To be edited and scheduled for daily execution by instructor)

rem rem First batch file parameter is correct version of workbook; second parameter is path to student filesrem

call "C:\Program Files\Excel Grader\ExcelGrader.bat" "r:\grader keys\madonna.xls" "r:\attachments\excel\madonna"call "C:\Program Files\Excel Grader\ExcelGrader.bat" "r:\grader keys\razor.xls" "r:\attachments\excel\razor"call "C:\Program Files\Excel Grader\ExcelGrader.bat" "r:\grader keys\awesome.xls“ "r:\attachments\excel\awesome"call "C:\Program Files\Excel Grader\ExcelGrader.bat" "r:\grader keys\concrete.xls“ "r:\attachments\excel\concrete"

Grader OutputGrader OutputGrader OutputGrader Output

Marking Errors

• Errors are recorded in for error reportAND

• Student worksheets are marked– Strike-through format is added to incorrect values

and formulas– Comments are added to cells to describe errors

Student’s Marked Up Version

Grade Report

Errors Report

Possible Plagiarism

Total Errs (for first file)

Tips

• Test each new assignment by comparing best students to key

• Key may not be correct– It may make assumptions that aren’t explicit

• Remove objects from key that aren’t important (should not be graded)

• GRADE OVERNIGHT!• AUTO EMAIL AFTER GRADING!

MEAGER vs Instructors: PRO• MEAGER marks in greater detail than human graders.

– Worksheet with many errors: details ignored:– alignments, column widths, row heights, missing borders, number

formats, merged cells, and bold formatting

• MEAGER can detect errors a human grader cannot.– Negative number formats for (positive number)– Similar fonts– Colors (grayscale printout?)

• MEAGER can reduce the time required to grade assignments.– No searching for errors.– Verify/weigh errors already marked & grade charts– Skip papers with high scores?

MEAGER vs Instructors: CON• MEAGER’s marking may be seen as excessive

– Does not detect patterns:50 cells with bad negative # formatting

– Extra spaces in student labels– Column widths and row heights that are slightly off

• MEAGER is still in BETA– MEAGER still does not handle all types of exceptions. – When MEAGER encounters an error, it skips the workbook and

continues grading the remainder of the files. – Skipped workbooks are given a grade of -1 in the grade report.

• MEAGER is relatively slow– Around a minute per workbook

Comments• Meager is going to allow me time

to do some reading in my field of study, spend more time with students, do a better job in advising, etc. Meager should be a program every instructor of Excel and Access should desire. Meager has given me time that I haven't had in many, many years. It is a phenomenal program.

Availability• requires Office XP• can grade Office 2000 docs

http://www.excelgrader.com

• Companion product– MADBAGS: Access DB Auto-Grading System

http://www.accessgrader.com