• Add outcomes to a markbook
• Control the tasks that measure the achievement in an outcome
• Change the number and text of each level of achievement
• Print outcomes with levels for each student

• Start SM-Marks 2 from the shortcut in the Start|Programs|SMPCS Apps list.

Choose the File|Open command and select the sample markbook and select Open. If you cannot see the sample markbook you should check that the File|Open box is currently showing the Smmarks2 folder. If it is the correct folder, re-installing the program copies the sample markbook into the same folder as the SM-Marks program.



The sample markbook includes 4 classes with 7 tasks. The results in the markbook are not meant to represent actual student achievement and if the numbers seem randomly assigned, they are.


Viewing the outcomes

Along the bottom are the tabs to allow you select the different classes in the markbook. Next to the Print Preview tab is the Outcomes tab. Choose that now. Here you can see the name of the currently selected student with a list of outcomes and the tasks in the markbook. On the Outcomes page you can view the student's level of achievement for each outcome. In this sample the tasks that contribute to each outcome shave already been set and in the Level column is the student's performance.

• When you organise and assign tasks you need to know which outcome each task measures. This is something you must plan when designing each task. Deciding what outcome each task is intended to measure is a job that is outside of the scope of this Tutorial and is something you need to plan as a school faculty.

In this sample, only two outcomes are stored but there is no limit to the total number and later you learn how to add more outcomes. The tasks that have a tick are the ones that that are used to work out the level of achievement. To turn the tick on or off, a right click, (i.e. click with the other mouse button) on the cell switches the tick. So if the tick is on a right click turns it off, and if the cell doesn't have a tick the right click puts one in the cell. Try this now.



For the first outcome, turn off all the ticks, by right clicking on each cell with a tick. After this see how the Level column now shows n.a. for the outcome. This means the level is not available. Now put a few ticks back in the cells, depending on the tasks that have a tick for the outcome, the level will vary. What SM-Marks does is to average the tasks that you have selected and then choose the appropriate description for the level. After experimenting with this a little you can change the descriptions for each level.


Changing the outcome descriptors

The level descriptors in SM-Marks are changed in the Edit|Preferences command. Choose that command now. In the Preference items list, click on the Default Descriptors. In the Settings list you can see the five initially set in SM-Marks and scroll down the list now to find out how many different levels you can have.



To change a descriptor you click on it to clear the line and then type what you want. Click on Descriptor 1 which is Excellent. When the cursor appears, type,

Really, really good

and press Enter. You may want to change the other descriptors and also add a new sixth one. To add a new one you just click on the blank line and after typing the descriptor press Enter.


Changing the result required for each level

Looking on the left in the Preference items list, click on the Descriptor Cutoffs. Now on the right all the descriptors than you have changed, or added have a line for entering a Cutoff. The cutoff is the lowest mark that gets the descriptor. These cutoffs must always be between 0 and 100 because on the Outcomes page the tasks you select for an outcome are converted to a percentage where 100 is the highest level that can be achieved.



Change the cutoff for some off the descriptors. Do that now and then choose OK. If necessary, choose the Outcomes page to see how the change to the cutoffs has affected the Levels.


Printing outcome levels

If you haven't already, choose the Outcomes page. Then choose the Print|Outcomes command. Assuming none of the buttons on the Print Preview toolbar are on, you see a table of all the students in the current class with a column for each outcome. This can be printed with the Print button on the toolbar.



A single table like this is compact but cannot show the full text of each outcome and the level descriptor is truncated, although usually you can tell what each one is. For a more complete printed page turn on the Show Alternate view button on the toolbar. If you are not sure which toolbar button that is, hold down the Shift key and press F7 a couple of times to see which one it is. You can also keep the mouse cursor still over a toolbar button for a moment to see the pop-up tip.



With the Show Alternate view button on you get one page per student with the outcome shown in full. To show the outcome Code and Short name as well, turn on the Show detailed view button. Try that now. If you experiment with these two buttons on the toolbar you have discovered that the Show Details buttons has no affect unless Show Alternate is on, this is intentional as the table of students and outcomes does not have a detailed view.

What if you want more than one student to print with in the Alternate view? Click on the All students tab and then for the first three students, Mary, Joan and Sara click in the narrow column to the left of the family name. Click in this column for the row of each student and the "tag" appears. Now choose the Print|Outcomes command again. If you had turned it off, turn on the Show Alternate view button. See the affect? You can tag as many students as you want, either in a single class or the with the All students tab. You may like to repeat and try out all the options you have used so far in printing outcomes.

Here is something extra to try. How do you think you would control which outcomes appear in the print preview? You may like to try it and see if your idea works.


Adding outcomes

Making a new outcome is similar to making a new student and if you have already done the first tutorial, you may be able to guess how to do it. If you think you can, try it now and see if your guess was right.

Here is the answer. Choose the New|Outcome command and enter the outcome on the new row. The code column can be left empty and the outcome name is a short heading you want for the outcome. You need this because in the Print|Outcomes command you need to have a short distinguishing name when you print the table of all students.

After a few seconds the columns where you can type turn grey and are locked to stop them from changing. If you want to make a change to what you have typed you can choose the Edit|Outcome command.



What you have done is make a new row for an outcome, but only a short abbreviation of the outcome has been entered. Making sure the current cell is in the row for your newly added outcome, choose the Edit|Note|Outcome command. Type the full text of your new outcome into this box and then choose OK. By choosing the Print|Outcomes command with the Show Alternate view turned on you can see your new outcome in full. (If it does not appear make sure no outcomes are tagged before choosing Print|Outcomes. This is a partial answer to the question just before this section.)


Summary

You now know enough to use SM-Marks for the purpose of recording and working out each student's achievement for basis. You can:

• Enter and edit outcomes
• Specify what descriptor the students get for the outcomes
• Print outcome summaries and detailed reports