Introduction
Organising your markbooks
In planning which classes to store in each markbook there are several considerations to keep in mind.
- Do the classes share common exams?
- Will you need to rank or grade students across the classes?
- Are the assessment procedures the same for each class?
If the answer to each of these questions is yes, then the classes should be stored as a single markbook.
Sometimes the answers may not be clear cut. For example, with a subject that has different levels within a single year it may be better to have separate markbooks. The actual organisation may depend on the size of the classes and the number of tasks required for each level of the subject.
Here are three short case studies that each explain one possible way of organising a markbook in the example.
Example One
In the English department of Suburb High, all the year 7 classes are put into one markbook called "7 English". Each year 7 class shares the same exams and the results for the half-yearly and yearly marks are all combined using the same calculations. The final results are also ranked together.
All the year 7 classes should be in one markbook. If necessary, a teacher can make extra tasks for her class only.
Example Two
In the Mathematics department of Suburb High there are six year 10 classes. The top two classes are an advanced stream. The next three are intermediate and the remaining class is the general stream. Each stream is ranked separately and combines results in a different way to reach yearly totals.
If the different streams do not be to be ranked as a single group then it is convenient to have three different markbooks. If the streams do need to be ranked together, then the classes should be in a single markbook, although you may need to set aside groups of tasks for the exams and assessments of each stream.
Setting aside groups of tasks is something that must be agreed between the teachers using the markbook. SM-Marks Online itself does not enforce any conventions about the tasks used for different classes.
Example Three
In the English department of Suburb High there are four senior year 12 classes. Two of the classes are the same course, each other class is a different course. So within year 12 English there are three different courses.
Each course has completely different assessment requirements with different exams and assignments. For this reason, each course should be in a separate markbook. You should make three separate markbooks. One markbook for the two classes which are the same, another two markbooks for the other classes.