By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter College administrators hope that word of mouth
will lead more faculty members to use the electronic gradebook
because it streamlines the grading process. The gradebook,
accessible through the MyUCLA Web site, allows professors to enter
grades online. This allows students to see their current grades
through MyUCLA if their professor chooses to use the option.
“We’re there to support students indirectly by helping
faculty directly,” said Eric Splaver, director of College
Information Services. Faculty who use the gradebook enter
assignments and grades, similar to a traditional gradebook. Because
grades are submitted online, Splaver said security is a very
important issue for the site. He said the electronic gradebook has
all the security measures of MyUCLA. “Only faculty members
themselves can submit grades, and all changes that are made in the
gradebook are logged,” Splaver said. The electronic gradebook
started as a way to provide tools to help faculty members work on
their gradebooks on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, but evolved into
an online format, Splaver said. The first work on the electronic
gradebook started in the fall of 1999. By winter quarter of 2000,
it was being beta tested in approximately a dozen classes and is
now being launched for all professors to use. All faculty members
are given the option of using the gradebook, which was used in 300
courses during winter quarter 2001, according to Splaver. Winter
quarter was the first time the system was available to the UCLA
community at large. The program used for the gradebook is unique to
UCLA and was designed based on how different UCLA Web sites
interact, according to Splaver. “I don’t think any
other schools have the total (integrated) approach that we
have,” Splaver said, adding that other schools and private
companies have asked him about buying or borrowing the program. The
advantages of the electronic gradebook, according to Splaver, are
based on the gradebook’s integration with other UCLA Web
sites. The gradebook is connected to the registrar’s office,
which allows real-time updates to the class roster. This feature
was very popular on the faculty version of MyUCLA and helped lead
to a full online gradebook, Splaver said. He added that this
connection allows final grades to be sent to the registrar more
quickly, without having to fill out extra written forms. Faculty
members have three options when choosing how much information to
release to students. They can let a student see grades through
MyUCLA, see grades and the class distribution or none of the above.
“We believe this is a much easier way for faculty to retain
grades during the quarter,” said John Sandbrook, assistant
provost of the College of Letters & Science. Splaver said he
recommends that professors let students see their grades and how
their grade compares to other classmates. He also said it is
important to allow faculty to give comments along with their
grades, which is possible through the electronic gradebook.
“We use technology but we still have the human factor of
communication,” Splaver said. Sandbrook said he is going to
remind faculty members and departments about the electronic
gradebook service, but that use will increase mostly by word of
mouth among faculty. “Our job is just to let them know
it’s available,” Sandbrook said. “The best
recommendations will come from any colleagues who used it.”
Additional recommendations come from students wanting their
professors to use the system, according to Splaver. “If the
students think this is something that we should use, then the
professors should accommodate them if it’s not too much work
for the professor,” said Kuo-Nan Liou, chair of the
atmospheric sciences department.
ONLINE GRADEBOOK FEATURES The online gradebook
gives the following benefits to professors and students: SOURCE:
Eric Speaver, Director of College Information Services Original
graphic by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by STEPHEN
WONG/Daily Bruin