After an assignment has been taken by a participant and reviewed, each participant receives a score. Most likely, the score does not represent the final mark of the participant. Often, the score needs to be used to calculate their mark. Sometimes the score is corrected before it is used to calculate the mark, for example when applying guess correction. In this article, the options for calculating a mark are described. If you would like to see examples of mark calculations, please read the examples of mark calculations article.
To view the mark calculation options for your assignment, follow the steps below.
- Click your domain School name in the menu on the left.
- Click label_important Courses in the menu at the top.
- Select your course or use the search bar.
- Select your assignment or use the search bar.
- Click settings Settings in the menu at the top.
- Click Mark calculation in the menu on the left.
You can change the mark calculation when desired. You can set the mark calculation before taking the assignment and change it afterwards for example.
Ans provides three possible options for mark calculation: formula, table or none. You can choose the desired option with the dropdown menu at the top of the Mark calculation menu.
lightbulb_outlineA default value will always be visible in the mark calculation menu, even when you have not changed anything in your assignment. The default value is determined on school level by your administrators.
Option 1: mark calculation with a formula
The formula option allows you to create a mark calculation based on two variables:
- Points: the number of points earned by the participant
- Total: the total amount of points that a participant can earn for the assignment
There are multiple functions and operators available which can be used and combined to set the formula. An overview with explanation is shown below. It is possible to use parentheses to determine the order of calculation for parts of a formula or partial calculations.
Math operators
| Operator/function | Explanation |
| + | Adds two variables |
| - | Subtracts two variables |
| * | Multiplies two variables |
| / | Divides two variables |
| ^ | Squares two variables |
Logical functions
| Operator/function | Explanation |
| IF |
With an IF statement, you are able to set different mark calculations for different situations. You can use this to set a mark calculation for a score below a threshold and a score above a threshold, for example. The IF statement contains three parts, separated by commas between parentheses. First, the condition is given, followed by the value if the condition is true and lastly the value if the condition is false. IF(condition, value_if_true, value_if_false) |
| AND |
With an AND statement, you can check whether a value satisfies multiple conditions. It returns either True or False. It can also be combined with an IF statement. The AND statement contains the conditions you want to check, separated by commas between parentheses. It only returns True if all conditions are met. There is no limit to the number of conditions. AND(condition_1, condition_2, condition_n) |
| OR |
With an OR statement, you can check whether a value satisfies at least one of multiple conditions. It returns either True or False. It can also be combined with an IF statement. The OR statement contains the conditions you want to check, separated by commas between parentheses. It returns True if at least 1 condition is met. There is no limit to the number of conditions. OR(condition_1, condition_2, condition_n) |
Comparison operators
The comparison operators can be used with logical functions as described above to determine the behaviour of parts of the formula. In case the IF function is used in combination with the comparison operators < and >, it is possible to set different mark calculations for both the part of the calculation above and below the cut-off score, for example. The result of a comparison operator is either true or false.
| Operator/function | Explanation |
| < | Less than. Checks whether the value on the left side is less than the value on the right side. |
| > | Greater than. Checks whether the value on the left side is greater than the value on the right side. |
| <= | Less than or equal to. Checks whether the value on the left side is less than or equal to the value on the right side. |
| >= | Greater than or equal to. Checks whether the value on the left side is greater than or equal to the value on the right side. |
| != | Not equal to. Checks whether the value on the left side is not equal to the value on the right side. |
| = | Equal to. Checks whether the value on the left side is equal to the value on the right side. |
Numeric functions
| Operator/function | Explanation |
| MIN | MIN returns the smallest numerical value in the data provided. |
| MAX | MAX returns the largest numerical value in the data provided. |
| ROUND |
If you use ROUND for (part of) a formula, it will round to the nearest decimal. It rounds either up or down, depending on which number is nearest. The ROUND function consists of two parts, the calculation used and the number of decimals. These are separated with a comma between parentheses. If you use 0 for the number of decimals, the formula will round to whole numbers. ROUND(calculation, # decimals) |
| ROUNDUP |
ROUNDUP works the same as ROUND, except for the fact that (part of) the formula always rounds up to the nearest decimal. ROUNDUP(calculation, # decimals) |
| ROUNDDOWN |
ROUNDDOWN works the same as ROUND, except for the fact that (part of) the formula always rounds down to the nearest decimal. ROUNDDOWN(calculation, # decimals) |
The default formula used by Ans is 1 + 9 * points/total. This translates the score into a mark on a scale of 1 to 10.
Use the formula in Ans
If you choose to use the formula in Ans, it is required to fill in the following fields:
- Rounding: Choose the desired rounding of the mark. This can be either two decimals, one decimal, halves or whole numbers. A formula rounds to the nearest mark. This can be rounded up or down, depending on the mark and your choice in this dropdown menu. For example, if you decide to round to one decimal and a participant has a mark of 5.44, this will be rounded down to 5.4. If a participant has a mark of 5.45, it will be rounded up to 5.5. If you are making use of rounding functions in the formula, it is advised to align both decimals. An example has been provided in the examples of mark calculations article.
- Marking formula: You can insert your formula here, using the parameters, functions and operators mentioned above.
- Guess correction: Select the guess correction checkbox to enable the guess correction for the assignment. The checkbox is only visible if your assignment consists of questions where the guess correction can be applied. Below the 'Guess correction' check box, you have the option to limit the guess correction to zero. This option can be used for assignments that contain both closed-ended questions and open-ended questions. Lastly, you have the option to apply guess correction to answered questions only. With this option enabled, unanswered questions will not have the guess correction applied to them. More information can be found in the guess correction article.
- Limit the lowest mark: When this checkbox is selected, you can insert the lowest mark for the assignment. The default is set to 1. In case the limit is disabled, it is possible for participants to receive negative marks. This can occur when participants have scored negative points for questions, or in some specific situations when the guess correction is enabled.
- Limit the highest mark: When this checkbox is selected, you can insert the highest mark for the assignment. The default is set to 10. In case the limit is disabled, it is possible for participants to receive higher marks than desired. For example, if the contribution for a question is changed to a bonus question this can happen. It can also occur if a participant receives more points for a question than the maximum amount of points (if this option is enabled for the question).
- Pass mark: The pass mark is the mark which counts as the threshold of passing the assignment. All participants with a rounded mark lower than the pass mark have not passed the assignment. This information is used to determine the pass rate for the assignment.
Always click on update to save your progress.
You can also use variables in your marking formula. Please read the following article for an explanation on mark calculation variables.
Option 2: mark calculation with a table
The second option in the dropdown menu is the table. There are two different possibilities to insert a table in Ans. The first option is to manually insert or import a table, the second option is to let Ans create a table based on the cut-off score.
Table option 1: manually create a table
The first option is to manually create a table by either adding each row by hand or by importing a table with a .csv file. On the screen, you will see the following options:
- Rounding: choose the desired rounding of the mark. This can be either two decimals, one decimal, halves or whole numbers. A table always rounds down. Every row in the table can be seen as a threshold. A participant needs to score the number of points in a row in order to receive the corresponding mark. In the example below, a participant that has received 2.5 points, will receive a mark of 2.0 as the number of points in the next row has not been scored.
- Import: it's possible to import a table that you created outside Ans. A table can be imported with a .csv file, at least containing the columns 'Points' and 'Marks'. Additionally, you can add a letter grade as a third column. A template can be downloaded when clicking Import.
- Export: in case you have created a table that you want to reuse for other assignments, you can export it. This button is not clickable when there is no table created.
- Add row: to add a row manually, you can click the button and insert the number of points with the corresponding mark. Optionally you can add a letter grade, such as sufficient, or insufficient. To edit or delete a row, you can press the more_vert- icon.
- Determine cut-off score: this is the second way to create a table. This option is described below.
Note: if you only enter 1 row into the table, every result will have this mark. For example, if you enter one row in which the number of points is set to 5 with a mark of 5.5, no matter how many points a participant receives they will always get a 5.5. To differentiate you will need to have at least two rows in your table.
Table option 2: automatically generate a table [Campus]
error_outline This feature is part of the Campus plan. Please contact your Customer Success Manager for more information.
When grading with a table, you have the option to determine the grading of the results using the cut-off score. By determining the minimum grade, pass grade, maximum grade, maximum points and cut-off percentage, you can create a grading table that supports a cut-off score. Click on Determine cut-off score to start. If you want to edit an existing table, you can also click on this button. Ans will show the previously entered information which you can adjust.
In the pop-up that appears, you can enter the following information:
- Minimum mark: The minimum mark is the mark a participant receives when scoring the minimum amount of points.
- Pass mark: The pass mark is the mark which counts as the threshold of passing the assignment. All participants with a rounded mark lower than the pass mark did not pass the assignment. This information is used to determine the pass rate for the assignment.
- Maximum mark: The maximum mark is the mark a participant receives when scoring the maximum amount of points.
- Minimum points: The number of points a participant needs to score to receive the minimum mark.
- Maximum points: The number of points a participant needs to score to receive the maximum mark. Ans shows the maximum amount of points that can be scored for the assignment. Ans also provides information that can be used to apply the caesura method of Cohen-Schotanus*. Based on this method you adjust the maximum score for an assignment after taking the assignment. The new maximum score is then equalled by the score of either the 95th or 90th percentile.
- Cut-off (%): In this field, you fill in the score (in percentage) that equals the pass mark. As an example, we take an assignment with a maximum amount of points of 100 points, a pass mark of 5.5 and a cut-off of 70%. In this scenario a participant needs to score at least 70% of 100 points (= 70 points) to receive a 5.5. This would create a non-linear caesura.
- Mark rounding: The mark rounding needs to be determined in this menu, as Ans (re)calculates the table once you click Save. You have the option to set the mark rounding to whole numbers, halves or one decimal.
To find more information on how to apply the guess correction within the table mark calculation, please view the guess correction article.
This feature is currently in development. You can stay up to date with the progress by visiting our roadmap. If you are already using this feature, we would love to hear your thoughts. You can leave them here. After ranking how important the feature is to you, you can leave a comment.
Option 3: no mark calculation
The third option is None in the dropdown menu. When using no mark calculation, the score will not be used to calculate a mark. The mark is not visible in other parts of the platform where the mark is visible when using the formula or the table method. Examples are the Results menu and the publication of an assignment.
Differences between the mark calculations
There are differences in using the table versus the formula as a mark calculation method. For some situations, it is better to use the table and for others, the formula is better. In this section of the article, these different situations are explained.
- Randomised assignments. For randomised assignments, the formula is in almost all cases the best way to calculate the score. Because each participant can get different questions, the guess score for an assignment can be different for each participant. Also, the maximum amount of points can sometimes be different per participant. The formula uses the variable 'total' as the maximum amount of points for a participant. Therefore, the formula can deal with the fact that there is a different amount of points per participant. Also, the guess correction is calculated per participant by using the checkbox.
- Rounding off the mark. For the rounding of the mark, the table works differently compared to the formula. It depends on your preference and what you need to use. The table always rounds down. You can see each row of a table as a threshold. In case a participant has not scored the number of points in the row, Ans always rounds down to the previous row. For the formula, you can indicate the behaviour of rounding using the Rounding dropdown.
- Guess correction. The guess correction can be used for both the table and the formula method. However, for the formula, it's easy to turn the guess correction on. This is done by using the checkbox. For the table, you will need to enter either an adjusted lowest amount of points or an adjusted cut-off percentage. This can be more complex to explain to teachers.
When you want to publish the results, you can follow these steps.
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