Several questions in the FAQ for instructors describe how to get and set up the iClicker software.
The program iclicker.exe is included in the downloaded iClicker zip file and is used in a classroom to receive and display student answers submitted though student clickers to multiple-choice questions.
The program igrader.exe is included in the iClicker zip file and is used after class to process the answer data collected from students in the classroom. The program presents in a chart form:
Marks are adjustable per question for each session and can be awarded by participation, correctness or both. Questions can be omitted from the grading process.
Marks in both .CSV and HTML file forms are available as exports from igrader. Showing students their clicker marks aids in building confidence in the clicker system and its intentions.
To use igrader.exe to assign marks to students, the program needs files of student names and clicker IDs used in the classroom. These files are created for instructors by the SYNC button of the igrader.exe program. See the next two sections describing the clicker registration process for students and instructors.
By completing a registration process, student names, not just clicker IDs, are included in igrader's output.
Students register their clicker ID in their clicker course in the LEARN course management system.
The student clicker FAQ also describes the clicker registration process.
The igrader program requires 2 files to generate clicker marks for students. Instructors get these files using the SYNC button in the igrader program. The two files are automatically placed in the right locations. The class roster file of student names in the Desire2Learn file format is named gradesexport.csv and the file of clicker ids is named RemoteID.csv. These files are placed into the subfolders Classes/your_class and Classes/your_class/SessionData respectively.
See the chapter describing the igrader program in the PC or Mac iClicker User Guides.
The documentation shows how to grade the multiple-choice questions asked in class. This step can be done anytime after a single session or at the end of the term. The program makes use of snapshots taken of your video screen in class by iclicker.exe to show you the questions asked when you are selecting the right answer.
Once correctness/participation point settings and correct answers have been identified, student grades can be seen by creating HTML pages of student vote data and marking results. On the top row of icons in the igrader display, click the chart icon Run/Update Reports. This makes two HTML pages named Term_Session Summary and Review.html and Student Voting Data.html in the current folder and some more HTML pages in the Reports subfolder.
Click Term_Session Summary and Review.html to open it in a browser window. The left column of the page shows each separate use of the clicker program by date - typically, one row per lecture. If you see several rows with the same date, the program was started several times on the same day. Each of these starts is called a session. The sessions are ordered by time. The other columns report the session average, number of students, questions and points available per session, plus links to question details (including screen capture of the question, histogram of the students' responses, question start times, and question answers). This page holds no student information and can be posted to remind the class what questions were asked and show how the class responded to the questions.
A valuable statistic on the page is the Total Number of Available Points for Term. It is useful for weighing the contribution of clicker marks in the course.
Information about individual student responses in class is linked to the second html page generated by the Run/Update Reports button, the Student Voting Data.html page. It has the same list of sessions ordered by date, but links show lists of student responses for each session. These HTML pages could also be posted to show students their progress in the course. An export setting removes student names from the HTML pages, listing just clicker IDs. Unfortunately, there isn't a master table of all student votes versus all lectures, so no quick way to see the votes of students across all lectures.
Clicker grades can be exported from igrader directly to your LEARN/D2L course using the igrader program's SYNC button. Clicker marks from each lecture are placed in their own LEARN gradebook column which is created automatically. See the FAQ for more information on using the SYNC button.
Alternatively, clicker grades can be exported from igrader to a .CSV text file and then manually
On the top row of icons in the igrader display, click the green arrow icon to export a marks file named UploadFile.csv. The file is overwritten when exported and is located in the clicker program folder: ../Classes/Your clicker course/Uploadfile.csv.
The format of this file is
Username,Total Points Grade,1_9_12 Points Grade ,1_11_12 Points Grade ,1_16_12 Points Grade , End-of-Line Indicator #able,15,5,5,5,# #baker,6,2,2,2,# #charlie,14,4,5,5,# ...
Note that the file has column titles with the text Points Grade and data lines that use # characters for bookends. This extra text is required by the D2L import grades operation. The column title text like 1_9_12 indicates the date that students voted as month_day_year e.g. 1_9_12 is Jan 9, 2012.
The .CSV file gives the number of clicker points earned by each student under the Total column but does not mention how many such points are available in the term. To learn this, create the HTML files using igrader and examine the Term/Session Summary & Review file. The Total Number of Available Points for the term is listed in the first few lines of the file.
To import marks into a D2L course gradebook, a .CSV marks file needs a column identifying each student e.g. student number or login id and one or more marks columns each with a column title. A new D2L gradebook column can be created during the import process if the column title is new to the gradebook. Else, the column title will have to match an existing gradebook column title. Exporting your D2L course gradebook to a .CSV file will show you what the gradebook column titles should look like. As an example, if the D2L course gradebook column title is "Clicker Marks", then the .CSV file column title of clicker marks must be named "Clicker Marks Points Grade".
In addition to marks, igrader.exe can also produce a list of unregistered students, students who have not yet registered a clicker ID, and a list of unregistered clickers i.e. clicker IDs used in class but not registered by students.
Version 5.* of igrader uses the Eye-glasses icon for this feature, while version 6.* uses the Head-and-shoulders icon.
Posting the unregistered clicker list online can encourage students to register their clicker.
Paul Kates
Mathematics Faculty CTE Liaison
pkates@uwaterloo.ca, x37047
Last modification date: Sat Aug 23 22:21:56 2014.