Term 2 2019 onwards, mark finalisation is done in Astra astra.unsw.edu.au.

Outside UNSW network, connect to UNSW/CSE VPN first.

sms to astra

sms2astra.sh script can help you in the process.

0. sms2astra.sh --help

1. List astra fields and their attributes, look for precision and maximum value.

• sms2astra.sh --info

2. Generate mapping file of astra fields to sms fields.

• sms2astra.sh --config

3. Edit mapping file, replacing hyphens with corresponding sms fields. 4. Check that sms fields attributes are compatible with astra fields.

• sms2astra.sh --check

5. Generate a csv file of component marks.

• sms2astra.sh

6. Copy this csv file to your local computer for uploading into astra.

Note 1

Fields and attributes (structure) changes in Astra will not be reflected in sms2astra.sh script straightaway. During the term, the list of astra fields is manually copied from Astra to CSE once a week. It will be updated every four hours in the last two days leading up to results submission deadline. If you need an updated list urgently, please email meicheng@unsw.edu.au.

Note 2

Question - There is a bug in the script for a couple of students, the CSV file contain invalid mark values.

Answer - This is because there are non ascii characters entered in a sms's comment field. The script uses the name command. Check the output of name by printing the field with the invalid mark. Then remove the offending non ascii characters from the comment in sms.

e.g.
name 5555555 -p exam_total

To find the offending non ascii in the comment, search for the student in student record text file

e.g.
cd $SMSDB
less student_recs/19T2COMP9517_rec

non sms users

How to generate the csv file?

1. In Astra, select Manage menu tab, then Upload/Download

2. Select the fields from the Items dropdown list, Confirm

3. Download button

4. Add or change the item marks in the csv and upload (same page, reason is required and retained).

No Mark or Query (Pending) Mark

• No mark is either dot or empty and Pending mark is '?'. Same as in sms.

Maximum or Precision value

How to change maximum value for an assessment?

• In Astra, select Prepare menu tab, then Structure

• Select Edit mode, Select the radiobutton for the field (Item) to change, Edit the selected Item (Bottom of the page)

• Scroll down to the Mark/Scale Attributes panel, enter new Maximum or Precision, then Save

Note

If there are marks for the assessment item, reset the marks to either dot or empty first.

Supp Exam list

How to get a list of students with approved special consideration?

From the class account,

get_supp_list.sh term course
e.g.
get_supp_list.sh 19T2 COMP1511

assuming /home/give/stable/bin is in $PATH

prints all special cons
get_supp_list.sh --all term course

prints all final exam special cons whether approved or not
get_supp_list.sh --allfinal term course

https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~sturec/Consid/index.php

WC grade

How to assign WC grade to students with approved special consideration?

1. In Astra, select Manage menu tab, then View/Enter

2. Select Final Exam from the dropdown Item list, then Confirm

3. Search for the student, then View/Add under the History & Exception column.

   • Instead of searching each student, sort on the Final Exam column, scroll to where the marks are dots or empty

4. Add Exception, Pick Special Consid: Supp Assessmt from the dropdown Exception list.

WD grade

How to withheld final result for plagiarism or misconduct cases?

• Same 1, 2, 3 steps as WC grade, except select Final Result from the dropdown Item list instead of Final Exam.

• Add Exception, Enter "WD" against Related Value.

Submit LE Grade instead of WC/WD Grade

For large courses, the process of assigning withheld grades is very time consuming. An alternative would be to set "?" for the exam mark which become LE in the final grade. Replacing "?" mark with supplementary exam mark will remove the LE.

Hurdle

How to add final exam hurdle?

Part 1

• In Astra, select Prepare menu tab, then Structure

• Select Edit mode, Select Final Exam radiobutton, Edit the selected Item (Bottom of the page)

• Scroll down to Competency, enter the mark for Standard to demonstrate competency for this item, then Save

Part 2

• Select Edit mode again, this time select Final Result radiobutton, Edit the item (Bottom of the page)

• Scroll down to Competency, select Apply Final UF Grade radiobutton, then Save

Convenors don't have access to edit Final Result, email staff with admin access (e.g. meicheng) to complete this.

Updating marks or amendments

• After changing marks, recalculate the final results either via the View/Entry page or the Checkpoint page.
• Then press the Submit Updates (before results are released) or Submit Amendments (after results are released) button.
• After results are released to students, amendments that result in final mark downgrade must be emailed to School Teaching Admin staff.
• Find the last day to make changes to marks (Amendments Deadline) by clicking on Important Dates tab, top right.
• A backend process updates amended results in myUNSW three times a day. Depending on when you make the change, the student can view the amended mark by the evening, if not by the next day.

Final Results Rounding

Default is round up. This can be changed under Structure. Not sure if Lecturer can do this, if not the school admin can

Other useful documentation

• Astra Course Structures and Documentation

• Astra T2 Results Processing Notes

• SMS to Astra

• Managing Special Grades and Multi-Term Courses in Astra

• Astra FAQ confluence.unsw