Using a Spreadsheet to Process and Analyse Student Marks

This paper shows the use of a spreadsheet to process and analyse student assessment marks. The ideas are illustrated with examples from data for a first year programming subject, but the processing and analysis functions apply to many other assessment situations. The functions described are data collection and control, allocating grades, checking consistency across tutorials and analysing relationships between items of assessment and grades. The paper shows how to derive information from assessment marks with a widely available, inexpensive computer tool. The work is part of an ongoing project to raise the awareness of assessors to the possibilities of marks analysis to improve subsequent decisions.