Frequently Asked Questions
Module Authoring
How does my module authoring team know if it passed review?
Once your module is assigned to an assessment team, you will be notified by your team leader via your team's email list. The review process takes approximately 2 weeks, but materials should undergo review at least 6 weeks prior to testing the materials in class to allow time for revisions. You will receive feedback on your module from the reviewers via your team's email list once it has undergone review and may need to work with your team leader to address pieces that did not meet passing criteria. Find out
more about the review process. Module or Course Testing and GLE Question Testing
What are the student attitudinal survey and the 8 question multiple choice GLE and where do I find them?
The student attitudinal survey and 8 question content-based multiple choice GLE questions are administered once during the first week of instruction and again after the materials have been tested in the classroom. The pre-instruction attitudinal survey and GLE serve as a baseline to measure changes in student attitude and content knowledge as a result of the materials being tested in class. A unique URL will be generated for your student attitudinal survey once you complete the course set up form. These links are also provided on your
course status page. The
GLE exam questions should be administered securely; that is, in a way in which you can collect responses without returning the questions to students. Learn more about
administering the student attitudinal and GLE questons.
What if my course doesn't cover the materials in the 8 question content GLE questions?
The purpose of the GLE is to quantify our goal of improving geoscience literacy - specifically, the effectiveness of our materials on students' understanding of geoscience literacy. We know that not every class will cover all of the materials in the GLE questions. We will "correct" for different classes because we are also collecting demographic data about the course and where it falls in the curriculum. So the GLE questions will be given to intro students, advanced geoscience majors, students in other majors who take an interdisciplinary course with InTeGrate materials, pre-service elementary teachers, pre-service Earth science teachers, etc. There will also be a pool of instructors who will give GLE questions in their classes who are not using our materials in order to provide some level of "control." So an instructor's students (in aggregate) will be compared with students in similar courses who don't have the InTeGrate materials (again, in aggregate).
When do I administer the pre-instruction attitudinal survey and 8 multiple choice GLE questions?
Pre-instruction attitudinal survey (GLE+) and the 8 multiple choice GLE questions should be administered in the first week of your course (at the beginning of the academic term during which you will be testing/piloting your materials. Learn more about what needs to be done during the
first week of your class.
Why is the race demographics checkbox already filled in on the student attitudinal survey, and can we fix that?
This checkbox is actually based on the fact that your browser knows who you are. Even if you aren't logged in to your SERC account at the moment, the system still has an association between a browser that you've logged in with (in the past) and your SERC people record (and the demographics therein). It uses this to pre-fill forms. The idea is that this helps with people who regularly visit us, might benefit from pre-filling, but aren't inclined to remember to login before tackling a form.
If students are using their own computers or lab computers to complete the online survey, this should not be an issue (so long as you have not signed into your SERC account on a lab computer). You can test this by trying the student survey URL on a lab computer, testing it on a browser you have never used to log in to your SERC account, or clearing cookies from your browser; just make sure you access the URL to the survey in a way other than via your SERC account.
How/where do I send you my completed student materials?
You can scan and upload electronic versions to your course status page or send your materials to the
SERC office. Please ensure that the student responses have their ID number on them and photocopy or scan all
ungraded materials prior to sending them. The preferred method of receiving materials is through uploading electronic copies to your course status page (
learn more about your course status page). If you are sending via USPS, please include a tracking code when you mail your package. Please ensure materials are labeled with student ID numbers and are scanned prior to being graded. Learn more about important considerations for sending materials in the
considerations show/hide box.
Can you provide me with a list of students who have completed the surveys?
In order to protect student anonymity, student IDs are encrypted once they are entered into the system and match an ID number on your uploaded roster. They also become encrypted if you
correct unknown IDs. using your course status page. This is done via a one-way hash, which is the same way passwords are stored, and once done, it cannot be undone. Thus, it is important that you are sure about fixes to unknown student IDs before making those changes, as those changes are irreversible.
Features of the Course Status Page
Learn more about the features of your course status page.
How do I edit the student ID prompt at the top of my student attitudinal survey?
You can edit the student ID prompt at the top of your student survey using the link to edit the course dates & details in the upper left corner of your
course status page.
How do I change dates for when I plan to implement materials or other dates?
You can edit the course dates or when you plan on using the materials in class using the link to edit the course dates & details in the upper left corner of your course status page.
How do I track the status of online survey completion?
A snapshot of survey completion is available on the upper left of your course status page, underneath the link to your student attitudinal survey links. You can check who has completed the attitudinal survey by inserting your class roster of student IDs in the upper right box of your course status page. This may be of use to give students credit or extra credit for completing the survey.
How do I update my roster?
You can update the course roster with student additions, drops, or changes in student ID numbers by using the lower box on the right side of the course status page. You can update this list at any time, as many times as necessary. Please list one student ID per line with no additional punctuation to separate entries.
Can I give [extra] credit for students who complete the survey (and considerations for those who opt out or who are under 18)?
Yes, you can offer credit or extra credit to encourage students to complete the GLE questions and the attitudinal survey. From your course status page, you will be able see which students have completed the attitudinal survey, which is submitted electronically, by their student ID number. There are a couple considerations, however. You will want to be sure that students who have opted out of data collection and those who are not yet 18 can still receive credit or extra credit somehow because the IRB states that those students won't be penalized in any way. An easy way around this is to have those students simply submit the assessments with only their student ID number, or to have students complete the assessment anyway and the SERC office will destroy it once we receive it.
General Topics
Who do I ask when I have a question about...
- data collection corrections?
- revisions to pages?
- timing for assessments?
- contracts and payment?
If you are a module/course author, you can email your webteam liaison with any questions you have about the module authoring or data collection process. If you are a materials or GLE question tester, you can email Kristin O'Connell (koconnell at carleton dot edu). If they do not know the answer to your question, they will contact someone who does and get back to you as soon as possible.
When do I receive my payment(s)?
Materials developers will receive their first payment upon confirmation that their team has passed materials review. The second payment will be initiated once the final revisions are complete and teaching materials and all supporting materials are live (publicly available) on the project website. It may take 4-6 weeks to receive your payment upon completing these steps. Materials developers can learn more on the
Materials Development Expectations & Payment page.
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