The following questions are asked frequently by participants in our course. Refer to common answers below.
Grades/Progress
Why is my current grade so low?
The simple answer is: The values on your Progress page show you your current progress. So as you complete more work and earn more scores in the class, the values will increase. Your Progress page calculates your grade based on all of the assignments in the course, including future assignments. This includes a heavily-weighted assignment in Week 8.
What is the best way to see how well I am doing in the course?
The best way is to look at the Detailed grades section at each individual assignment you have turned in. If you see that you have earned a score that equals 80% or greater, then you are on target to pass the course.
Why don't l see my grade in the weekly Activity?
It's important for you to understand that all our Open Response Assessments in Weeks 1-7 are setup with 3 Big Steps:
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- STEP 1: You submit your response. (Check the activity page to ensure that Step 1 is marked ✅ COMPLETE. You have full control over this step.)
- STEP 2: You assess several of your peers. (Check the activity page to ensure that Step 2 is marked ✅ COMPLETE. You have full control over this step.)
- YOUR GRADE: Await assessment from several of your peers. (Check the activity page to see if YOUR GRADE is marked ✅ COMPLETE. You must wait until your peers have assessed your response in order for this step to be complete & your grade to appear. You do not have direct control over this step.)
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I can't seem to get all of this week's checkmarks checked for the material. How can I make the system show that I've completed all of the material?
The checkmark icons are there solely to help you track the pages that you've read in the course material. They are not a valid measure of your progress, as they are meant to be simple reminders of pages that you've already visited. For an accurate picture of your progress in the course, use the Progress page to measure your progress. If the checkmark icons still bother you, we recommend contacting edX Support by using the Contact Us link at the bottom of any page, and asking them for technical support.
I made a mistake while assessing a peer; how can I reach out to correct my mistake?
Due to the "double-blind" nature of the edX Peer Reviews, both instructors and participants are prevented from identifing the people whom you've assessed. Don't worry; any participant can email our instructional team if they wish to dispute their peer assessments, and that will help us identify the person and resolve it.
Can I pass the current class without having completed the previous classes in the UMGCx program?
Sometimes we have students start at various points in the program. This is acceptable, but we strongly recommend that you complete the courses in the intended sequence prior to your current course (100x, then 200x, then 300x, and finally 400x), as they build upon each other. The best thing to do is to look at the requirements, and if you're feeling unsure how "backfill" the sections needed from previous classes, we would urge you to complete the prior courses before continuing.
How does edX calculate my score for a peer-assessed activity?
edX calculates a median score based on your peers' assessments; however, it calculates that median based only on the required number of reviewers configured in the assignment settings, and only on the first of those chronologically. Refer to this edX documentation for details about calculations of scores on peer-assessed Open Response Assignments.
How will my work be graded/assessed by my peers or instructors?
Navigate to the activity page, and select the "What will this assignment be graded on?" link to expand the assessment rubric for the activity. Every activity has a unique "What will this assignment be graded on?" rubric.
I was able to access my material, so why did I receive a lower grade because my peers/instructors cannot access my material?
If your peers/instructors cannot access your material, they cannot determine if you've met the assignment requirements, and therefore need to issue a lower grade. We strongly urge you to have someone else (a peer, family member, friend, coworker) test your hyperlink before you submit it for grading. If you're the only person testing it, you're increasing the risk that others may not be able to access your work.
Why did I earn a lower score because my peer/instructor had trouble locating my work?
If you do not follow the specific instructions for creating your work on your site, you are increasing the risk of your peers/instructors experiencing difficulty or frustration ensuring that your work is 100% complete. This is something to keep in mind, as a designer: If the user of the product (the course, the document, the website, etc.) that you're designing is already expecting a routine design, format, navigation, or order within the product, and you deviate from that expectation in your design, you should be prepared to mitigate user confusion/frustration.
I submitted the wrong thing in my activity; how can I revise my submission?
Unfortunately, there is no way to revise a submission after you've submitted it. Contact our instructional team, and they may be able to delete your work, which allows you to re-submit it, and you'll need to complete all of the steps of the activity again.
How do I know how to improve on my assignments?
To view the status and results of your Peer Assessments, simply return to the Activity's page, and select the "Your Grade" section to see whether or not your grades/feedback is ready yet, and read it whenever it does become available to you. For detailed information, read this "When will I get my grade?" information from edX.
Enrollment/Registration
How do I request a transfer to a future section of this class?
The best people to assist you with obtaining a future re-enrollment are the edX support folks who are available to support learners in all courses. You can select the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of any page, or visit https://courses.edx.org/support/contact_us. Our instructional team does not have the ability to perform enrollment changes.
How do I request a refund for this class?
The best people to assist you with obtaining a refund are the edX support folks who are available to support learners in all courses. You can select the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of any page, or visit https://courses.edx.org/support/contact_us. Our instructional team does not have the ability to perform refunds.
Schedules, Dates, Deadlines
I missed an activity deadline / cutoff date; can I get an extension?
Unfortunately, in this edX format, we're unable to re-open the assignments for submissions after the deadline.
I started late; how can I catch up?
First, check the course Dates tool to see all deadlines. Pay close attention to the deadline for the work in Weeks 1-7, which cannot be extended past the end of Week 7. Additionally, pay attention to the deadline for the Week 8 work, which cannot be extended past the end of Week 8.
We urge you to catch up to the rest of the class and the instructors, as they are paying close attention only to the current week according to the schedule. There are 2 important reasons for staying with the class schedule:
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- Our experience has shown that participants who fall behind the class weekly schedule and wait until Week 7 to complete all graded activities often rush the work, resulting in poorer results and grades.
- We are a community of learners, and we're all responsible for providing feedback to one another and supporting one another week to week. If you wait until Week 7, you're letting down your fellow participants.
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Technical
Am I required to sign up for a web hosting provider to host my e-learning samples/artifacts?
While the choice of a web hosting provider to host your e-learning samples is ultimately up to you, we do recommend it, as having your own web hosting provider can make career moves easier, because you can publish portfolio artifacts there for sharing with prospective employers. Mike Taylor publishes a very informative blog and weekly e-mail newsletter, and he has a post where he recommends 7 Free Course/Content Hosting Options. Common favorites from Mike's list are SCORM Cloud and Google Cloud Platform.
Can I just upload a copy of my e-learning object/course to the activity?
In order to evaluate your work, your peers and instructors should not be required to download a package of files, uncompress it, or execute files locally. Executing code locally is a very risky action, especially in a situation like this course, where all of your classmates and instructors cannot be 100% certain of the data's provenance. As an instructional design professional, you should rarely ask stakeholders/reviewers to download a package and run it on their devices, since it is a security risk, and it would be a burden on them. Please find a way to host your files online, so that your peers and instructors can run them online in their browser. Thanks in advance for finding a way to decrease the information security risk of your work!
How do I ensure that my peers/instructors can access my Google Drive file without needing to login?
If you're using Google Drive to share a hyperlink to your work, you'll need to allow public access, or we'll be unable to evaluate and provide feedback, and there's a risk that you will receive a zero for the assignment. Read Google's instructions for sharing a file publicly from Google Drive.