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Not Giving a MidTerm Exam? How Aspen Calculates Semester and Final Grades.

Not giving a MidTerm exam this year?  With the change in semester timing, some teachers are considering using midterm exam time for a special project or activity that enhances student learning.  (Two hours of time with students provides lots of opportunity and flexibility!)  If you are one of those teachers who isn't planning to give a Mid-Term exam (or Final exam for semester courses), you should understand how Aspen will use the information you provide to calculate your students' Semester and Final Grades.


Aspen Grade Calculations - Yearlong Course

Yearlong Course - Aspen Default Calculations:

Below are the Aspen Grade Calculations when all exams are given for a yearlong course:



This table probably feels very familiar to you.  Aspen calculates your students' final grades by taking each semester grade and multiplying by .2 (20%) and each exam grade by .1 (10%).  Then Aspen adds up the numbers to arrive at the numeric grade your student has earned.  You have the opportunity to change a grade if desired, and Aspen posts the Alpha grade equivalent to your students' transcripts.

No MidTerm Given - Year Long Course:

If you are choosing to use MidTerm exam time for another learning activity with your students, you may be surprised how Aspen calculates your students' final grades:
Year Long Course - no Midterm Exam

Aspen will take the percentage assigned the empty grade column (1 or 10%), and assign that number to the remaining grading columns taking into account the weight of each category.   Not giving a MidTerm exam will cause the grading weight to shift as indicated above, with each Quarter worth 22.22% of the final grade, and the Final Exam worth 11.11%.  Aspen ensures that the relative weight of the categories is preserved.

If you are like most people, you intuitively assigned the extra 10% freed up with no MidTerm to the quarter grades only - each quarter worth 22.5% with the Final Exam remaining at 10%.  If you think about it, the weighting becomes skewed using this method.  The quarter grades have more impact than the final grade when compared to the calculation method used when grades are entered for all available grading columns. 

The percentages shown in the table above would be the same (but assigned differently) if you give a MidTerm exam, and don't give a Final Exam.  


Semester Course - No MidTerm Exam 

Semester Course - No MidTerm Exam


Aspen calculates the semester-long course when no midterm or final exam exists using the same logic.  The 20% is apportioned to the remaining grading columns, taking into account the weight.  This is much easier to understand for semester-only courses!

What should I do?

In my opinion, nothing!  If you think about it, the relative impact of not giving a MidTerm exam remains the same for students.  Quarter and Final grades hold the same relative weight for calculating their grade, with the obvious difference being no MidTerm exam.  You may want to communicate to students and parents the change in percentages, though the relative weight remains the same. 

If you feel uncomfortable about this grade calculation method, you could add your students' grades to a spreadsheet and calculate them manually using a formula you feel more comfortable with.  Then, you could overwrite the calculated grade in Aspen.  However,  it is a lot of work with the potential for human error.   The end of the year is always busy but will be more so this year with Q5.   If you wish to pursue this method and need help, please let me know well in advance!

If you have additional questions or concerns, please let me know!


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