1.5.1. ThinkWave

ThinkWave is a cloud-based gradebook and class management software. Users do not need to worry about setting up and managing a server. Teachers can create classes and assignments with various grading schemes, manage students and scores, keep track of attendance, and customize grade reports. Both students and parents can also access student assignments and scores. However, there is no functionality for teachers to view statistics, such as average class score for an assignment.

While ThinkWave is easy to use and offers many features, it seems to be more geared toward delivering results to students and parents than for a teacher to evaluate overall performance.

• Course information includes name, credits, grading scheme, etc.
• Can have multiple sections for a single course
• Student information includes first name, last name, ID, etc.
• Assignment information includes title, category, date, grading scheme, and description
• Assignments can be marked extra credit, turned in online, and reused across different courses
• Grades can be viewed and edited in a spreadsheet view
• Can edit all scores for a single assignment or for a single student
• Can override final grades
• Copy assignments from one course to another

Bad Features:

• Student dashboard with messages and recent scores
• Only single-level of assignment categories
• Grading scale (curve) can only be adjusted school-wide
• Different grading schemes (points, percent, pass/fail, etc.) that translate to a score percentage
• Student attendance
• Summary reports (record cards and transcripts)
• Accounts and reporting for parents
• Breakdown of year, terms, and class periods
• Grade level specification
• Student groups only provide additional information fields and have no functional purpose

Missing Features:

• Student information shown in spreadsheet view
• Unlimited, nested student groups
• Concept of late assignments and deductions
• Unlimited, nested assignment categories
• General statistics for entire course
• Collapse-able categories (to show average score)
• Collapse-able student groups
• Grade prediction ability
• Graphical interface for adjusting curve
• Curves for a section/course