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1.5.1 Thinkwave Educator

Thinkwave Educator is a feature-packed gradebook that claims to be intuitive. Its main interface is tab-based, and contains tabs for Home, Students, Classes, Tests & Assignments, Results, Reports, and Accounts, as well as a help button. Thinkwave can keep multiple terms and classes in a single file, and maintains a student list separate from class rosters. It has a wide variety of grading options including a custom option; extensive, detailed data on students, classes, and assignments; and a range of different report types, including bar graphs of grade distribution and trend lines. Thinkwave can upload grades to its own web-based system, as well as import and export text files. The basic version is downloadable for free, and the user can buy a serial number that enables additional features.

Good Features:

• Multiple terms and classes in a single file
• Wide variety of grading options
• Letter grades
• Percentage
• Points
• Pass/fail
• Complete/incomplete
• Check
• Custom
• Detailed information on classes, students, and assignments
• Recurring assignments (for journal entries that must be turned in every week, etc.)
• Reports can use "secret codes" instead of names
• Backup feature
• Integration with Thinkwave web site where students and parents look up grades
  

• Only one class or assignment can be edited at a time
  
• Assignment types (categories) cannot be customized
• Extra credit, late assignments, missing assignments, and excused assignments cannot be customized
  
• Entering grades involves multiple steps: select the assignment from a list, select the student from a list, enter the grade
• Spreadsheet view cannot be edited
• Limited grade curving options
  
• Only runs on Windows

• No customizable categories or multiple levels of categories
• No flexible late policy
• No histogram or pie chart view
• No platform independence