What should I get/keep (if anything) from a DE course?

[mlktwins]

Both of my guys are finishing a DE class. Everything is in Canvas. Do I need to make sure I have anything (papers, etc.) from those classes (US History) or just print the grades and wait for the transcript?

Thank you :-)!

[cintinative]

I have no idea of if this is typical, but my son's DE class posted the grade and immediately locked him out of the class on Canvas. We contacted the guidance counselor who said this is not necessarily abnormal.  Unfortunately we have no idea what sort of comments, if any, were made on his research paper. So we had to email the professor.  

This is our first DE class. I really hope we don't need much because I think all I have saved is a pdf screen shot of the "syllabus."  

YMMV of course, but I hope someone will comment on what is needed so we can do it before getting shut out next time.

[freesia]

All my dd needed was the grade and the syllabus. I also had her keep any papers she wrote. For ds I just printed his grade sheet yesterday. I’m keeping the hand drawings ( engineering graphics) that he did. And the syllabus. The syllabus seems to be the most important because a school can see if it is similar in scope to what they offer. 

[regentrude]

You absolutely need to download the syllabi including textbook information!
If your student wants to go to a college where this course has not yet been evaluated for transfer credit, they need to submit that.
I would also keep all major assignments (tests/essays), just in case there are issues with the transfer evaluation.

[mlktwins]

Thanks everyone!

For DS2, all his grades are in. I have the syllabus, which includes the textbook info. There were only 3 assignments, which were papers, so I opened the comments for each and printed that document. DS2 has the papers he submitted. And...I printed the grades.

I will go back in for DS1 (different class/instructor). I do have the syllabus already. Professor hasn't graded 2 papers yet so not sure of his grade. His grade consisted of participation, quizzes, attendance (nothing to print there), but also 4 papers so will get what I need from those up to where he has finished grading. I will just get what else I need and print the grades as soon as his grade is posted.

This should be the same process for kids at the end of each semester for college, correct???

[regentrude]

49 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

This should be the same process for kids at the end of each semester for college, correct???

I don't think most college students do that. Normally not necessary.
There will be an official transcript; nobody will want to see any assignments at a later point. Just make sure the student checks their official grade at the end of the semester and addresses any discrepancies with their instructors immediately (you'd think that would be normal, but I just had a student contact me about a spring semester course because she never checked her grade and erroneously assumed she had an A when, in fact, she had a C. Shaking my head.)

You can of course save everything on the off chance that a student transfers, or drops out, and years later needs their syllabus. But they can also contact  the college and request the syllabus; I am dealing wit such queries every once in a while. The department should have an archive of syllabi, or at least be able to provide an equivalent current one that usually suffices for evaluation purposes.

[Clemsondana]

My kid was locked out before we had a final grade.  Kid had As (often 100s) on almost everything, but when we checked the day before being locked out it looked like a lot of the work was ungraded (although the tests and quizzes autograded).  We likely can't get to anything, although everything was online so I don't know what we would have saved.  I hadn't thought about classes locking somebody out (as opposed to locking assignments so that no more work can be submitted) since Canvas doesn't do that.  When kid couldn't access the class to check grades, I realized that they had probably been submitted and kid was able to check that they had an A entered into the CC grade system.  We have checked at one of kid's main out of state schools of interest and they accept the course as an equivalent, so hopefully it will transfer to whichever school they end up at since they others are mostly in state or in adjacent states that likely draw from our area.  

Edited to add - when I taught at a CC, we had a common syllabus for the classes that I taught.  We could make minor modifications about pacint, but there wasn't much flexibility.  Grades were required to be at least 85% from closed-note assessment (this was for pre-nursing which had a direct entry to State U, so it had to be meet their standards), and we could adjust whether it was quizzes or tests and their number/frequency.  For a school wondering about transfer credit, the generic syllabus from the department should have been sufficient.  

Edited December 15, 2022 by Clemsondana

[cintinative]

14 hours ago, Clemsondana said:

My kid was locked out before we had a final grade.  Kid had As (often 100s) on almost everything, but when we checked the day before being locked out it looked like a lot of the work was ungraded (although the tests and quizzes autograded).  We likely can't get to anything, although everything was online so I don't know what we would have saved.  I hadn't thought about classes locking somebody out (as opposed to locking assignments so that no more work can be submitted) since Canvas doesn't do that.  When kid couldn't access the class to check grades, I realized that they had probably been submitted and kid was able to check that they had an A entered into the CC grade system.  We have checked at one of kid's main out of state schools of interest and they accept the course as an equivalent, so hopefully it will transfer to whichever school they end up at since they others are mostly in state or in adjacent states that likely draw from our area.  

 

This happened to us, except that my son got a notification that his grades were posted (a final paper and reflection) and when he went to check the grades, it was locked out.  He knew he had an A from the grade email, but we had to email the teacher to get the grade on his research paper.  So we don't have list of all his grades for the semester because we can't access them.  Interestingly his class was in Canvas.  

[Reefgazer]

Keep the syllabus and some graded work.  My DS applied to Columbia and they wanted a graded English paper.  My son's DE English teacher re-opened the Canvas site for him to access his paper and comments.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Reefgazer