Write a scheme

The scheme lives in scholia/scheme.yaml. Edit it directly with any text editor. The format is a YAML mapping: top-level keys are question names, and each question maps category labels to a mark and a feedback string.

Basic structure

q1(a):
  a:
    marks: 0
    feedback: "Did not attempt the question."
  b:
    marks: 8
    feedback: "Correct and well-presented solution."
  c:
    marks: 6
    feedback: "Correct method but the final calculation contains an error."

Question names can be any string (q1, q1(a), part_2, etc.). Category labels are single characters by convention but can be any short string. Marks are integers.

Adding a new question

Append a new top-level key to the file:

q2:
  a:
    marks: 0
    feedback: "No working shown."
  b:
    marks: 5
    feedback: "Full marks."

Adding a new category mid-marking

If a student's work does not fit any existing category, add a new one to the scheme:

q1(a):
  d:
    marks: 4
    feedback: "Attempted but the method is incorrect."

Run scholia mark to regenerate all feedback. Any student subsequently assigned to category d will receive the new mark and feedback string; previously assigned students are unaffected until their assignment is updated.

Syncing the student roster

After adding a new question to the scheme, run:

scholia update

This adds the new question column to students.csv so that it is ready to receive category labels. See Sync scheme headers for details.

Adjusting marks

A category's mark can be changed at any time by editing the marks field and re-running scholia mark. All feedback files and the summary are regenerated from the updated scheme. See the discussion on the marking approach for the rationale behind this design.