The Roster-in-a-Box tool is a software system that helps manage courses and automates the grading of homework assignments. It streamlines the grading process, making it quick and easy for both students and instructors.
Roster-in-a-Box is a course management system that is geared towards making the use of autograded homework assignments simple, while also offering text-based questions that can be submitted online and graded online by the instructor.
As the developer of the system, I can say that it has been in production since 2005, and while it is possible to break the program if you try hard enough, it has remained relatively stable over the years.
The reason I created Roster-in-a-Box was because I was looking for something simpler than Moodle, and my school was not supporting Moodle at the time. While Moodle is a great course management system, I did not want it to take over my course web site. With Roster-in-a-Box, I can handle homework and grading functions using its web pages, leaving me to design the rest of my course web site as I see fit.
If you are looking to set up an introductory statistics course quickly, you can utilize the statistics modules that I have already packaged into the system. Additionally, it is straightforward to set up a course consisting solely of text-based, manually-graded questions. However, if you want to develop auto-graded assignments for other purposes, you will have to know how to code them yourself.
The system is written entirely in PHP and utilizes MySQL as its backend database. Experienced programmers should find the structure of the modules self-explanatory, but it may seem daunting to those who do not have coding knowledge.
While the system has its advantages, there are also some limitations. For example, editing the assignment list in certain ways may end up leaving it in an inconsistent state. Furthermore, the PHP session variable times out after 24 minutes, which could pose security concerns. Lastly, the system resets to the Spring semester on January 1st, the Summer semester on May 15th, and the Fall semester on September 1st by default. The dates are not easily editable, but they can be found in administer.php and homework.php.
In summary, if you are looking for a straightforward course management system that caters to autograded homework assignments, then Roster-in-a-Box is worth considering. However, if you need a more comprehensive system that takes care of all aspects of your course, then you may want to look at other options such as Moodle.
As the developer of the system, I can say that it has been in production since 2005, and while it is possible to break the program if you try hard enough, it has remained relatively stable over the years.
The reason I created Roster-in-a-Box was because I was looking for something simpler than Moodle, and my school was not supporting Moodle at the time. While Moodle is a great course management system, I did not want it to take over my course web site. With Roster-in-a-Box, I can handle homework and grading functions using its web pages, leaving me to design the rest of my course web site as I see fit.
If you are looking to set up an introductory statistics course quickly, you can utilize the statistics modules that I have already packaged into the system. Additionally, it is straightforward to set up a course consisting solely of text-based, manually-graded questions. However, if you want to develop auto-graded assignments for other purposes, you will have to know how to code them yourself.
The system is written entirely in PHP and utilizes MySQL as its backend database. Experienced programmers should find the structure of the modules self-explanatory, but it may seem daunting to those who do not have coding knowledge.
While the system has its advantages, there are also some limitations. For example, editing the assignment list in certain ways may end up leaving it in an inconsistent state. Furthermore, the PHP session variable times out after 24 minutes, which could pose security concerns. Lastly, the system resets to the Spring semester on January 1st, the Summer semester on May 15th, and the Fall semester on September 1st by default. The dates are not easily editable, but they can be found in administer.php and homework.php.
In summary, if you are looking for a straightforward course management system that caters to autograded homework assignments, then Roster-in-a-Box is worth considering. However, if you need a more comprehensive system that takes care of all aspects of your course, then you may want to look at other options such as Moodle.
What's New
Version 1.2: N/A