Online Lab Report Formats

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

There has to be a better way to grade Physics labs online. Currently, I am supposed to be grading over 60 lab reports a week and it's just too much considering the other responsibilities that I have.

Here's the general process:

I create a doc file for each lab, student fills out the file and turns in other materials (graphs, screenshots, calculations, etc.) to the LMS. One issue I have run into is file format, some students use HEIC, which goes with 'Mac/Apple' products, which I do not have. So, I downloaded a converter. Ok, problem solved. Other students submit jpegs, which the LMS 'sometimes' rotates 90 degrees, so I have to open each one individually (and that takes more time).

One colleague suggested that I automate all of it (which I have done in the past for Astronomy labs, but not Physics labs). I'm worried about sacrificing lab quality if I do this.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to simplify my life (less/faster grading) without lowering the quality of the course?

I realize that I am burnt-the-hell-out, as is the rest of the world. There is probably some obvious solution, but I'm too stressed out to see it right now. I appreciate all suggestions as long as they aren't snarky. :)

[the_geneticist]

Instead of using a .doc file, you could set up the lab reports as a "test" on Blackboard.  Students don't care that it's called a test as long as you name it something like "Velocity lab report".  You can have all of the questions together in one test since you can do a mix of short answer, fill-in-the-blank, and file upload (for the images).  Plus, you can re-use the questions really easily from week to week.  I find that having the grading all in one place that is automatically entered into the grade book saves quite a bit of time.  Otherwise, you have to cross-reference the roster with your files, create grading columns, etc. 
Make it worth part of the grade to use a specific file format.  Seriously
Make the important "deliverables" worth more of their grade and/or make some of the basics like showing their work more of a points for completion than points for correctness.
It might be too late to make these changes for the last bit of Fall, but it could be useful for next term.

[arcturus]

I use "speed grader" on Canvas for all of the class activities in a large enrollment GenEd course. Like you, I have template Word documents to help with the formatting. I require all materials to be included in that Word document, i.e., any figures, calculations, etc. While all Microsoft products are available to all students at my school, several students prefer to use GoogleDocs (which often mangles the original file) or other programs. Since I am not going to win the battle of choice of word processor, I allow them to upload file types of "doc, docx, pdf". Forcing GoogleDocs and other programs into pdf format means that the formatting concerns are on the student, not me. I do not download student work to my computer (other than in academic misconduct cases, where I need the record) so all grading is done in the speed grader environment with a single file to look at. It does not change the calculation that with 150 students it still takes a lot of time to grade their work, but it does simplify the process.

[EdnaMode]

I use Canvas, so I'm not sure if your LMS can do this, but I only allow students to upload .pdf documents. That way, it doesn't matter if they use Word, or anything else, for their reports, they must upload a .pdf. I also give them a template and there is a small number of points on the rubric for format, so they quickly learn to have things set up correctly if they want to earn maximum points. I still may have 100 documents to grade, but they all mostly look the same so that makes it easier when I'm using the speed grader.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. In the past, I was worried about students having access to create and combine pdfs (not all of our software is free to students), so I expanded the format and number of files. I think I'll stick with the single Word of pdf document and put the responsibility on them to figure out how to do it.

I also use the assignment/dropbox option for labs instead of a quiz, which isn't appealing to me at this point. It has also been a royal CF here, since admins have been 'encouraging' us to accept late materials, which is just more grading.

[kiana]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. In the past, I was worried about students having access to create and combine pdfs (not all of our software is free to students), so I expanded the format and number of files. I think I'll stick with the single Word of pdf document and put the responsibility on them to figure out how to do it.

I also use the assignment/dropbox option for labs instead of a quiz, which isn't appealing to me at this point. It has also been a royal CF here, since admins have been 'encouraging' us to accept late materials, which is just more grading.

A lot of my students are using camscammer. It's ugly but it's readable.

[arcturus]

One thing to keep in mind is that if it takes you 1 minute per student to collect and view their various files, that works out to an hour of your time doing busy-work (for a 60 student class). At the same time, it would (should) only take 1 minute for each student to do the same thing. The math is even worse if it takes you 5 minutes to organize their files. It should always be the student's responsibility to present their work in a way that it is easy for the reader (professor) to see their accomplishments. This is not only a good use of resources, but a good life skill for them to develop.

[polly_mer]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. In the past, I was worried about students having access to create and combine pdfs (not all of our software is free to students), so I expanded the format and number of files. I think I'll stick with the single Word of pdf document and put the responsibility on them to figure out how to do it.

One complete file is definitely the way to go here if your goal is to preserve your time.  Students have way more time than you do.  Even most of the journals with which I deal have gone to one file that uses the template over submitting a file for each image that originally made sense for better resolution.

One file of a standard type is your friend here.  If push comes to shove, LaTeX is free and deals very nicely with most standard image formats while creating a nice PDF.  I currently am very annoyed to discover that our tech writers and editors flat out refuse to use LaTeX or even accept a PDF, so I'm going to get to tell 100 professional scientists/engineers who generally all use LaTeX that the papers they have just agreed to submit for this special journal issue related to our symposium will be written in Word for the editors' convenience.

Students have much less control over the details than professionals in the field and should be used to detailed requirements on formats.