Normal Usage Guide: Day-to-Day Operations

This guide covers the tasks you'll perform regularly in Vite Grader after completing the initial setup via the setup wizard.

1. Calculating Grades

Vite Grader uses the fetched XP data and your configured settings to calculate grades.

1. Navigate to the Grade View (or a similar section).
2. Select the Duolingo Classroom(s) and the Grading Period(s) you wish to process.
3. Confirm that your grading settings are current (reviewable in the Settings tab if needed), including:
   • The XP Goal (set during course matching for each Duolingo classroom).
   • Max Base Grade, Extra Credit parameters, and Bonus point rules.
4. Click "Calculate Grades" or "Process Grades".
5. Vite Grader will display a table showing:
   • Student names.
   • Their Duolingo XP for the period(s).
   • Calculated base grades.
   • Any applicable extra credit.
   • Any applicable bonus points.
   • The final calculated grade for each student for each selected period.

2. Understanding and Managing Anomaly Detection

Vite Grader includes an anomaly detection feature to help you identify Duolingo activity that might be unrealistic (e.g., very high XP gained in an extremely short time). This helps ensure fair grading.

1. When grades are calculated, or in a dedicated Anomaly Report section if available, Vite Grader may flag certain student entries based on their Duolingo activity patterns.
2. Flagged entries will usually show:
   • Likelihood Score: A percentage indicating how likely the activity is considered anomalous by the system.
   • Explanation: A brief reason why the activity was flagged (e.g., "Extremely high XP rate," "Multiple events completed in under X seconds," or "High XP gain in a single event").
3. Reviewing Anomalies:
   • Carefully review any flagged activity. Compare it against the student's typical work patterns and the nature of Duolingo activities.
   • The system flags based on patterns; some flagged activities might be legitimate but unusual. Use your professional judgment.
4. Managing Anomalies (Typically in Settings or where anomalies are displayed):
   • Ignore Anomaly: If you determine a flagged instance is legitimate for a specific student in a particular period, you can often "ignore" it. This will prevent it from being flagged in future calculations for that specific instance only.
   • Skip XP Entry: If you believe XP was gained illegitimately or due to a significant, verifiable glitch, you might have an option to "skip" that specific XP amount for a student in a period. This XP will then be subtracted before grade calculation. Use this option with extreme caution and only after confirming the issue.

3. Pushing Grades to Canvas

After calculating and reviewing grades (and handling any anomalies), you can push them to your Canvas gradebook.

1. In the Grade View or a dedicated Push Grades section:

2. Select the Canvas Course to which you want to push grades. This list is based on courses you matched during setup.

3. Select the Canvas Assignment that should receive these Duolingo grades.

   • Important: You must have an existing assignment created and published in your Canvas course specifically for these Duolingo grades. Vite Grader typically does not create new assignments in Canvas.
   • The Canvas assignment should ideally be set up with maximum points that can accommodate the "Max Base Grade" plus any "Max Extra Credit Grade" and potential bonus points you've configured in Vite Grader. This ensures grades are reflected accurately.

4. Confirm the list of students and their final calculated grades that will be pushed.

5. Click "Push Grades to Canvas" or a similar button.

6. Vite Grader will initiate the process. This can take some time, especially for large classes. The application may show progress indicators for the batch submission.

   • Canvas processes these grade updates asynchronously. Vite Grader will often show you the progress of this job (e.g., pending, running, completed, failed) as reported by Canvas.

7. Once Vite Grader indicates completion, always verify the grades in your Canvas gradebook to ensure they have been recorded correctly.

   Note on API Rate Limits: Both Canvas and Duolingo have API rate limits (a cap on how many requests Vite Grader can make in a certain time). If you are processing very large amounts of data or many classes/students rapidly, you might encounter these limits. Vite Grader attempts to manage this, but if you see errors related to rate limits, try the operation again after a short wait (e.g., 15-30 minutes).

Regular Maintenance (As Needed)

• Update Tokens: If you start getting connection errors, your Canvas or Duolingo token may have expired. Refer to the Setup Guide to get new tokens and update them in Vite Grader (usually via the Login page or a dedicated Settings/Connection area).
• New Students/Courses: If new students join or you start teaching new courses:
  • You may need to go to the Courses section to match new Duolingo classrooms to new Canvas courses.
  • Then, go to the Students section to match any new students within those newly matched courses.
• New Grading Periods: At the start of a new term or major grading cycle, define new Grading Periods in the Grading Periods section.