RamCT Known Issues:
Things Every RamCT Instructor/Designer Needs To Know
The RamCT system has its share of unique behaviors. Below are a few known issues that instructors should be aware of:
- Assessment Right Pane Window Disappears
- Assessment: Students Unable to Submit
- Disappearing Icons and Content
- Groups and Unexpected System Error
- Unenrolled Students, Groups and Unexpected System Error
- Grade Book disappears
- Grade Book view appears different
- Multiple columns in Grade Book for single Assignment
- Anonymous Discussion Posts To Students Are Also Anonymous To Instructors
Assessment: Right Pane Window Disappears
There have been a few reports of the right pane in the assessment window going blank. This pane displays how much time remains to take the assessment and which questions have been answered.
Workaround: Right clicking with your mouse on the right pane and selecting Refresh usually resolves this issue.
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Assessment: Students Unable to Submit
In very rare instances a student is unable to save some of their answers or click on the Submit button when they finish a RamCT Assessment.
Workaround: Exit out of the assessment and then re-enter the assessment.
We are working with Blackboard to reproduce and correct these concerns.
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Disappearing Icons and Content
Reported September 2007
If you use a semi colon (;) or an ampersand (&) in a description on a RamCT item, all other items that come after that icon will disappear from view on the Build and Student View tabs.
Workaround: If icons are missing on your Build Page or Student View tab, go to the Teach tab and locate the icon that doesn't appear on the Build or Student View tab, select the action menu and choose Edit Properties or Edit Description. Remove any semi colons or ampersands from the description.
This has been announced as a fix in an upcoming patch from Blackboard.
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Groups and Unexpected System Error
Reported January 2008
If you delete a RamCT group that is associated with an assignment, instructors and students will get “an unexpected system error has occurred” message when they try to access the assignment or assignment drop box tool.
Workaround: This usually goes away within 24 hours after the RamCT system runs some daily clean up processes. Please contact RamCT Support if the issue doesn't resolve itself within 24 hours.
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Unenrolled Students, Groups and Unexpected System Error
Reported January 2008
When students drop a course they are listed in the RamCT Grade Book as unenrolled. If students who unenroll were in a Group in your RamCT section, they should be removed from the Group at the time of unenrollment, automatically. On occasion, students do not properly get removed from their Group. The result is instructors and students alike see “An Unexpected System Error” when they try to access assignments or the assignment drop box.
Workaround: Manually removing unenrolled students from their RamCT Group usually clears up this error. Please contact RamCT Support if you should need further assistance.
This has been announced as a fix in an upcoming patch from Blackboard.
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Grade Book Disappears
Reported November 2007
Occasionally, the cached information in browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox becomes corrupt. This sometimes results in the Grade Book in RamCT appearing blank.
Workaround: A quick fix is to right click with your mouse in the blank window and select “Refresh”. Refreshing the screen, in most cases, will make the Grade Book reappear. A longer term fix is to clear the browser’s cache.
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Grade Book Appears Different: Which Grade Book Tab Am I On?
The RamCT Grade Book has four different tabs. Each tab can be customized and organized in a different display using the Reorder Columns tool. This customization can be powerful but can also cause confusion if you forget which tab has been modified when re-entering the Grade Book. In addition, if you happen to use the Grade Book Options button, Column Settings menu, the Grade Book seems to return back to the View All tab upon Exit of the Grade Book Options menu instead of the original tab you were on prior to using the Grade Book Options.
Workaround: When you enter the Grade Book and if column settings aren't looking familiar, look to see which tab you are on. Your Customized settings might be on a different tab.
Tip: It might be helpful to choose one of the four tabs in the Grade Book for customization so that there is less confusion.
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Multiple columns in Grade Book for an Assignment
Reported October 2007
If you create an Assignment with a corresponding column in the Grade Book and you associate that Assignment with a Grading Form, any time you make a change to the Assignment (description, date, etc.) it will create an additional column in the Grade Book. Example, the original assignment in the grade book might be labeled Assignment 1. If you edit the assignment that is tied to a grading form, then an additional column will be added to the Grade Book labeled as Assignment 1 1. Student grades could appear in either column.
Workaround: There is not a good work around for this issue at this time other than to not make changes to an Assignment once you have linked it to a Grading Form.
This has been announced as a fix in an upcoming patch from Blackboard.
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Anonymous Discussion Posts To Students Are Also Anonymous To Instructors
Reported November 2007
When a student or instructor posts a message in a topic that was created with the "Authors are anonymous to Students" option selected, section instructors cannot see the author either. The wording of the option implies that instructors should see the names of authors. The online help also indicates that the Instructor should see the names of the authors.
Workaround: None at this time.
Blackboard is aware of this issue and working on a solution.
