Assignments Overview
Programming assignments are the core of Pawtograder. Each assignment consists of a “handout” repository, and optionally, a “grader” repository. When an assignment is released, Pawtograder automatically creates a new private repository for each student based on that handout. Pawtograder automatically manages permissions for all of these repositories, allowing staff to view all of a course’s repositories, and ensuring students can only view their own repositories.GitHub Permissions
Pawtograder creates two GitHub teams for each class: a “staff” team and a “students” team. Staff are granted access to all class repositories, and students are only granted access to their own repositories. The “students” team can be used by instructors who want to create additional GitHub repositories that are only accessible to students (e.g. for distributing in-class exercises).Repositories
Two repositories are automatically created for each assignment: a “handout” repository and a “grader” repository. These repositories must be configured by the staff before the assignment is released. A handout repository is a repository that contains the starter code for an assignment. It is used to provide students with the necessary files to complete the assignment. A grader repository is a repository that contains the code that will be used to grade the assignment. It is used to provide instructors with the necessary files to grade the assignment.Individual and Group Assignments
Assignments can be individual, group-optional, or group-required. Students can be assigned to groups by instructors, or can self-assign to groups. Instructors can reuse a set of groups from a prior assignment.Due Date Exceptions
Instructors can set a class-wide number of late tokens, and configure assignments to allow students to use those tokens as desired. Each token can be exchanged for a 24-hour extension, but the extension must be requested before the student’s original due date. Instructors and graders can also manually grant extensions to students using a date picker to select the extended due date, and can view all extensions granted to a student. This is done in the assignment configuration under “Due Date Exceptions”.Assignment Dashboards
Pawtograder provides several dashboards to help instructors monitor and manage assignments:Assignment Dashboard
View a comprehensive overview of assignment progress, including submission statistics, grading status, and student performance metrics.Security Dashboard
Monitor assignment security with insights into potential academic integrity concerns, including:- Submission timing patterns
- Repository access logs
- Unusual activity indicators
Test Insights Dashboard
Track student performance across test cases to identify:- Common failure patterns
- Tests that students struggle with most
- Overall test pass rates and trends
Assignment Score Capping
Instructors can configure a maximum score cap for assignments. This feature allows you to:- Set a ceiling on the total points students can earn
- Prevent extra credit from inflating grades beyond intended limits
- Maintain consistent grading scales across assignments