GradeAssist
 
GradeAssist FAQ

WHAT IS GRADEASSIST?

GradeAssist is the first communication tool designed specifically to help professors reduce overall time spent grading and free them to focus on personalizing their comments to a student's content, substance, and individual educational needs. Learning the rules of APA, Chicago/Turabian, and MLA styles is especially challenging for students who have been texting and IMing their whole lives. GradeAssist helps educators reach students in the ways they learn best, enhancing educators' ability to help students develop deeper understanding of style rules while also building their critical thinking and writing skills.

WHAT ARE PROFESSORS SAYING ABOUT GRADEASSIST?

"My students love GradeAssist for APA as they can see their own progress."

"[Grade]Assist is a wonderful tool that allows me to provide very specific feedback to my students. I appreciate the ease of use and believe that my personal comments, coupled with Assist, helps me help my students to become better writers."

"The increased consistency and greater detail of comments that I can now provide is measurably improving my students' critical thinking and writing skills."

“I can now focus my comments on content and substance."

IS THERE A TRIAL VERSION OF GRADEASSIST?

30-Day trial versions of GradeAssist for College Writing, GradeAssist for APA, GradeAssist for MLA, and GradeAssist for Chicago/Turabian are available for download.

IS THERE AN EXAMPLE OF A STUDENT’S PAPER THAT HAS BEEN ASSESSED BY AN INSTRUCTOR USING GRADEASSIST?

Yes! You can view a sample paper that has been reviewed by a college professor using GradeAssist for APA.

CAN I SEE THE GRADEASSIST INTERFACE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW IT WORKS?

Absolutely! View a brief introduction to GradeAssist. You'll discover how GradeAssist integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Word, get a close-up look at the streamlined and easy-to-use interface, and learn just how simple it is to grade student papers with GradeAssist.

DO YOU OFFER SOLUTIONS FOR PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS WHO DON'T USE APA STYLE?

Absolutely. GradeAssist is available for APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian styles. There is also a version, called GradeAssist for College Writing, which is appropriate for professors and students who don’t rely on a specific style, but are instead interested in saving time while grading and promoting the development of excellent critical thinking and writing skills in general college writing. And many more versions are in development, so please stay tuned!

CAN GRADEASSIST BE CUSTOMIZED TO MEET THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF MY SCHOOL'S FACULTY AND STUDENTS?

The core GradeAssist products can be customized to meet additional or unique requirements of your school, your professors, or your students. The GradeAssist team is also highly experienced in developing completely unique, custom solutions for evaluation, commenting, teaching, and grading solutions that might require design work beyond the core products. Contact us by email or call us at 434.841.5836 for more information.

HOW MUCH DOES GRADEASSIST COST?

GradeAssist is $99 for a single-user license, which is good for 12 months from the date of installation. That’s about a quarter a day to save up to 50% or more of the time you have traditionally spent grading students’ papers. You can purchase GradeAssist today in our GradeAssist store.

WHAT ARE THE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS TO USE GRADEASSIST?

You must be using current versions of Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8. Additionally, Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, or 2013 must be installed. Versions of Microsoft Office prior to Office 2007 are not supported.

I’VE INSTALLED SUCCESSFULLY BUT GRADEASSIST ISN’T APPEARING IN THE WORD RIBBON.

If you’ve installed GradeAssist and you aren’t seeing the “APA GradeAssist” tab toward the top of the Word window, there are a few things to check.

You’re using Office 2003. This version of Microsoft Office does not work with GradeAssist.

You’re using Office 2007, especially in conjunction with Windows XP. Office 2007 does support GradeAssist, but only when your installation of Windows XP is up to date. Be sure that you’ve run Windows Update a number of times (until it tells you there are no more important updates available), at which point your Windows XP/Office 2007 computer should support GradeAssist.

You’re running a 64-bit version of Microsoft Office. 64-Bit Versions of Office are relatively new and designed primarily for users who edit exceedingly large or complex documents. It is also built (under the hood) quite differently from the 32-Bit versions used by most people. You can email us at help@pappasvolk.com and we’ll be happy to send you an installer that will work with 64-Bit Office 2010/2013.

If you're still not seeing GradeAssist, give us a shout and we'll work with you to figure out a solution for you.

CAN I USE GRADEASSIST WITH WINDOWS XP?

Windows XP celebrated its 10th birthday in August, 2011. That's pretty old as far as operating systems are concerned. Because Windows XP is based on dated technologies, it can be difficult for computers running XP to support more modern software, such as GradeAssist. In most cases, GradeAssist works on computers that run Windows XP, so long as both Microsoft Office and Windows itself are updated with all of the latest patches, fixes, and technology updates from Microsoft. While we do not explicitly support GradeAssist on Windows XP, it is absolutely possible in many cases to successfully use GradeAssist on XP. The best way to tell if GradeAssist will work on your Windows XP computer is to download and install one of the free GradeAssist trials before you purchase. That way you'll know whether your computer is ready to run GradeAssist or if your version of Windows XP needs to be updated.

MY BUTTONS DON'T WORK! WHY IS MY GRADEASSIST MENU GREY?

You may discover after starting Microsoft Word that the buttons in your GradeAssist tab are grey and no longer work. The most likely cause is that you've reached the end of your trial period or your annual license. To obtain a current license — as well as the most up-to-date version of the GradeAssist software — visit the GradeAssist store to purchase a new license.

IS THERE A MAC-FRIENDLY VERSION OF GRADEASSIST?

GradeAssist only supports computers running the Windows operating system. We look forward to having a Mac-compatible version in the near future. If you’d like to be notified when a Mac version is available, email us at help@pappasvolk.com and we’ll let you know.

IS GRADE ASSIST AFFILIATED WITH OR ENDORSED BY THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS?

GradeAssist was initially developed independently by PappasVolk with the singular goal of helping colleges and universities better prepare their faculty and students in their use of APA style. We later expanded our product line to include MLA and Chicago-Turabian styles, as well as general college writing. While the comments included in GradeAssist are developed with an understanding of the rules and requirements in various style publications (e.g., the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) there is no relationship or endorsement — real or implied — between our organizations.

WHAT IS YOUR SHIPPING POLICY?

Our goal is to process and fulfill orders as soon as possible after we receive your purchase and shipping details. Weekends, holidays, and other factors may sometimes require a bit more processing time. You can generally expect an email with your license number and software download instructions to arrive within 2 business days of your purchase. If you have any questions about your order’s status, please feel free to contact us at help@pappasvolk.com.

WHAT IS YOUR RETURN/REFUND POLICY?

We want you to be exceedingly happy with your GradeAssist purchase. However, ff you decide within 30 days of purchase that GradeAssist simply isn't for you, we will be more than happy to refund your purchase price. Here's what you'll need to do ***within 30 days of your purchase***:

Uninstall the software.

Send an email to help@pappasvolk.com — let us know that you've uninstalled the software and would like a refund. Include your name, telephone number, and the serial number we sent you when you purchased the software.

We'll process your refund request as soon as possible and let you know when we're done. How quickly the refund will appear on your credit card statement will depend on a variety of factors beyond our control, including your credit card company's policies.

DO YOU SUPPORT 64-BIT VERSIONS OF MICROSOFT WORD?

In addition to supporting the 32-Bit versions of Microsoft Office 2007, 2010, and 2013, we also support 64-Bit versions of Windows running the 64-Bit version of Microsoft Office 2010 and 2013.

IS THERE AN IPAD/ANDROID/TABLET VERSION OF GRADEASSIST?

Not right now, though we’re excited about the development possibilities for iPads and Android tablets. We’re committed to building versions of GradeAssist that support educators and students whether at a desktop or on the go, so we’ll be exploring the options for a mobile version of GradeAssist in the near future.

DO I NEED ADMINISTRATIVE PRIVILEGES ON MY COMPUTER TO INSTALL GRADEASSIST?

If your computer won’t let you install GradeAssist — especially if you’re using a school- or institutionally-owned computer — it is possible that you have limited authority to install new software. Contact your institution’s technical support staff for approval or assistance with the installation.

CAN I HAVE MORE THAN ONE VERSION (E.G., APA AND MLA) INSTALLED ON MY COMPUTER AT THE SAME TIME?

Absolutely. Each version of GradeAssist installs with a unique name in the Microsoft Word Ribbon. So if you install both APA and MLA, for example, you’ll have tabs for APA GradeAssist and MLA GradeAssist appearing side-by-side in the ribbon.

I PURCHASED A SINGLE LICENSE FOR GRADEASSIST, BUT I GRADE ON BOTH MY WORK AND HOME COMPUTERS. IS IT OKAY FOR ME TO INSTALL GRADEASSIST ON BOTH COMPUTERS?

Yes. We understand that many educators often grade on a school-owned computer as well as a home computer. We encourage you to install GradeAssist on both so that you and your students can enjoy GradeAssist’s educational and productivity benefits.

CAN I INSTALL GRADEASSIST ON MY TEACHING ASSISTANT’S COMPUTER?

Only if you purchase an additional license or obtain another serial number from your school’s site license pool. A single GradeAssist license entitles you to install GradeAssist on your personal computer and, if applicable, on your work computer. Installation of GradeAssist on a teaching assistant’s computer is not allowed unless an additional license is obtained.

I CAN’T FIND / DON’T KNOW MY LICENSE NUMBER.

If you obtained GradeAssist through your employer, please contact the appropriate internal staff to obtain your license number. If that doesn’t work — or if you purchased GradeAssist directly from us — please contact us at help@pappasvolk.com and we’ll do our best to help you.

DO YOU OFFER SITE LICENSING OR OTHER VOLUME LICENSING DISCOUNTS FOR COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES?

We created GradeAssist because we’re passionate and committed to making a positive difference to the lives and educational experiences of educators and students. If you think you’d like to obtain a site license or other large-volume licensing agreements, please give us a call at 434.841.5836 or email us at partner@pappasvolk.com. We’d be happy to talk with you to find a solution that is designed to meet the needs of your institution.

HOW DO I UNINSTALL GRADEASSIST?

Only a few clicks are needed to uninstall GradeAssist. Open the Windows Start Menu and click on Control Panel. Next, click on Programs and Features. Find GradeAssist in the list of installed programs, then double-click the program name to begin the uninstall process. Follow the prompts to remove the software from your computer.

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT GRADEASSIST REALLY WORKS?

Because we conduct lots of research — academic, not market — to understand how and why GradeAssist influences educator productivity, student learning, and educational outcomes. Our company’s executives have extensive experience not only in teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level, but also working professionally in research and development, product design, and marketing. We work frequently with educators and students to subjectively and objectively measure the effectiveness of GradeAssist. Based on our findings, we publish papers, present at conferences, and — most importantly — use our findings to iteratively improve GradeAssist’s ability to support educators and their students.









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