Import Student Data to the Grade Book in SPARK

Instructors may import any comma or tab delimited file that includes the NetID (OIT Account user name) for each student in a column named "User ID,"  into a SPARK grade book. If your spreadsheet does not include your student's OIT Account NetIDs, see Step One below. 

The export-merge-import process is commonly used to import OpScan test scores or grades maintained in a spreadsheet. It is also used by instructors with large classes who maintain grades outside of SPARK, but want to transfer final grades from SPARK to SPIRE at the end of the semester. Note: To transfer final grades from SPARK to SPIRE you need to register through SPIRE. For more information, see our SPARK to SPIRE Grade Upload documentation.

Step One - Prepare a File of Student Data to Import

In order to import student data into SPARK, the file must:

• Be a comma- or tab-delimited file.
• Have a header row labeling each column.
• Contain a column named User ID (capital U, space, capital ID), that contains the students' NetIDs, which will be used to merge the imported data with existing data in SPARK. For instructions on exporting User ID's from SPARK and merging data, see the following:
  • Export Student Grade Book Data from SPARK
  • Merge SPARK Rosters with Other Data in MS Excel
  • Prepare Data for Import to the SPARK Grade Book.
• IMPORTANT! Your data must not have duplicate rows. Import will fail if SPARK finds duplicate student names in your file.
• Contain labeled column(s) of data to be imported (such as "Final Grade"). If replacing data in SPARK, give the columns names that match the columns in SPARK. If adding new data, new columns will be created by SPARK when you import the spreadsheet.

TIP: To avoid possible errors, do not import any columns that do not need to be changed (e.g., UMass_ID, Name, Last Name, etc.).

Step Two - Log in to SPARK and Import the Student Data File

In order to import data you must work under the Teach tab of your SPARK course.

1. Log in through the SPARK entry page: https://spark.oit.umass.edu/.
2. On the Teach tab, under Instructor Tools (at left), click Grade Book. The Grade Book screen will open.
3. On the Grade Book screen, click Import from Spreadsheet. The Import File screen will open.

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4. On the Import File screen:, next to the File: field, click Browse. Your browser’s open file dialog box will appear.

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5. Locate and select the file you want to import from your computer and click Open. You will return to the Import File window.
6. On the Import File window:
   • From the Separator: drop-down menu, select the separator you used when you saved the data (Comma or Tab).
     Note: SPARK exports a comma-delimited (.csv) file by default, so if you are unsure what kind of separator to select, Comma is the most likely option.

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   • Click Upload. The Import File window will reload to show the columns in your SPARK Grade Book and in the data file you are importing. You must now match these columns, see the instructions below for more information.

Step Three - Match the Imported Data with the Grade Book Data

1. If column names in the file do not match columns in SPARK:

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   • If you want SPARK to import the data in this field into an existing SPARK column (such as "Final Grade"), select the column’s name from the Grade Book Column drop-down menu.
   • If you want SPARK to create a new column for this data, select Add as new column from the Grade Book Column drop-down menu.
   • If you want SPARK to ignore this data, select Do not import from the Grade Book Column drop-down menu.
2. Repeat this process for each mismatched column.
3. When you have finished matching your columns, click Import.

If you are only importing data to SPARK, you are done at this point.

If you are importing data for use in the SPARK to SPIRE grade upload, see our SPARK to SPIRE Grade Upload documentation.