What student records are maintained by PEOI?
PEOI maintains five types of records: student course completion records, student grade books, student grade sheets, student feedback evaluations and student registrations. These are describe below.
1)- PEOI course completion record:
PEOI maintains a list of the students who have successfully completed the course requirements of PEOI professional and review courses, as can be viewed in Student list. The record shows the name of the individual, the date of completion of the course or the proportion of the course requirements completed to date, the letter grade received (if any), the affiliation (if any), the name and location of the organization that administered the final examination, and a link to final exam questions given. Student answers on exam are not shown to third parties, nor are the grades received on individual quizzes and assignments.
The record of PEOI course completion serves several purposes. The most important purpose is to give official recognition to each student for achieving mastery of a body of knowledge. Such recognition may be essential for seeking employment and/or promotion. The record can also be presented for transfer of credits at institutions of higher learning. The acceptance of transfer credits was touched upon in "How to earn credits toward a degree?", and is entirely up to each institution. A student should check with such institution prior to enrolling and completing a PEOI professional course.
Another important purpose of PEOI course completion record is to serve as an archive for new aspiring students. In particular, the prior examination questions and correct answers can serve as an important learning tool.
The listing of a student name in the record of PEOI course completion is voluntary. A student can choose to remove one's listing from PEOI records. However, as noted earlier, comprehensive tests and final exams can be retaken any number of time and only the best grade counts, and it is up to each student to raise a course grade if he/she is not satisfied with his/her results.
There is no charge for being listed in the record of PEOI course completion. But, naturally, as discussed in "Are there costs to take a PEOI course?", fees apply to enrollment in PEOI professional courses including a possible surcharge, taking final exams and receiving instructor guidance.
2)- Student grade books:
The student course completion record is based on and linked to that student grade book. A student grade book, which is accessible through Grade book, contains the student registration data and student progress in each of the courses in which he/she is enrolled. For each course in which a student is enrolled, the grade book contains one grade sheet.
3)- Student course grade sheets:
All the work performed by a student on-line or with supervision of an instructor is recorded in a course grade sheet. The course grade sheet is updated every time a student visits PEOI, completes a test or assignment, and an instructor enters a grade. Initially a course grade sheet is the course grade composition which shows how the various course requirements will be combined in the determination of course grade.
The course grade composition (further outlined in "What is a typical grade composition?") for each course can be viewed in the foreword of each course and when enrolling in a course. When a student chooses to work under the supervision of an instructor, the instructor is free to change the grade composition by adding assignments, scheduling review tests, requiring additional reading, omitting certain chapters or deleting given tests. It should be noted that it is to a student's advantage to have as many forms of evaluation as possible. Increasing course requirements is beneficial to students because it spread the risk of encountering difficulty in a given test or assignment and increases student preparation for the final exam. In all cases, the final exam represents no less than 50% of course grade for a course taken on-line with an instructor. This does not apply when a course is taken in-class at a university and the instructor has personal knowledge of each student in the class.
For courses that are taken without instructor guidance, the grade composition is the one initially set for the course. In no such case can the final exam be worth less than 70% of course grade. A student can ask PEOI by email to increase the weight of the final up to 100%. This may speed up a student's course completion requirement, but, as noted earlier, is to a student's disadvantage.
4)- Student feedback evaluations:
After completing each quiz or test, registered and enrolled students are asked to complete a feedback evaluation by answering six questions by level of satisfaction (on the basis of 5 = best), and leaving a one sentence comment. Thereafter, a student can view all his/her - but only his/her - feedback evaluations in Evaluations and to add to or modify any entry if so desired. All student evaluations are averaged by course in statistics.
5)-Student registration:
As described in "What is PEOI registration?", all information necessary to identify a student is maintained in student registration. The type of information requested can be viewed at Registration form request. Much of this information is optional. But if PEOI determines that it is not able to recognize the data as unique to a specific student, registration may be suspended or denied, and the student will be notified by email. When completing a PEOI professional course, the information in the registration is verified at the in-person final exam.
6)- Faculty list:
A non student record that students may need to consult is the faculty list that gives names, credentials and affiliation of instructors that have registered with PEOI, and who can supervise a student's course progress in a PEOI course.
7)- Statistics:
Based on student records, averages on tests, assignments and evaluations will be compiled by course in the future.