Logging Student Hours

[GlassPrison142]

Originally Posted by brndn

Something we haven't used in the past but would like to implement this year is a system of keeping track of how long students are at the shop for each day of the build season. In other words, students can "check-in" and "check-out" daily so we can reward them appropriately for their dedication. Any teams out there have a system in place or have a suggested solution?

Team 527 started a log system this year but its was a trainwreck from the start. No thought was put into it. People sign in and stand around and get in the way or leave and are signed out when the people who actually work leave which is usually around 5:30 every wednesday and friday. This was designed to kind of weed out the lazy people. Everyone in the club needs to have 60+ hours to go to St. Louis this year, or any regional. I've got about 24+ hours logged in right now, and its a bit confusing when people who just sit in the classroom and do nothing have more hours logged in than i, or people who build with me have. Our team has turned into a social club more than anything else. It really is a shame.

But if you want to use a log in system, learn from our mistakes andput someone assertive in charge of it because we did the exact opposite. The person in charge of ours doesnt walk around and make sure that people are working. They're supposed to be signed out if that happens, but it doesn't happen, thus the problem. That's just our experience with it.

P.S see you guys at SBPLI

[Dale]

We just use an online form for students who do work out of he lab and the fingerprint time clock when they are in the lab. Out of the lab, then, it's an honor system with some reality checks.

With the fingerprint system you can have a real time list on a networked PC of who is logged in to see if they are actually doing work. We do have students who will do their homework in the lab to be "on call" so they will just log in if needed some days.

[PingPongPerson]

At CV Robotics we use a time manager system on the team website. When you log in, you can check who else is logged in, how much time you have, and you can change your password and contact information.
http://cvhsrobotics.net/time/

We are yet to log hours, but I hope to implement it this year. Unfortunately, we have some "time wasting" students who sit around and actually slow down our team, so it'll be difficult to get an accurate measure of who is there working, and who is there but not doing anything.

This is my idea:

Have a sign-in sheet with times, and a space for the student to put down what they did before they leave. Then, have a select group of students who are usually always at the meetings, and the mentors work as lookouts during the meetings, and observe what others are doing, and when they arrive/leave. Then, when they review the charts, they can compare what they collectively observed to what the chart says.

Does this seem like a good idea?

[rifkinni]

Our team currently has about 100 students, so to log everybody's hours would be nearly impossible. We have several student leaders keep track of who shows up, and require that every team member comes at least 3 times a week. We don't have a minimum time requirement, because a student who only puts in a little bit of time per day can still be an asset to the team. In the past, we have had students who put in a lot of time but were counter productive, so this year, we are asking our student leaders to conduct performance reviews. Hopefully, this will let us know who is productive and who is not, and will help our teammates improve themselves if needed.

[Nick Rixford]

During my time on 126 we punched in our time when we came in and left. We had to get a specific amount of hours to travel. I think it works pretty well actually. But that is just my opinion Good luck!

[sanddrag]

I am still in search of a simple bare-bones software to track student hours. All I need it to do is allow various people to "clock in" and "clock out" using a USB bar code reader which basically just inputs the numeric ID just as if a keyboard were to. I need one admin account that can view hours for all the users.

I do not want to have a system where users must log into a web interface with a password. I simply want to be able to swipe cards.

TimeTrex does not seem to support this.

Any ideas?

[tcjinaz]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I am still in search of a simple bare-bones software to track student hours. All I need it to do is allow various people to "clock in" and "clock out" using a USB bar code reader which basically just inputs the numeric ID just as if a keyboard were to. I need one admin account that can view hours for all the users.

I do not want to have a system where users must log into a web interface with a password. I simply want to be able to swipe cards.

TimeTrex does not seem to support this.

Any ideas?

I have been writing one of these in LabView, A neat little exercise. No card swipe, but that's a good way to minimize time to clock in/out.

[Mr_I]

Team 811's been using a home-brew system (written in VB) for years. Each student enters their student ID number when then enter / exit at a dedicated PC right at the door. The system keeps track of hours worked.

Future enhancements will include a finger print reader, but that never seems to get done for some reason ...

[Jon Stratis]

At the beginning of the build season, we print out timesheets for each subteam - dates across the top, members down the side. Each mentor is responsible for checking off who was present each meeting, and this is later used for determination of who can travel with the team (minimum participation is already laid out in the handbook), and who can be part of the pit crew (again, laid out in the handbook).

Our team is small enough (20-25 students every year) that we know who participated enough and who didn't without having to refer to the sheets. But we always check them in questionable cases, and have them as backup if anyone complains.