Reporting progress on NOVA awards...

[mrkstvns]

How do scouters acting as Nova counselors report a scout's progress toward a Nova award --- i.e., *PARTIALS*  ???

The FAQ on scouting.org says a counselor can use the advancement report (#34403) to report awards completed, but if a scouter is doing a group activity or a Nova class, it's almost ALWAYS going to be a "partial" that you want documented (because 2 Nova requirements, i.e., "watch 3 hours of video" and "earn a qualifying merit badge", are impractical to do in most class settings). The advancement report doesn't lend itself toward "partials" of anything --- it's oriented only towards *completed* ranks or awards.

Something equivalent to a blue card would be ideal, but I've never seen such a document used for Nova awards.

(I've seen a couple of nearby districts offering Nova classes as part of their Merit Badge University, but wonder how their Nova counselors document the scouts' Nova work...)

Anyone with thoughts on this?

[qwazse]

You know what? Back in the dark ages, some people used to write memos addressed "To Whom It May Concern" regarding "Partial Completion of Award X" when it came to a scout's progress, that note was given to the scout, and the counselor kept a copy. It counted as good as a blue card -- especially a partial one.

The last counselor to see the scout could add his "completed" signature to the scout's copy, copy the memo himself, and the scout could take that back to his unit. Or, the last counselor in the chain would just sign off on the blue card, or in this case, fill out the completed advancement report.

It's a pity nobody has plain white paper just lying around to do such a thing anymore.

[mrkstvns]

What is this "plain white paper" you speak of?

Sheesh!  Next you're going to ask us to start a fire with a match instead of a butane lighter.  

Seriously though, thanks for the suggestion! 

 

[AVTech]

We use Excel spreadsheets to track partials for things that Troopmaster, Scoutbook, etc aren't good at.  For example: the multiple rides in Cycling Merit Badge Req. 7Ab and 7Bc. The Scouts have no place to track these rides. We keep them on a Google Drive for ready access, but as the MBC for that badge, it is most helpful for me, so I can "nudge" the Scouts that are close to finishing up.

[Thunderbird]

To whom are you wanting to reporting progress?  The Scouts?  The Scout's unit?  Yourself?

You can use Scoutbook to track individual requirement completions in Scoutbook.  However, Scoutbook does not currently have reporting capability for awards (although Admins can Export / Backup Scout advancement data to Excel).  If you are in the same unit as the Scout(s) then you could view or update / approve their progress.

If you are just looking for a communication tool between you and the Scout, I would think that using a blue card would work (even though it isn't an "official" way to report progress).

You could probably create something yourself using a spreadsheet or word processor (with tables).  Basically an expansion on @qwazse's idea.  Again, it depends on what your planning to do with it.

[qwazse]

3 hours ago, AVTech said:

We use Excel spreadsheets to track partials for things that Troopmaster, Scoutbook, etc aren't good at.  For example: the multiple rides in Cycling Merit Badge Req. 7Ab and 7Bc. The Scouts have no place to track these rides. We keep them on a Google Drive for ready access, but as the MBC for that badge, it is most helpful for me, so I can "nudge" the Scouts that are close to finishing up.

This works better for venturers than scouts (age and internet access being impediments): Google docs/sheets come in handy if you have small numbers of youth (<50) youth who are working through an award at roughly the same time.

[AVTech]

In our town, every student from grade 6-10 has an iPad, and 11-12 have Chromebooks.  The school system uses Google Apps as a platform, so they are all better at this than the adults are.