Electronic Submission, Marking and Feedback – Update Eight

Dear Colleagues

Phase One of the E-submission project concluded successfully with level four now fully implemented. From September 2012 Phase Two will commence introducing all other levels. The Project Team are currently organising a launch event in early October, which will give staff the opportunity to input into the project, share good practice and inform future decisions. The staff survey we conducted highlighted known issues with the system performance but also noted positive and constructive feedback with regard to the system. The performance issues are being addressed with Turnitin, new IT equipment is being issued to support the project and the survey findings will be explored in detail at the launch event.

Staff Development

Staff development is mandatory for those who did not have it last year, dates are now published for the standard training sessions on the project website. The learning technology team will be happy to also deliver subject or team based training where the use of rubrics and shared comment sets can be most advantageous. Please contact them on learningtechs@derby.ac.uk

Audio Feedback

A pilot was conducted last semester with 30 members of academic staff and approx. 500 students using a variety of approaches including direct recording into course resources, mobile audio recording and the use of audio visual feedback. The results were positive from both staff and students who said they enjoyed the in-depth feedback, as well as the ability to gain access to the feedback without needing to be on campus. Turnitin now has the ability to give summary audio feedback. If you would like to know more or would like to try this feedback method, please contact your Learning Technology Adviser

Well Being

A new document has been added to the Well Being page on the E-submission website that sets out the process for Display Screen Equipment Assessment. DSE users are entitled to a free vision screening and corrective glasses depending on the results of the eye examination – details of how to arrange this are in this document. Please remember this is just like other forms of work where regular breaks need to be factored in to the activity.

Module Handbooks 2012/13

Updated information about what to include in your module handbooks is now available in the project website. We have also added a longer and more informative support document in to the assessment area of your module to assist students.

Submission Points

Please ensure that when setting up a submission point they close at the latest by 21.00hrs on a Thursday and that they never close on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. This is to allow support to be given if students experience any issues with E-submission and to avoid having anxious students facing an entire weekend with a submission issue.

Plagiarism Advice

The use of originality reporting offers an additional method to check for plagiarism. It should be noted this is just another method used to supplement your subject knowledge and expertise to promote improvements to the standard of academic writing. In order to ensure parity, all students are able to submit as many times as they wish and no threshold percentage levels should be set by academic teams for students to meet or score below on their originality report. We are developing an upgraded version of PLATO to incorporate the E-submission process, which will help students improve their understanding of plagiarism issues. Please note that you can choose not to have the work checked for plagiarism and not to receive an originality report. This may be appropriate for reflective or personal experiences. Additional information can be found on the project website or by attending the Plagiarism Workshop on 29 November which is part of the LEI Academic Practice Programme.

Print to Mark

The Print to Mark function will remain in place for Phase Two, this has been decided because the take up to date has been low and it has been considered useful by some staff to assist in their transition to electronic marking and feedback. All feedback must be provided electronically, to ensure student experience is consistent with regard to feedback on assignments.

Twitter Feed

The Turnitin Twitter Feed is useful for keeping up to date about system availability and has proved to be the fastest way to determine if there are any issues. If you wish to follow the feed the address is @TurnitinStatus

If you have any other questions relating to the points covered here please contact the Faculty Learning Technology Advisers. All previous communications are available on the project website should you wish to re-read any of the information.
 
Thank you for your continued support.
The E-submission Project Team

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