Details of assessment items, grading, late submission and additional assessment information.
Refer to ITaLI's Course Development resources for non-technical guidance.
5.1 Assessment Summary and 5.5 Assessment Detail - Technical Help
Suggested Content
These section/s should include details of all of the assessment items used to measure the attainment of the learning objectives of the course. Section 5.1 is a summary and 5.5 contains further details. The information for both sections is entered through the same form.
Fields shown in purple text must be finalised by the end of the first week of the course.
Add or Edit an Assessment Item
To add or edit an assessment item:
- Click Add Assessment next to the heading "5.1 Assessment Summary" or the Edit icon (red pencil) next the assessment task you wish to edit.
- Pick the type of assessment item you are adding. (See Important Note: Editing Assessment Items below.)
(Note: To use a type not listed in the drop-down menu, first select "Other Assessment (specified by user)" from the drop-down menu and then use the free-text field which will then become available.) - Provide general information about the assessment task including title and task description.
- Enter the due date for the activity. You may enter a single date and time (using the Start Due Date and Time fields) or a date range (using both the Start and Finish Due Date and Time fields) where appropriate. You may also provide other due date information such as "Due every Monday" for regular assessment items. Note: For end of semester exams you do not enter a date.
- For exams enter perusal and working times. Note that for central and school based end-of-semester examinations, perusal time and exam duration are restricted as described under UQ Policy 3.10.11 Examinations.
- Provide information on how the assessment item is to be submitted. Some schools may have predetermined this.
- Map the activity to the learning objectives it measuring (i.e. check the boxes next to the appropriate objectives).
- Select the file that provides the students with the criteria for the course. Note: you will need to upload all assessment related files to the "Course Files" section before you can attach it to the assessment item. (See Frequently Asked Questions)
- Select any other file in the "Additional Information" field you wish the student to be able to access for this piece of assessment.
- Click Save.
Important Note: Editing Assessment Items
Selecting the assessment type is a critical decision.
Depending on the type you select you will be presented with a different list of fields to complete. For example, a centrally-administered end of semester exam will have fields to enter perusal and duration, but no due date, while a report will be the opposite.
For this reason you will not be able to change the type of the assessment once created if the new type is to be one that features different fields. That is, you will not be able to change a Report to an Exam or vice versa, but you could change it to an Essay or a Presentation, which have the same fields as a Report.
If you wish to replace an assessment of one type with an assessment of another type, and the required type is not in the assessment's drop-down list, you will need to create a new assessment from scratch and delete the old one.
Displaying Assessment
Assessment is always displayed in chronological order as long as the Start Due Date field has been used.
Displaying Assessment Tasks in Groups
Assessment tasks can be displayed in different groups. If your course consists of two or more content areas taught by different people you may wish to have assessment tasks grouped by "Dr. Smith" and by "Dr. Jones". Alternatively you may wish to group them by "Surgery" and "Gynaecology".
To add multiple assessment task groups to your profile:
- Click Add Group next to the heading "5.1 Assessment Summary"
- Add the titles of the groups you wish to have in your course.
- When you add an assessment task to the course you will now be asked to nominate which group you wish it to appear in.
Student Streams
Student streams are an advanced feature useful only to courses that have groups of students rotating through a set of assessment tasks, such as clinical rotations. This feature would also be useful for large classes where students are doing problem-based learning and rotating through assessment tasks in groups. Essentially each assessment task can have a due date associated to each student stream.
Student streams must be set up by the system or unit administrator before they can be used.
Dates
Q: Why do we enter dates and not weeks and days? (eg. Week 4, Tuesday)
A: Because many programs to which courses contribute do not follow the standard Academic Calendar. For instance, in some programs, classes start as many as six weeks earlier than the standard Academic Calendar. Using dates provides flexibility for all courses and programs.
Assessment criteria and standards
Q: Do I really need to provide students with criteria prior to the end of week 1?
A: Yes.
Background:
When entering assessment items, users are prompted for Criteria and Marking documentation (either entered into the available text field or as a linked file uploaded via the Course Files section). This field is mandatory for every assessment and must be present as text or a linked file prior to the end of the first week of semester.
In this case, the Electronic Course Profile System is reflecting University policy as specified in the PPL (3.10.02 Assessment). These policies state that “Assessment criteria and standards for each assessment task must be made available to students at the same time as the description and timing of the the assessment task”, that it must “include or specify the location of all required information about assessment for that course” and that the “Course coordinators must not alter the structure of course level assessment after the assessment lockdown date”.
In the process of finalising the specifications for the ECP system, the Teaching and Learning Committee in May 2005 affirmed this policy, agreeing that the following assessment details should not be changed after the end of week 1 of semester:
- Assessment type, title and weighting
- Grading details
- Late submission provisions
- Assessment criteria & marking details
So while there's no issue at all with not having criteria and standards in place at the time of drafting your course profile, it is expected they will available to students by the end of the first week of semester.
A single statement of criteria and standards may apply to a series of assessment items.
Please note: Non-enrolled users who view the published profile will not be able to see any content in the Criteria and Marking field unless specifically permitted to do so by the profile Designer. For Help on supressing or displaying criteria and marking files, see: Course Files - Technical Help
5.2 Course Grading - Technical Help
Suggested Content
This section must include details on how each grade for the course is determined plus any other requirements for achieving a grade in the course. This applies whether the grading scheme is 1-7 or Pass/Fail.
Important Note: The descriptors for the grade scales 1-7 in the PPL (3.10.02 Assessment) provide University-wide standards for awarding final grades. The determination of the final grade must reflect these descriptors. Each grade descriptor will be incorporated in the course profile; staff cannot 'adapt' these descriptors at the overall grade level.
Graded 1-7 or Pass/Fail
First, you must select if your course is Graded 1-7 or Pass/Fail. To do this click "Select Scheme" next to the heading "5.2 Course Grading" and select the grading scheme. In most cases, this will already be set to the 1-7 grading scheme.
Edit Course Grading
To insert details in the Course Grading section:
1. Click Edit next to the heading "5.2 Course Grading".
2. Enter the details on how each grade is assigned or achieved plus any other additional requirements to achieve the grade, e.g. a percentage range and/or some other numeric/descriptive combination.
3. Click Save.
5.3 Late Submission - Technical Help
Suggested Content
This section should contain guidelines on how late submission is to be dealt with in the course. Some schools will have preset the content of this section and you will not be able to edit it. Some schools will allow you to write your own guidelines.
Edit Late Submission
1. Click the Edit button next to the heading "5.3 Late Submission". Note this button will be absent if your School has set these guidelines.
2. Add or edit the information for this section using the online editor field. Please refer to ECPS Online Editor for general formatting help.
3. Click Save.
5.4 Other Assessment Information - Technical Help
Suggested Content
This section can contain additional information on assessment and assessment requirements for this course. For example if group work is permitted in the course, you should give students an indication of the appropriate level of collaboration and information on how group work will be marked.
Edit Other Assessment Information
1. Click the Edit button next to the heading "5.4 Other Assessment Information".
2. Add or edit the information for this section using the online editor field. Please refer to ECPS Online Editor for general formatting help.
3. Click Save.