The Transformation Team

What advantages will the Assessment and Feedback project have for me? 

As a student, the portal will pull information from Moodle, which means that you will be able to see all of your feedback, grades and assessments in one place (as long as this information is stored in Moodle). 

As a member of staff, the grade calculation tool will calculate course grades using data that is in Moodle, which will reduce the time you need to spend with complex spreadsheets. 

Will course grades be calculated automatically?

Course grades will be calculated within the grade calculation tool. In order for this to work, it will need some work to be completed in advance, so that the tool knows which data to use for these calculations. You will then be able to download a csv file that shows the grades. 

How does the tool provide feedback to students? 

The tool itself doesn’t provide feedback to the students. Instead, the student portal will pull the feedback from Moodle into one place for each student. 

Will students be able to see all their courses on the portal? 

Students will be able to see everything on the portal that has been identified by members of staff. The portal will only be able to pull out the information that we have asked to pull out. 

Have key user groups – students and staff – been involved with the development of the solution? 

Yes. The project team has engaged extensively with both staff and students to understand their current experiences with assessment and feedback. The initial design of the solution was based on the needs identified from this work. Since starting the proof of concept, we have been working with both key groups to design, build, and test the solution. We will continue to collaborate with staff and students to ensure that the solution designed will be fit for purpose and sustainable. 

What criteria were used to identify which areas would be selected for the proof of concept? 

The selection of the people to work with us for the proof of concept was not decided by criteria. If we had been able to identify only one subject, or course, using a set of criteria, we would have been building tools that wouldn’t have worked for the University and were too specialised. Instead, CoSS and Arts indicated that would be willing to work with us at a very early stage, and a small group from each College (both academic and MPA staff) decided the order that the work would happen in for their Colleges, and therefore who would work with us on the proof of concept. 

When will I have access to the new solution? 

You will have access when the solution is rolled out to your School, and this information will be in the roll-out plan, which is currently under development. We will let you know the timings as soon as we can.

When will the roll-out plan be available? 

The plan is being developed throughout November in consultation with the Colleges and University Services. We are capturing key data that will decide the order of rollout, and we expect to have an agreed outline plan by the beginning of December.  

If we are able, could we gain access to the solution sooner than the final plan suggests?  

We are presently working through how we can different areas to implement the solution earlier if conditions are right. This information will be available by the end of the proof of concept period. 

What are the key groups involved in the project and what do they do? 

As well as the Assessment & Feedback Phase 1 Delivery Board, and the Assessment & Feedback Project Board, there are several key groups involved in the project: 

• Critical Friends Group
  This group critiques the decisions of the Delivery Board in order to ensure that they are the right decisions for us. They act somewhat like reviewers. They are also involved in sense-checking the work of the design team and in answering questions as they arise. 

• Operational Planning and Delivery Roll-out Groups 
  These are College- and US-specific groups that are planning and supporting the implementation of the solution at a more local level. 
  
  
• College Team
  This is a group that has representation from each of the colleges to develop and refine key communications, training, and engagement requirements. 

Will there be College or School ambassadors for the project? 

We hope that members of the College Team and Roll-out Planning and Delivery Groups, will act as ambassadors for the project and provide key knowledge and support.  

What tools will we need to grade online? 

You can continue to use the tools in Moodle you’ve been using and can continue to mark offline. We will additionally be encouraging and supporting the use of Turnitin Feedback Studio. However, there will be no requirement to use any one tool in particular.

How will the system support the volume of users and data, particularly within the context of the present remote working arrangements? 

The system uses Moodle, and as such, the University is confident that Moodle can and will continue to support all users. However, to check this, the IT Team will test this in order to be sure that it will continue to support everyone. 

How are we ensuring a sustainable approach to the solution through our choice of technology?

There was a Moodle server upgrade over the summer, which means that more people will be able to use it at the same time. We will also be running tests in January to test how well the solution copes with high-volume usage, and address any challenges that come up at that point. One of the reasons Moodle is our chosen technology is because UofG IT actively support it and will have enhanced capability to support the new aspects of the solution when they go live.

Will there be training available? 

Yes. Once we understand what the final design looks like and how it functions, we will co-design and test the training with the proof of concept cohort to ensure it provides the correct level of support and information, in an accessible format. It is likely that there will be a mix of scheduled training, alongside ‘self-serve’ guidance. 

When will the training be scheduled? 

We will work with each roll-out area to ensure that training is scheduled and presented in a way that is timely and appropriate for them. 

Will I receive support once the solution is in place? 

Yes, there will be some support available, and there will be online help and guidance available to help too. We are also starting to work with the Helpdesk to think through support after the roll-out.

Will the set-up of the new solution be an academic or admin function? 

This depends on who currently has this role on the course in question. So, if the course or assessment pages are already set up by an academic, we anticipate that the academic will continue to set up the assessments within the new solution. If it's a member of L&T administrative staff who sets up course or assessment pages, then we anticipate that that person will continue to set up assessments within the new solution. When we talk about setting up course pages in this context, we don't mean adding content, such as lecture notes or topics for discussion; rather, we mean setting up the page itself where this information is held. 

I’m already working on a college-level course template – should I stop? 

In order to make the solution work, you will need to make changes to the way the assessments are set up within Moodle, not the way course pages are set up, and these changes will be able to be made retrospectively, so there is no need to stop working on a course template.