Electronic marking of electronically submittedcoursework

Tim LoweDirector of TeachingSchool of Mathematics and Statistics, The Open University

Talmo, 3 June 2020

OU Coursework

• Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs)

• Marked by tutors (!)

• Typically fourper 30-credit module

• Modules usually also have an examI Usually done face-to-face, in a hired hall

2

Student production of assignments

• Most of the University assumes Word submissionsI Marked using tracked changes etcI (Relaxed last month!)

• Maths and Stats requires students to producePDF documents

I Typeset (e.g. LATEX) [time-consuming]

I Scanned handwritingF Home scannerF Smartphone scanner app

(Adobe Scan, Microsoft Lens etc)F Camera (often worse quality output, large file size)

• Some still submit paper assignments through the post3

Student production of assignmentsPossible problems (1)

• Illegible scanI use dark inkI don’t use thin paperI don’t use squared paper

• File size too large for submission (10MB @ OU)I One handwritten scanned A4 page is approximately

F 0.7MB scanned (300dpi, colour)F 0.3MB Smartphone app

I File size can be reduced byF smallpdf.comF Print PDF to another PDF using "print to PDF"

4

Student production of assignmentsPossible problems (2)

• Pages upside down, back-to-front, out of orderI number each page

• No space for comments: requirement to add blank pages

• Provide guidance to students

5

Submission methods

• Email (file size just within typical attachment limits)

• VLEI Moodle Assignment module

• Bespoke software

• Commerical solutionsI WiseFlowI GradescopeI TurnitinI RMI . . .

These often support online, in-browser marking.Some support in-page annotation.

6

Assignment markingPDF annotation techniques (1)

• No (known) systems support typeset maths notation!

• Typed text comments

i

1

=

remember to underlinevectors4

v(2)

sig figs2

lower case

7

Assignment markingPDF annotation techniques (2)

• Stamps

• Pasting images of mathematics

8

Assignment markingPDF annotation techniques (3)

• Handwriting

• Need appropriate hardware

• Remember to save the annotated file!

• Annotation will increase the file size!

9

Assignment markingHandwriting hardware

• Mouse (hard!)

• "Dumb" tablet

• Tablet screen

• Touch screeen computer

• iPad + Mac10

Annotation software(Other solutions are available)

Product Cost Text Stamp Image Writing Pagemgmnt

Adobe Reader(comment tool)

£0 X X × X ×

PDF-XChange Viewer(discontinued)

£0 X X X X ×

PDF-XChange Editor $44 X X X X X

PDF Annotator £70 X X X X X

11

Electronic marking

Advantages• Overcomes "physical" submission problems

• Can cut-and-paste common comments/use stamps

• Can delete erroneous comments

Disadvantages• Can take longer

12

Any questions?

Images: OU/wikicommons/manufacturer’s websites