Assignment Handler and Gradetime*: Optimising a VLE and the MS Word reviewer tool for electronic marking and feedback.Philip DentonFaculty of Science Learning Development ManagerLiverpool JMU

*Not affiliated with ‘Grade Time Dreams’: The internet’s premier dream interpretation website.

e-submission e-collation e-marking e-feedback

Assignment handler inBlackboard

Assignment handler inBlackboard

Download folder of

Word files

Download folder of

Word files

Mark work using

Gradetime

Mark work using

Gradetime

Upload marks and feedback

Upload marks and feedback

JMU

Email marks and feedback

Email marks and feedback

You?

Assignment submission

VLE tool

Assignment submission

VLE tool

Save email attachments to a folder

Save email attachments to a folder

How the process works

Previous work on e-feedback• ‘98: Electronic Feedback (EF) v1 developed in VBA: Emails

feedback reports out to students with 4 comment types:» Inputted before marking (Grade & Standard comments)» During marking (Personal comments)» After marking (General comments)• Standard comments may be inputted in

Normal or Criterion style.• ‘02: EF v9: Introduction of standard comment

picking interface and comment import/export.• ‘07: EF v14: Introduction of ‘append’ feature = Custom

text added after a standard comment during marking.

e-Marking tools• Students prefer EF over ‘red-pen’ annotations on paper.1 • Can EF be adapted for e-marking? Why not use Grademark?» Assignment handler is JMU’s preferred e-submission tool as it “accepts

all file types and does not rely on third party servers.”» There is no equivalent of ‘append’ in Turnitin Grademark: You cannot

fine-tune standard comments for individual students on-the-fly.» Cannot link annotated comments on a script to % award mark:

Grademark’s Rubric Library is linked to % mark, but this is used for generic marking criteria.

» You have to be on-line to use it. Cannot annotate with audio clips.» Cannot add general comments, automatically, to all work after marking

is complete. These may include the average mark, for example.

Why use Assignment Handler?• Superior to the ‘native’ Blackboard assignment tool:• Emailed receipting of successful coursework submissions• Forced file names when work is downloaded• ‘Rich’ feedback is possible: Feedback can be returned in the

same file format as the submission e.g. • feedback sheet • annotated version of the original work

• Bulk upload of marks and feedback to Grade Center

The MS Word reviewer tool• Can be used to add comment balloons in right hand margin, but:

– All inserted comments start with ‘Comment [s#]’, where s is your initial(s) and # is the index number of the comment.

– The default font style/size is difficult to read and tricky to adjust manually.– Comments have ‘metadata’ included = The author name, date and time of

the comment. This can only be removed afterwards and again, it’s tricky.

Gradetime v3• Solves deficiencies of the reviewer tool and addresses problems

normally associated with Assignment Handler:• Easy navigation between files• Identification of ‘bad’ submissions that are not a single docx,

doc, rtf, wps or odt file• Emailing function = for marks/feedback and ‘bad’ work.• Free-text comments, typed by students during upload, are

displayed upon opening work (and not hidden in an Excel file)• Version 1 released 2nd Nov 2010 within JMU only.• Demonstration of v3 (Beta)

…balloon type format was clear and easy to

understand…

…sometimes i struggle to understand peoples

handwritting…

…I found the feedback very helpful …

Students’ reaction (n = 19)

…this would be my prefered method of

feedback… It is printer friendly …

…The balloons highlight the area relating to the

comment …

…it’s easier to cross-reference with your

work as it is marked on the same sheet…

…I much prefer this kind of feedback, to written…

…I like the fact that it's a bit more personal…

…Getting it by e-mail is so much easyer…

…i can clearly read the comments without

having to struggle with handwriting …

…personally i prefer hand written notes on

my work…

…you save paper this way …

…i was able to identify the positive and negative points of my work in the

correct sections…

…my favourite way of receiving

feedback so far…

…I can save a copy to my desktop…

…via email (so) you can contact the tutor directly about the assignment …

…your feedback (is) a lesson in itself…

…much more in depth marking. (Web)links could

be embedded in the notes…

…we can access it from anywhere at any time…

…we need a hard copy for our records…

Staff reaction• Limited pilot to date: n = 5• The software is “seriously impressive” (a tutor who

used GT to mark 65 lab reports)• Works much better than even I expected – Primarily

due to scrolling with a wheel mouse.• Requires training within an IT suite to encourage

further take-up?• For 2011/12: SCS staff should be encouraged to use

either of the 2 ‘complete’ e-marking solutions available:– Assignment Handler and Gradetime– Turnitin and Grademark

Gradetime v4 and beyond• Facility to automatically append a feedback

summary sheet that presents students marks in each section (intro etc.).

• Coloured comments: Red, amber, green?• Mark moderation options• Tailored versions of Gradetime to work in your

institution?