submit, feed back, publish: using blackboard to enhance students’ assessment experience and...

Submit, feed back, publish: Using Blackboard to enhance students’ assessment

experience and improve administrative process efficiencies

Louise ThorpeProgram Manager, Bb Consulting

Louise ThorpeProgram Manager – Blackboard Consulting

Universities, colleges and professional education

Strategy, implementation and change management

UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia

2005-2010 Head of Academic InnovationSheffield Hallam University

2003-2005 Head of Learning Strategy and EnhancementUniversity of Sheffield

1999-2003 e-learning@shu Project ManagerSheffield Hallam University

About Me

About you

Overview

Technology to support assessment and feedback

Focus on online coursework management

Drivers to make greater use of technology in assessment

3 case studies

Share experiences and Q&A

Assessment and Feedback Platform

OnlineTesting

Assessing Online Activity

Online Grades and Feedback

Online Administration of Coursework

A&F

OnlineTesting

Routine online tests

Online diagnostics

Online summative exams

A&F

Assessing discussion

Assessing Online Activity

Assessing blogs wikis etc

ePortfolios

A&F

Assessment and Feedback Platform

OnlineTesting

Assessing Online Activity

Online Grades and Feedback

Online Administration of Coursework

A&F

OnlineSubmission

Onscreen Marking

Text matching/Plagiarism detection

Online Administration of Coursework

A&F

Delivery of marksonline

Delivery of feedback online

Online Grades and Feedback

Publishing grades online

A&F

Common Drivers

Student expectations• expectation of online transactions and servicesHigh student numbers • assessment types that can handle high volumes• ability to deliver grades and feedback at scaleNew and expanding global markets • effective processes for fully online assessment

management and feedback deliveryCost, efficiency and effectiveness• workflow efficiency and accuracy

Additional UK Drivers

National Student Survey (2011)• 83% satisfied with overall experience • 68% satisfied with their assessment and feedback

experienceNew higher education funding regime (2012)• Switches primary cost of HE from public purse to student• Students are paying more but institutional income

remains same • Institutions anticipate that prospective students:

– will seek evidence of quality from information in the public domain – will look for indicators of “distinctiveness” in student experience– will have higher customer expectations

Institutional starting points

Strategic “we want to define an assessment and feedback strategy/policy”

Implementation “we want to have 100% online submission”

Tactical “we want a tool that will improve deliver feedback”

Operational “we need to establish key service foundations”

Scenario 1 (end to end)

Online Administration of Coursework

Online Submission

Onscreen Marking

Online Grades and Feedback

Online Delivery of Marks &

Feedback in Bb

Online Publication

of Grades in SIS

University of Salford• 3 Colleges and MediaCity in Manchester• 20,000 students• 2,500 staff• Existing use of Turnitin for some e-submission• Workflow efficiency alongside upgrade to Bb9.1 • Administering Academic Progress and

Blackboard Programme

Challenges• How to reduce the number of exceptions to

online submission?

• How to improve workflow for the transaction of handling coursework collection, feedback and return?

• How to improve grade collation process - double mark entry?

• E-submission and tools in use• Detailed design requirements• Blackboard – Student Record System

integration planning• Feasibility of timeline

– Decisions required– Technical build– Process redesign impact – Staff development

Scenario 2 (establishing the basics)

Online Administration of Coursework

Online Submission

Onscreen Marking

Online Grades and Feedback

Online Delivery of Marks &

Feedback in Bb

Online Publication

of Grades in SIS

Staffordshire University• 2 campuses – Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford• 16,000 students• 2,000 staff• enhance assessment and feedback experience

of students through the application of technology to support e-assessment, e-assignment management and importantly feedback

Challenges• How to meet student expectations of online

submission and support growth in distance learning?

• What are we able to deliver with the core functionality that we already have?

• What is the academic change process required to move online submission and online publication of marks and feedback to “business as usual”?

Design and discovery

Online Administration of Coursework

Online Submission

Onscreen Marking

Online Grades and Feedback

Online Delivery of Marks &

Feedback in Bb

Online Publication

of Grades in SIS

Implementation planning- What needs to be in place

- Technical infrastructure and service resilience- Core system integration- Upgrade to latest version

- What needs to be done- Regulations and recommendations- Staff development, training and support- Impact on practice- Academic change process

Scenario 3 (extending out the platform)

24

Online Administration of Coursework

Online Submission

Onscreen Marking

Online Grades and Feedback

Online Delivery of Marks &

Feedback in Bb

Online Publication

of Grades in SIS

Third party receipting Batch down/upload of feedback

Grades Transfer

Technical solutions

Case study 3: Extending out the platform

University of the West of England• 4 campus sites in and around Bristol• 30,000+ students (full-time, part-time and sandwich)• 3,500 staff• Bb rolled out in 2004 and used institution-wide (>500k

logins per month)• One University Administration

....partnering for custom development to meet UWE’s business process needs

Case study 3: University of the West of England

Challenges• How to get the marks from Blackboard to the

student record system with minimum administrative intervention?

• How to accommodate local assessment policies (e.g. student anonymity, second marking approaches)?

• How to achieve consistency given diverse staff IT skills and awareness?

Starting point

BlackboardAssignment

BlackboardGrade Centre

ISISMarks

Validation and

Import

Encourage adoption

BlackboardAssignment

BlackboardGrade Centre

ISISMarks

Validation and

Import

Marks and Feedback

Tool

Easy for staff to put feedback files alongside marks

Student Receipts

Provide student with a detailed receipt of submission

Offline Marking

Tool

Blackboard to SIS workflow

BlackboardAssignment

BlackboardGrade Centre

ISISMarks

Validation and

Import

Marks and Feedback

Tool

Student Receipts

Offline Marking

Tool

Grade Mapping Tool

Get the marks into

ISIS ??

ISISWork Item

Data Extract

CreateBlackboardAssignment

By using data from ISIS to create Bb Assignment and associated Grade Centre columns can we can specify what

Extract Marks

to extract

Result - End to end process

Staff publish assignment details to students online Students submit coursework files online System issues a detailed receipt to students Staff access in one place and online to all assignments Staff easily download work to mark offline Staff easily upload all marks with feedback files Students access in context and online marks and feedback All coursework marks are visible to staff and students in Bb System transfers marks to SIS for processing and

publication

Summary

Case study 1 – SalfordComplementary technologiesAdmin process change

Case study 2 – StaffordshireWithin existing Bb toolsetHearts and minds of academic practice

Case study 3 - University of the West of EnglandCore Bb technologies with bespoke enhancementsAdmin efficiencies and scale

Thank you

Louise Thorpe, Program Manager, Bb Consulting

louise.thorpe@blackboard.com