DCAD Digital Help Guides

1. Click the + sign where you wish to place the assignments, i.e. within a learning module or folder and click Create.
2. From the Create Items menu select Assignment.
3. In the Instructions text editor window type or paste in the assignment text. Ensure you make it clear to the students exactly what they are expected to do. Include any information relevant to the submission, particularly if this relates to a video.
4. Attach any supplementary documentation and click Save.

Details and Information

• First enter a Due Date and Time.
• You can skip this step if the assignment is formative for example by ticking the No Due Date check box.
• If you wish to Prohibit late submissions, then tick this check box. Consider how you will deal with extensions to deadlines. It is simple to accept work from a student with an extension if this is left unchecked.
• If you are going to allow a student to upload multiple attempts then again consider whether prohibiting new attempts after the due date may disadvantage those students with an extension. To Prohibit new attempts after the due date tick this check box.
• Ticking the Allow class conversations check box will provide the students with an area to discuss the assignment with you and other students. This feature is not part of the Discussions page and is attached only to this assignment. The conversation can be accessed by the student from the assignment ellipses.
• Ticking the Collect submissions offline indicates that a physical object will be submitted, e.g. a piece of artwork. Note this is only available for a single submission.

Formative Assessment

• To indicate to the students that the assessment is formative, tick the Formative assessment check box.
• The Display formative label to students is checked automatically and the words “Formative assessment” will appear to the students on the assignment.

Marking and Submissions

• The Mark category is set to Assignment by default, however this can be changed by clicking the down arrow at the right-hand side of the box. Other options include homework, presentation and exam.
• Select the number of Attempts allowed, this can be from 1 to 10 or unlimited.
• Select the Attempts to mark, the default is All attempts, however this can be changed to First attempt or Last attempt.
• Select the Final mark calculation, the options are Highest Mark, Lowest Mark or Average Mark. This will only appear if you have selected All attempts in the Attempts to mark option.
• Select the Mark using criteria, this is defaulted to Points, but you can also select Percentage or Complete/Incomplete.
• Set the Maximum points by typing in the number.

The following aspects of the assignment settings may be disabled as they rely on other settings, for example you cannot enable Peer review if you have allowed multiple attempts for an assignment.

• To anonymise the marking, tick the Hide student names check box. Careful consideration will need to be made so that late submissions and extensions can be dealt with efficiently. Although there is no specific requirement at the university to use anonymous marking, many departments have chosen to do so for quality purposes.
• If the work is to be double marked then tick the Two markers per student check box. Ticking this box will display a link Assign Markers, (see next section for allocating markers).
• If you wish to include an element of Peer review then check this box. This will display a link Select Peer Settings. Click on this link and add the number of peers each student should review and the deadline for the peer review. This is a limited function and peers are automatically allocated.
• Delegated marking is also possible. Ticking this check box will display a link Assign Markers, (see next section for allocating markers).
• Finally, there is an option to Post assessment marks automatically, leave this unchecked as there is usually a specific date for marks to be released to students. The posting of marks is usually done as a manual task from the gradebook.

• In the Assessment security section you can Add access codes. These are usually used for timed tests and should not be needed for a standard assignment. To create an access code, click on the Add access code link.
• Under the Additional Tools section, a Time limit can be added by clicking the Add time limit. This may be useful is the assessment is a time-limited essay for example, however this is more useful for tests.
• Many departments will Use marking rubric and these are often set up centrally. To find out more about using rubric, there is a dedicated help page.
• Similarly there is an option to set Goals and standards, however this is not widely used.
• For group assessment, individual tasks can be assigned to groups. All of the options, e.g. case studies, should be clearly set out in the assignment brief, e.g. Group 1 will examine Desertification, Group 2 will examine Global Warming. To assign groups to the assessment click the Assign to groups link. Further information about groups can be found on the dedicated help page.
• An Originality report can now be obtained via Turnitin. To enable this feature click the Enable Turnitin link. Further information on this feature can be found on the dedicated help page.

Assigning Two Markers Per Student

In the parallel marking scheme there are 2 roles, the markers and the reconcilers. The markers grade the assignments and the reconcilers check to ensure the quality of the marking and the ratify the final grade. Reconcilers are usually instructors, however markers can be of different user types, e.g. Marker, Instructor, etc.

To assign staff members as markers or reconcilers, click the ellipses next to their name and select the appropriate category.

Notes:

• Markers are allocated submissions to mark automatically.
• Markers can only see the submissions they have been allocated to mark.
• Markers cannot see the grades allocated by the other marker.
• Reconcilers can see all grades and feedback from all markers.

Delegated Marking

Delegated marking is used when a specific marker is to be allocated to as specific group. For example, if a large year group is split up into several tutorial groups, the instructor responsible for that particular tutorial group may be allocated to mark the submissions from that particular group.

Notes:

• Click on the Assign Markers link.
• From the drop-down box, select the Group Set (assuming these have already been set up). Once selected the groups within the group set will be displayed.
• For each group, search for the marker’s name in the search box and select this. The marker’s name will then appear beneath the group. Each marker can only see their group’s submissions.