How can you improve the quality of the feedback that you give to students and also save time in the process? *Colin Pitts, # Roger McNally, # Stephen Michael Bolton, $ Ian Grigor and & Jane O’Neill. *School of Earth and Environment; # Information Systems Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law; $ School of Healthcare; and & Staff and Departmental Development Unit.

The Project There are numerous issues related to the provision of feedback to students on their work This project does not solve all of them!!! If you think what you see might help you solve some of your problems, then your help would be appreciated in trying the software and pointing out improvements.

Abstract Angus II is a tool that assists academic staff generating prompt, efficient and consistent feedback to students on their assignments and even their examinations. It allows staff to save time in terms of the volume of feedback comments made and so permits them to put more consideration into the quality of what students receive. It is particularly useful in situations where staff use marking grids and/or banks of repetitive comments for standard feedback cover sheets given to students. The tool also automates the release and distribution of feedback and marks to students electronically. The tool also enhances the student learning experience because of this and it will also allow students to profile all their electronic feedback in an organised manner, module by module and semester by semester. Hence, this could be an important tool to the student understanding of how to improve the quality of their submissions. The session will involve a brief overview of the history of the project; an explanation of how the system fits within the University’s information databases; the architecture of the software; and demonstrations of how it can be used from both student and staff perspectives. Questions and answers session: There will also be an opportunity for delegates to ask questions and engage in the further development of the project

Structure of today’s presentation History and rationale The Angus II project Structure and levels of usage Administrative use Academic use Initial feedback Questions and answers Volunteers

History and rationale How much time does an academic spend marking? How often do they make repetitive comments? Feedback to students is a key issue in the HE sector –Student surveys; audits; and external examiners Could an electronic database be used to solve some of these issues?

History and rationale “Electronic Feedback” version 8 ©2001 Phil Denton at Liverpool JMU Electronic feedback based on database features of Excel Data feed (SID numbers and addresses) from their student management system Ian Grigor and I attended

History and rationale – Presented at this Conference 2006 MAAS Module Assignment Administration System Colin Pitts & Michael Bolton The MAAS software comprised of: a series of web pages with a user-friendly front-end (PHP); an on-line database (MySQL); BANNER; and the University’s system

History and rationale – Presented at this Conference on a previous occasion ANGUS Assessment, Notes and Grades for University Students Ian Grigor and Joyce Gilroy The ANGUS software comprised of: A bespoke School student management database; A feedback comment database; and Student University .

History and rationale Post 2004 Peter McWilliam Ian Grigor, Michael Bolton and Colin Pitts met and exchanged notes Ian Grigor, Stephen Aylmer and later Roger McNally Further development of ANGUS in Healthcare and adoption of it as the primary source of assessment feedback delivered to students. Also presented last year

ANGUS II April 2007 to June 2009 Website application that can be used to provide prompt electronic feedback on assessed work to students across the University of Leeds. The interactive website is secure and uses an on-line database to interact with the information stored in BANNER. Levels of “privilege” of access

ANGUS II Logging on Levels of user in the system Academic user role Freestyle marking Freestyle marking with sub-questions Providing feedback via marking grid

Logging On To log into Angus II type into the address bar. When on university campus you will be logged in automatically. Off campus the following screen will appear.

Levels of user in the system Academic The academic role is for tutors, lecturers and module managers to mark assessments and provide students with specific feedback. Administrator The administrator role is for administrative staff to set up the assessments for each module, assign the appropriate staff to the modules, check which students are enrolled on each module and monitor the progress of the lecturer’s assessment marking. Student The student role is for the students to view their assessment feedback and marks Moderator – review comments and marks External Examiner – review comments and marks

Administrative user The administrator role is for administrative staff to set up the assessments for each module, assign the appropriate staff to the modules, check which students are enrolled on each module and monitor the progress of the lecturer’s assessment marking. Assessment Management –Creates assessments for marking (From assessment types) –Assigns staff –Updates assessment –Deletes assessments (but keeps for future use) Profile Management –Copies from year to year User Management –Assigns staff roles (privilege) Results management –Being modified Unlock students –Student management once marking has commenced

Academic user Academic The academic role is for tutors, lecturers and module managers to mark assessments and provide students with specific feedback. Marking –By individual assessment or course/module –Select module (Marks/Feedback – Group marks and feedback) Manage comments bank - General –Will be modified –Add new comments –Edit existing comments Reports –Being modified –View student feedback

Academic user Academic The academic role is for tutors, lecturers and module managers to mark assessments and provide students with specific feedback. SOEE2031 – free format SOEE1431 – assignment 1 = Structured questions and free format SOEE1431 – assignment 2 = Marking grid SOEE2170 – Examination – Free format

SOEE1431 Assignment 1: Data response exercise – Students provided with data to analyse and then make comments Parts A to L i.e. 12 sub-sections with marks designated for each part

Unmarked Marked Assignment 2: Essay with a marking grid of criteria and levels of achievement

SOEE3280: Water Quality in Urban Catchments: Management Plan marking grid/criteria

Initial thoughts Some aspects require a bit of re-wiring Best use Marking grid Free format Exams got fabulous student response Worst use Structured sub-sections Initial thoughts Did it enhance the quality of feedback?– YES Did it improve efficiency of delivery?– YES Did it speed up the marking process?– NO NOT REALLY

Angus II Summary Angus II is a form of providing electronic feedback to students on assessed work. Data provided to the system are via University databases and all in SID format (anonymous) You can upload, create, edit and store comment banks and or marking grids. Returning comments is swift via electronic means and the student will receive an telling them their report has arrived in their folder on Angus II Entirely paperless Angus II can cope with multiple tutors on 1 module Moderators; DLT; and External Examiners can also access at higher levels

Any Questions?

Volunteers Name School Module Type of assignment Number of students (approx) Names of other markers