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The Assignments module allows a teacher to assess student learning by creating an assignment for students to complete which they can then review, assess, grade and give feedback on.
Students can submit any digital content, such as text documents, spreadsheets, images, audio, videos and more. Alternatively, or as a supplement, the assignment may require learners to type text directly into a field using the text editor. An assignment can also be used to remind students of 'real world' tasks they need to complete that do not require the delivery of any digital content. For example, oral presentations, lab practicals, etc.
For group assignments, the module has the ability to accept assignments from one of the group members and link it to the rest.
During the review process teachers can leave comments and upload files, such as graded papers, documents with written observations. Assignments can be graded using a numerical scale or a customised scale; or using complex grading methods such as rubrics. Final grades are automatically updated in the grading module.
Rubric
The rubric is an authentic assessment instrument of student performance. In an article published by Florina Gatica-Lara and Teresita del Niño Jesús Uribarren-Berrueta, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the process for preparing the rubrics, their advantages and disadvantages, is defined and described. In addition, some web tools for creating e-rubrics are listed.
If we select the option Assignment in + Add an activity or a resource, we will be able to add a task in the Virtual Classroom so that the students can hand in the activities or assignments that we request.
It is mandatory to add a Name to the assignment.
We can also add a Description of the task with the instructions for it, and we can also include additional files (pdfs, PowerPoints...) that we select or drag from our computer into the Virtual Classroom.
The Availability option allows us to schedule from and until when the assignment can be delivered.
Make sure to Enable the options that you want to have activated.
It is advisable to enable the options Allow deliveries from, Delivery date and Deadline (which allows you to avoid late deliveries if it coincides with the delivery date or allows you to give an extra day for the delivery of the assignment).
We can even activate the option Remind me to grade the to receive a notice by mail on the date we select.
The option Type of submission allows us to select how we want the students to submit the assignment: Online text (because the students write the answer to the assignment directly in the Virtual Classroom) or Sent files (because the students submit the assignment in pdf, Word... format, so it is the most convenient because they prepare the activity and only use the Virtual Classroom assignment to submit it). For the latter option, we can set the maximum number of uploaded files (probably only 1), the maximum size of the submission (in Mb) and even the type of files accepted (i.e. if we only want to accept pdfs, we will have to write .pdf).
The Feedback type option allows us to set how we will provide our feedback on the activity to the learners (only if the Feedback comments option is activated). By activating the PDF annotation option, we will be able to make comments, drawings, etc. directly on the document submitted by the student (only from the web browser we are using to access the Virtual Classroom).
By activating the option Feedback files, we will be able to upload a file (pdf, Word...) with our comments on the activity submitted by the students to the assessment of the assignment.
To simplify the feedback comments, it is advisable not to activate the option Online comments.
The Submission Settings option allows us to set some conditions for the submission. For example, it can be interesting to set Yes in the option Require students to press the submit button because they can submit the assignment as a draft and only if they press Submit the submission will be processed (this is useful in case they want to make any modifications to their submission before the deadline or in case they make a mistake in the submission).
It is also interesting to set Manual to Allow reopen (in case a student has a problem with the assignment submission and we need to reopen the assignment submission) and limit the Maximum number of attempts to 1.
The Group submission settings option allows us to set the group submission of the assignment (however, this requires prior configuration of the groups in the Virtual Classroom).
The Notifications option allows us to configure the notifications associated to the assignment: Send notification of submissions to those who grade (we will receive an email each time a student submits the assignment), Notify assessors of late submissions (by enabling the assignment deadline students will not be able to submit the assignment late) or Default value for "Notify students" (because each student will be notified when we grade their assignment).
The URKUND plagiarism plugin option allows us to check if assignment submissions contain plagiarism from external sources or among students. It is highly recommended to activate it when setting up the assignment (it cannot be activated once the student has submitted the assignment). The anti-plagiarism system only works with text documents (pdf, Word...).
The Grading option allows us to configure the type of grading of the assignment (score or any of the pre-established scales in the Virtual Classroom), as well as the maximum or passing grades of the assignment, among other options.
The options Common module settings and Restrict Access work in the same way as the option Archive.
In order to grade the students' deliveries, we have to enter the Assignment (once we have already configured it) and click on the button Grades. Here you will see the assignment of each student where you can download the file of the assignment, grade, make notes on the submitted document, add comments, feedback files (depending on how you have configured the assignment).
Press the button View/Qualify all the submissions, the list of students will appear from where you can download the submission file.
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