the impact on students of coursework assessment deadlines and penalties dr ray stoneham school of...
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The Impact on Students of Coursework Assessment Deadlines
and Penalties Dr Ray Stoneham
School of Computing and Mathematical Sciencethe University of Greenwich
June 2008
The Impact of Deadlines
• Ariely and Wertenbroch – compared performance of students depending on
whether deadline is • imposed and staged• self-selected and staged• imposed and not staged
– found that fixed imposed staged deadlines improve performance • less procrastination• more focused approach by students
• Are we all "Predictably Irrational" on deadlines?
The Impact on Students of Coursework Assessment Deadlines and Penalties
• Pre-university experience of students• Current Deadline Policies in Universities• Current Implementation at Greenwich• Online system in CMS at Greenwich• Data Collection• Data Analysis• Recommendations• Benefits of Online Systems
Deadlines in Schools and Colleges
• A levels, GNVQs, etc.• Distinction between formative and summative
assessment may be blurred• Deadlines may be flexible• May be different experience for overseas
students
Deadlines in Universities
• Mostly summative• Wide range of policies– Zero tolerance– Sliding scale– Extenuating Circumstances
• Induction is crucial
Freedom Of Information Request • Request sent 15 May 2008• Please can you supply me for the academic years
2006/07 and 2007/08:– A copy of your academic regulations regarding penalties
for late submission of non-exam based assessment (eg coursework, essays, projects, dissertations)
– Statistics for the imposition of penalties for late submission of non-exam based assessment items. Please supply the statistics grouped by main academic structure within the university (eg by faculty or school) and include the total number of items of assessment and the percentage of these items that have been penalised in accordance with the policy in force at the time.
University Deadline Policies and Implementation
Policy Implementation Statistics
Response
University of Greenwich Zero tolerance Not held centrally Yes
London South Bank University Not yet
University of East London Acknowledgement
Plymouth University Zero tolerance Not held centrally Yes
Exeter University Zero tolerance 0.2% Yes
Sheffield University Sliding scale Not held centrally Yes
Leeds University Sliding scale Not held centrally Yes
Hull University Acknowledgement
Cardiff University Not yet
Manchester University Zero toleranceOR sliding scale
Not held centrally Yes
Open University Zero tolerance Not held centrally Yes
The CMS Online Coursework Submission System
• Applies to all CMS coursework• Enforces university policy on deadlines• Integrates with other CMS systems– Assessment Offences– Extenuating Circumstances– Virtual Learning Environment– Staff Intranet
• Integrates with Corporate Systems
The System for CMS Students• Unlimited number of uploads. • The last one uploaded before deadline is the one that
is marked• Upload on the server by 3am the day after the due
date• 3am deadline is strictly enforced• If Extenuating Circumstances approved may have up to
14 extra days• If deadline missed and no ECs then any submission up
to 14 days late may be considered as second attempt and capped at 40%
Statistics for CMS Uploads
• 15,000 Courseworks uploaded by 1,875 Students so far
• 2,800 invalid uploads– 1,300 – wrong file format– 1,050 – ZIP before PDF– 130 – File too big
• 162 Uploads are 10 minutes late• 527 Uploads in 10 minutes before Deadline
The System for Overseas Colleges
• Implemented from May 2008• Deadline is midnight local time in each centre• 4100 Uploads by 687 Students• 26 uploads are 1 minute late• 122 Uploads are up to 10 minutes late• 192 Uploads in 10 minutes before Deadline
The Benefits of Online Submissions• Access to student work is easier• Online marking is possible• Centralised printing• Submission to the JISC Anti Plagiarism service• A complete audit trail is automatically created• Staff time is saved– No more collecting and sorting paper hand-ins– No managing queues of anxious students– No lost work
• Quality Assurance is enhanced– Data analysis is easier– Ensuring policy is being implemented
The Things That Go Wrong
• Students have– Complained when their upload at 3:00:01 was
treated as late and given zero– Renamed DOC files as PDF to enable them to
upload– Uploaded a wrong file (by mistake?) and wanted
to replace it after the deadline
The Recommendations for any Online Upload System
• Make the deadline early in the morning• Put deadlines on Saturdays and Sundays• Prepare students for online submission with a practice run• Warn students that
– they must have the file uploaded completely to the server by the deadline
– server performance may be degraded at the deadline by excessive demand
– penalties for late submission will be strictly enforced– their own technical problems and bad work practice are not valid
extenuating circumstances• Ensure that the server is up to the task, and that server logs can be
examined where students feel they are being penalised unjustly• Ensure all staff are consistent in implementing the system