Autopsy of a Group Assignment

Presenters: Mary-Ann Shuker

Peta-Anne Zimmerman

Co-Authors: Sharon Latimer, Deb Osborne

What we will cover

Context

Possible Method

s

Our path

Fail points

Things that

helped

Lessons learnt

Context – Griffith

• 43,000 students

• 5 campuses

• Over 10,000 Health students

Gold Coast University Hospital

Griffith Gold Coast Campus

Commonwealth Gamespractice track

4

Context – The Course

• 582 students

• 3 campuses, 3 convenors

• 20 tutorials

• 9 markers

This course prepares the student to make a successful transition from student to graduate entering the workplace environment. Transition to the professional workforce is a significant theme as is the awareness of the global nature of nursing. The key concepts of how health care systems are funded, operated and evaluated will be explored. Students are encouraged to contemplate their future professional contributions in areas such as clinical practice, administration, education, research, change and management of their career.

5

Context – The Assignment

• In this assessment you are required to:– work collaboratively in groups of 3-4 – incorporating effective team building skills, communication skills, and self-management skills– to deliver research based knowledge in a poster format

• Students will explore current issues in health care and health service provision around the world

• Submit, in one document:– abstract (300-350 words)– poster– reference list

6

Context - Constraints

• School Policy: Use Turnitin

• University Assessment Committee Policy: Use Turnitin, but not by itself to provide group feedback

• Turnitin Project recommendation: combine Turnitin with Blackboard Group Assignment tool

7

So how would you …

Think to yourself how you might approach managing a group poster assignment for this cohort?

3 campuses582 students20 Tutorials

Text matching required

8

Possible Method – Group Creation

Method Main advantage Main disadvantage

Student created self enrol groups

Autonomy Time consuming follow-up by teaching team

Convenor created self enrol groups

Autonomy Tedious to set up by tutorial

Random enrolment across course

Quick Cross tutorial/campus groups

Random enrolment within tutorial

Ensure same tutorial membership Lack of student autonomy

Paper only Less follow-up by teaching team No text matching capabilities

9

Possible Methods – Text Matching

Method Main advantages Main disadvantagesSafe Assign • Batch direct submit

• Can sort columns• Integrated in later

versions

• Less comprehensive matching• Against school policy

Turnitin • More comprehensive matching

• Policy

• Hard to find submissions as not sorted • Needs marking icon not always in Mark Centre,

check Submissions inbox • Have to download report to sort text matching

percentages• May submit multiple for group

None No tool integration problems • Against school policy

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Possible Methods - Feedback

Method Main advantage Main disadvantagesTurnitin• Quickmarks• Text comment• Voice Comment

Comments library • Limited zoom • No rotation• Times out – lose work

Adobe Acrobat Reader • Comment• Highlight

Zoom • Limited options • No comment bank

PowerPoint• Comments

Zoom • Student may not use PowerPoint• No highlight option

Blackboard Assignment Marking*• Comment• Highlight

Integrated • Limited real estate• Limited zoom• Times out – lose work• Marker owns comments

* This option was not available

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Possible Methods - Marking

Method Main advantages Main disadvantage

Turnitin Rubric • Matrix form• Link comment to criteria

Can’t select value per cell

Turnitin Grading Form

• Feedback per criteria• Negative Values• Link comment to criteria

No control over value assigned for criteria

Blackboard Rubric • Range of values per cell• Score or percent• Comments per cell

Often requires two windows

Edit marking guide in document

• Can format comments Some forget to paste in

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Possible Methods – Marker Allocation

Method Main Advantages Main DisadvantageAllocate tutorials Simple

Updated automaticallyMay not be equitable

Randomly assign Equal and random distribution Better moderation of marks

Cannot assign based on availability

Randomly assign students within campus

Easy to manage markers Cannot assign based on availability

Allocate batches for whole cohort OR campus

Simple to create (low tech) Tedious

Allocate any way you like

Complete control over allocationVisual display of allocation assists convenors

Potenial bias in allocation

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Possible Methods – Mark Dissemination

Method Time up front

Time to manage

Main advantage Main disadvantage

Blackboard group assignment

Initial group creation

Ensuring all groups in assignment

Enter feedback/result once

• No online marking

Manual Override in Turnitin Mark Centre column

None Lots more Single submission & mark dissemination point

• Enter mark and feedback Sometimes can’t see attached files

• Overrides marksBlog Initial

group creation

Some Students submit once

• 200 columns in mark centre

Email None Greatest Doesn’t rely on group creation

• No record in LMS• Email list creation

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Your turn…

• Discuss what you might choose to manage a group assignment– create groups, submit, match text, provide feedback, mark, disseminate

• Share your experiences of group assignments in a blended learning environment– What are your biggest obstacles?– What works for you?

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The path we chose

1. Allow students to create their groups online

2. Create Turnitin assignment submission point– For text matching and online marking

3. Create a group assignment with those groups – For easy, risk reduced, dissemination of feedback and marks

4. Direct students to submit once per group to each submission point

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Fail Points

1. Group Creation

2. Managing group enrolment

3. Submission

4. Marking

5. Feedback

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Fail Point – Group Creation

Though students wanted autonomy, they had trouble:

• Finding people to work with

• Finding people within their tutorial

• Exchanging contact details

• Choosing a group member to create the group online

• Creating an online group

• Enrolling self in created group

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Fail Point - Managing group enrolment

Despite specifications, we had students not in a group, in multiple groups, cross campus groups and non standard group names

x xx x

x xxx xxxx xxxx

What we wanted

What we got

xxxx xxxx

xxxxxxxx

xxxx

xxxx

What we wanted

GC Tute 1 Childhood ObesityLO Tute 3 Patient CareNA Tute 5 Perioperative Practice

What we got

Sally Jim Michael ClareCoffee LoversChildhood Obesity

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Least pain solution

Allow autonomy while reducing the pain by:

• Creating self-enrol group sets

• Using adaptive release to control for campus

• Specifying cut-off time for enrolment

• Enroling outstanding students manually

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Fail Point - Submission

• Poster not submitted to Group assignment, Turnitin or both

How to tell GC Groovers group has submitted?

Not submitted = no group mark

Not in a group

= no mark

Turnitin

Group Assignment

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Least pain solution

• Ideally: use integrated group assignment & SafeAssign

• Groups submit to Assignment tool onlyTeaching team manual submit through Turnitin

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Fail Point - Marking

• Markers confused by process

• Time out in Turnitin

• A1 and A4 page combined = synopsis unreadable

• Lack of zoom and rotate in Turnitin

It is a little hard to read and mark upside down.

This is

100%

zoom

This is illegible

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Least pain solution

• Specify in marking criteria– all pages in document must be same size– upright– if student can’t read submission, neither can markers

• Explain process to markers – Face to face– Video/tipsheet

• Mark problem files offline in Adobe Reader

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Student Feedback

• They loved the way they received feedback

• Many pleased to work with friends or people with same aims

• Complained about:

Finding group

members

Submitting twice

Creating groups

Group members not pulling their weight

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Things that helped a lot

• Poster group name column in Mark Centre

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Things that helped a lot

• Poster group name column in Mark Centre

• Smart views of groups for marker allocation

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Things that helped a lot

• Poster group name column in Mark Centre

• Smart views of groups for marker allocation

• Not-in-group smart view

28

Things that helped a lot

• Poster group name column in Mark Centre

• Smart views of groups for marker allocation

• Not-in-group smart view

• Instructional videos/tipsheets for students and staff

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Things that helped a lot

• Poster group name column in Mark Centre

• Smart views of groups for marker allocation

• Not-in-group smart view

• Instructional videos/tipsheets for students and staff

• Ctrl+F in Turnitin submission inbox to find a student

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Things that helped a lot (more!)

• Excel Vlookup (students not in group) and Subtotal (>4 members, students multiple groups)

=Iferror(VLOOKUP (A1, GroupMembers, 2, FALSE),”Not in Group”)

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Things that helped a lot

• Excel Vlookup (students not in group) and Subtotal (>4 members, students multiple groups)

• Griffith Group Manager

32

Things that helped a lot

• Excel Vlookup (students not in group) and Subtotal (>4 members, students multiple groups)

• Griffith Group Manager

• Edit Paging option to view full group list with links intact

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The lessons

• Be innovative! - but with a smaller cohort

• Make tipsheets and instruction videos specific to the task

• Test group creation process and tip sheets/videos on student sample (and markers)

• Repeatedly highlight relevance of ability to work in groups and follow instructions to their professional role

• Include in the Marking Criteria– the ability to follow instructions– dimensions and rotation of poster and abstract

• Specify a cutoff date for group creation and stick to it

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The future

• This Group Assignment– Groups of 2– Random assignment within tutorial groups– Using Turnitin, manual marks entry & feedback for second student

OR Using Assignment tool + batch submit to SafeAssign

• In general– Eagerly anticipating the implementation of the integrated Blackboard

Assignment and SafeAssign solution

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Peta-Anne Zimmerman Ph: +61 7 555 28780 Email: p.zimmerman@griffith.edu.au

Mary-Ann Shuker Ph: +61 7 567 89360 Email: m.shuker@griffith.edu.au

Sharon Latimer Ph: +61 7 338 21082 Email: s.latimer@griffith.edu.au

Deb Osborne Ph: +61 7 373 57984 Email: d.osborne@griffith.edu.au

Questions?