Sometimes you may need to hide an Assignment Submission Folder from students. You may do this whilst editing elements of a folder, or to hide grades and feedback from students temporarily (e.g. if you need to publish results to Grades without students seeing them in the Assignments tool). Note that is is also advisable to hide the associated Grade Item and ensure that certain Progress Tool settings are switched off. Ask your local support team to help you with this before publishing results from Assignments.

Step 1

Go to the Assessments tab and select Assignments from the menu.

Step 2

Locate the Submission Folder for editing. Select the small black arrowhead to the right of the folder name, then choose Hide from Users.

Your Assignment folder will now be hidden – you will see an icon shown circled below to indicate the status of the folder as ‘hidden from users’.

To Reveal the Folder simply click the same icon and choose ‘Make Visible To Users‘ from the options.

(Note that both options are also available in the ‘Restrictions’ tab that is available when editing or creating an assignment submission folder).

You can filter your view of Grades and Assignment Submissions Folders to see only results or submissions from students enrolled in a particular group. This can be very useful if you are responsible for marking students in a particular unit code or tutorial group. Here’s how.

Go to the Grades tool by selecting Grades from the MyLO toolbar in your unit OR go to Assessments > Assignments and open the Submission Folder that you wish to view by clicking on its name.

Select Groups from the View by drop-down menu (User is usually the default), then select the Apply button.

You will now need to choose one Group from the Group drop-down menu.

Common types of default Group include:

• Campus Groups: e.g. Default Group Campus Hobart
  Choose a group in this category to only view students based on a particular campus.
  *Warning: students studying off-campus are also counted as ‘Hobart’ students.
• Mode Groups: e.g. Default Group Study Mode External/Internal
  Choose a group in this category to see students studying externally (off-campus) or interally (on-campus) The External group includes all students studying off-campus. The Internal group includes students studying on-campus.
• Unit Groups: e.g. Default Group Unit HGA237
  Useful when you have a MyLO Unit serving more than one unit code.

Once you have chosen a Group, select the Apply button again.

You should now see only Grades/Submissions for those students who are members of your chosen Group. MyLO will generally remember this setting the next time you return to the Grades tools or Assignment Submission Folder using the same device.

To view all students again, select Users from the View By menu, then select the Apply button.

This post covers marking with a rubric that has been set up as a “Custom Points” rubric and that has been attached to either an assignment, discussion or grade item.

A Custom Points Rubric has points associated with each criterion and level of the Rubric. It calculates a total score (and overall level) for a student by adding the points they have scored against each criterion. You are then able to fine-tune this score by overwriting the default scores for each criteria/overall.

This post doesn’t cover setting up the rubric. If you have not done so – set up your rubric following these instruction: (Create a custom points rubric).

To access the rubric for each tool:

Assignment: Click “Evaluate” (or ‘draft saved’) on the right side of the screen in the assignment. The rubrics are then shown as links on the right-side menu area.

Discussion: Click the [v] icon next to the Topic you are assessing then choose “Assess Topic”. From the list of students shown click “Topic Score” and the rubric is shown on the top of the window that loads.

Grade Item (ie, directly into the gradebook): Click the [v] next to the name of the grade and choose “Grade All”. From the window that loads you will see a link to the rubric on the right-side column for each student row.

Note: The Rubric tool will save your work as you go. It is also not possible to edit the rubric in the rubric tool once you’ve started marking, so be sure to preview it in the rubric tool before you start marking to ensure it is correct.

Step 1: Click the ‘level’ for each criteria that best represents the Feedback you wish to provide to students about their work. 

The rubric tool is essentially a “feedback” tool – useful for you to calculate a score but primarily the idea is to provide students with useful informative feedback about why the score was arrived at.

The “default” score associated with this level (as set up in the rubric tool) is then shown on the right of the rubric window. You may need to resize this window if you have a large rubric, or scroll sideways to see it.

Step 2: Edit the points and feedback associated with a level if required.

Once you’re happy with the criteria levels you’ve chosen to provide to students – you can then alter the score associated with either each level OR the overall score that was calculated.

To edit the score for an individual criteria click on the score as shown on the right of the rubric. Type your new number in and hit enter/return or click elsewhere. Your new score will be highlighted with an asterix to indicate the default was changed. The ‘x’ shown next to the new score will return this score to the default.

 (Showing the score was changed from the default, the X returns the score to the default)

To add written feedback click the ‘add feedback’ link on the left, a box will appear for you to type into. Please note, once you add written feedback here it stays put on the page. Don’t click the X unless you want to wipe what you’ve written*.

Step 3: Check the total at the lower part of the rubric. You can also overwrite this score by clicking on it & typing a new score. You can overwrite the default chosen ‘level’ if your rubric has them – click on the new one to overwrite the default.

Step 4: Click “Close” button at the end of the rubric to finalise the process. Double check the correct score is sent to the ‘score’ field of the tool you’re working in. If it doesn’t – it usually means you have missed a criteria.

* Don’t ask me why it was designed like that, I have no idea why the standard computer logic of x=close was broken for this tool – but here we both are, sighing loudly and reaching for the schnapps.

Step 1

Go to the Assignments tool from the toolbar.

Click on the assignment you wish to mark.

Step 2

A new page will load. Scroll down until you see a list of student submissions. The student’s names will appear, followed by the files they have submitted. You can view an individual file by clicking on the file name (this is usually the quickest option, especially if students have submitted cover sheets which you do not have to mark).

A preview of the student’s work will load, as the screenshot below shows the content of the assignment will appear to the left, the “Evaluation” area to the right.

Step 3

Click on the name of the rubric to load it up – it will appear in a new window. You may need to resize the window to see the whole rubric. The example below shows a “Custom Points” rubric, this being the most commonly used rubric.

You will see the list of criteria and levels arranged somewhat like above (yours is likely to have more text than this example). To “choose” a level just click the radio button. It is more important to choose the option that contains the most relevant feedback for your student – the default score can be altered.

To alter the score click the Pencil icon – over on the right of the rubric – then enter an alternate score and/or optional feedback text. When you do this you’ll notice a small icon (see above, the second criteria shows as red shaded and an icon in the ‘Score and Feedback’ area indicating that a ‘custom’ score was entered for this criteria.

To have the rubric fully calculate a score you MUST choose an option for EVERY criteria.

When you have completed the rubric choose “Save and Record” to send the score to the ‘Score’ field of the assignment (which then is sent to grades).

(The option you see in the screenshot ‘Transfer rubric feedback’ relates to any text you have typed that gets transferred to the “Feedback” area, this option is on by default but is optional).

When you click Save and Record you will see the score appear in the ‘Score’ field. If none appears it may mean there is a score missing for one of the criteria. You can click on the rubric at any time to edit/alter the mark – just remember to hit save and record each time.

As you can see from the above screenshot the rubric score that was calculated – when I click ‘Save and Record’ – is sent to the ‘Score’ field. You can always alter the score here too if you want.

Remember if you are marking and do not want to release the score to students YET – click ‘Save Draft’.

Instructions showing how to mark with a Text Only Rubric (for feedback only) are available here.

In the past, when marking a submission to an Assignment Submission Folder, a Rubric would open over the top of a student’s work. To get back to the student’s work, you would either have to save and close the Rubric, or open Grademark in a new browser tab so that you could view the student’s work in one tab and view the Rubric in another tab. Tedious! A personal Dialog setting in MyLO allows you to choose to open ‘dialogue boxes’ in a new window (or pop-up). This means that a Rubric will open in a new window so you can minimise it while looking at a student’s work, move it around your screen easily, or maximise the window so you can see the whole Rubric easily. Yay!  To see a demonstration of the difference this setting makes, view this brief video (02:46, opens in new window).

Follow these instructions to change the setting.

Step 1

Towards the top right of your screen, you should see your name. Click the arrowhead to the left of your name, then select Account Settings.

Step 2

Scroll down until you see Dialog Setting heading. Choose the Pop-ups option from the Show secondary window as option, as seen below. Select the Save and Close button (bottom of the screen).

You’re done!

To upload an assignment file to MyLO, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Check the assignment requirements to ensure that your file is in the correct format.

Step 2: Log into your MyLO unit and select the Assessments Menu on the toolbar. Then choose the option “Assignments” (as highlighted below).

Step 3: You will see a list of  Assignment Submission Folders (see example below). Ensure you select the correct folder, then click on the Folder name to open it. You are responsible for selecting the correct folder.

Step 4: Select the Add a File button. You may need to scroll down to see it, if a rubric is associated with the assignment you may need to scroll past the rubric also.

Step 5: A dialogue box, like the one below, will open. If your file is on MyLO in the locker (or a group locker) you can choose those options. Or you can choose to upload from your computer.

If you need to select a file from your computer you will see a dialog box where you can either drag/drop the file or click the “Upload” button to ‘Browse’ for a file.

Step 6: Once uploaded, the selected file will appear beneath the Upload button. You can continue to upload files into this area by repeating Step 5. Once you have uploaded all the relevant files, select the Add button, shown circled below. Please note: This is NOT the final step!

Step 7: You will return to the Assignment area, where you will a list of the files that you are about to submit. Check  that they are the correct files. You can click on any file in the list to preview it. You may wish to enter a note to the marker into the Comments field. Finally, select the Submit button, as shown below.

Once you have submitted your assignment, you should receive a confirmation email at your UTAS email address.

Step 8: You will see a confirmation area. Select the Done button, or you can upload more files if you need.

Back in the Assignments tool you will see a number in a column titled Submissions. To check what you have submitted, click on this number. If you cannot see any number listed, then it means that your submission was not successful and you will need to try again. If you need to upload more files, click the name of the Assignment and follow the above steps to upload further files if needed.

If you experience difficulty uploading files and/or receive error messages, you will need to contact the UTAS Service Desk (opens in new window) for assistance.

If used for formative assessment, in-class tests can be a useful means of helping students check their progress throughout the semester (as long as feedback is provided following the test). The tests can also provide you with rapid feedback about the class’ progress so that you can adapt your teaching focus accordingly. Getting all students – regardless of study mode – to use the same procedure will ensure equity and simplify marking and grades management procedures.

What am I really assessing?

Depending on the nature of the questions, in-class tests tend to assess whether students can remember, comprehend and/or apply what they have learned. As they tend to be fairly short, these tests generally don’t provide a valid assessment of students’ ability to analyse, synthesise or evaluate what they have learned.

Adapting for blended learning and electronic submission

• Online Quizzes
  
  • Use randomised questions and answer options to make collusion difficult.
  • Make the most of auto-marked questions (where questions have a definite answer). Long answer questions must be marked manually but can certainly help elicit evidence of higher order thinking from students. It is possible to combine different forms of questions.
  • Scores can be transferred to the Grades tool easily.
  • Get both cohorts to complete the Quiz online, and get feedback issued at the same time (either via the Quiz tool or via the instructor).
  • Statistics for each question can be used as the basis for teaching points (e.g for discussion in online or face-to-face sessions, or in Announcements).
• Scan and submit
  • Create an instruction document clearly indicating what students will do and when. This will need to be made available to students as far in advance as possible (preferably a minimum of one week prior).
  • Make a ‘test’ document, containing the questions, available on MyLO at a specified date and time (you can use the Special Access feature to release the sheet to students at different times if need be).
  • Students complete the test and must submit their work to an Assignment Submission Folder within a given time period (you can set an open and close time for the Folder, and use the Special Access feature to release at different times if need be). Students could submit a Word document or, where ‘workings’ need to be demonstrated, a clear scan of their written work (as a PDF or JPEG).
  • If collusion is a concern, create three different papers with slightly different questions (e.g. different amounts, business names etc). Break students into three groups (this can be done automatically with the MyLO Groups tool). One of the three tests is released to each group.
  • Mark and provide feedback using the Evaluate Submission area.

Turnitin is a text matching service used to compare student-submitted work to the existing literature, as well as student work already stored on its database. Turnitin highlights text matches, allowing you to rapidly detect possible areas of plagiarism or collusion in a student’s writing.

Grademark/Feedback Studio, which is available when a student’s work is submitted through Turnitin, allows you to leave comments on a student’s work electronically. Click here for more information about providing feedback with Grademark/Feedback Studio.

To use Turnitin and/or Grademark/Feedback Studio, you must enable Turnitin when setting up a Assignment Submission Folder (to collect student submissions) in MyLO. Ensure that you do this BEFORE students start submitting their work. Here’s how.

PART 1: Set an End Date for your Assignment Submission Folder

To work effectively, Turnitin requires that you set an End Date in the Assignment Submission Folder’s Restrictions tab.

If you have already created an Assignment Submission Folder, you will need to choose to edit it. Do this by selecting the arrowhead to the right of the Folder name, then select the Edit Folder option. Alternatively, when viewing the Submission Folder, click on the Edit Submission Folder button. If you’re already in the midst of creating a Submission Folder, read on.

By default, the Properties tab will be open. Select the Restrictions tab.

Scroll down until you see Has End Date. Check the Has End Date option then record a date and time. We recommend that you set the End Date to a few days after final results are released for the semester.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and select the Save button.

PART 2: Connect the Assignment Submission Folder to Turnitin

Click on the Turnitin tab (note that you will need to have given the Folder a name before you do this).

Check the box next to the Allow Turnitin for this folder option. Wait a moment while the connection is initiated.

PART 2: Choose the right settings – VERY IMPORTANT!

The following settings are the key to making Turnitin and Grademark/Feedback Studio work the way that you want it to. Do not skip these steps!!!

Leave the Allow learners to see Turnitin similarity scores in their submission folder setting (under Display) unchecked. Under Frequency ensure that you have the Automatic originality checking on all submissions options checked. If the Identify individual submissions option is checked instead, you will need to manually click on each file submitted by students to process them through Turnitin. Not fun!

Scroll down and you should see the Grademark available to learners setting. The date recorded here is the date from which students can see the link to access their Grademark/Feedback Studio feedback. We recommend setting this date about one month following the Assignment Submission Folder due date, to avoid any students accidentally seeing their feedback as you’re marking. If you wish to release the feedback earlier, you can always come and alter this date accordingly.

Back to towards the top of the screen, you should see a More Options in Turnitin button. Click on it.

A new window will open. Locate the Allow submission of any file type option. We select you choose Yes. This is especially important if you want to mark files, such as PDFs or some image files, in Grademark/Feedback Studio, even if an Originality Report cannot be generated. 

Now click on the Optional Settings option that appears towards the bottom of the screen.

You should now see more settings. Scroll down until you see the Originality Report generation and resubmissions button. Make sure that the Generate reports immediately (resubmissions are allowed until due date) option is selected. If you do not select this option, you may find that students who submit more than one file (very common) only have the first file processed through Turnitin.

Scroll down until you see the Submit button. If you can’t see it, expand the window to full screen. You should be able to see it then.

Once you have created an electronic Rubric in MyLO, you can attach it to an Assignment Submission Folder.  This post will show you how. Once you have attached the Rubric, you can mark with it.

Step 1

Before you finalise your Rubric and attach it, you must ensure that the Rubric is correctly set up. You may wish to return to the Rubrics tool and check the text and settings before finalising it.

Step 2

Select Rubrics from the MyLO toolbar, then locate your completed Rubric. Select the black arrowhead to the right of the rubric name. Select Set Status, then choose Finalised (a Rubric cannot be attached to another item unless finalised).

Step 3

Select the Assignments tool from the MyLO toolbar. Locate the Assignment Submission Folder that you would like to attach the Rubric to. Select the black arrowhead next to the Submission Folder name, then choose Edit Folder from the menu.

Step 4

The Properties tab should open by default. Scroll down until you see the Rubrics heading. Select the Add Rubric button.

Step 5

The Select Rubric window will open. Select a Rubric by checking the checkbox next to it, then select the Add Selected button (seen at the bottom of the window).

Step 6

You should now see the Rubric name appear under the Add Rubric button. Scroll down and select the Save and Close button. If you have selected the wrong Rubric, select the red cross (the Rubric name will now appear crossed out), then select the Add Rubric button to select a different Rubric. 

You can now start marking Assignment Submissions with your Rubric.

UTAS requires that academics do not release students’ final assessment task marks on MyLO until after the exam period and release of formal grades by the University. You can still mark students’ final assessment piece online and publish the marks to the Grades tool, but you will need to ensure that students cannot see the marks or feedback associated with their final assessment. This is achieved by:

• hiding the Assignment Submission Folder/Quiz Submission View and associated Grade Item from students; and
• ensuring that students cannot see Grades or Assignment Submission Folders in the My/User Progress tool.

These items must be hidden from students before you publish and grades or feedback. The instructions from page 3 of this [PDF] will show you how.