Outcome examples
Related to: Outcomes
Please add some "user stories" that explain possible scenarios of the grading process via outcomes, showing what it could look like and how it works.
Example: British Higher National Diplomas
We run British HE qualifications called Higher National Diplomas, awarded by Edexcel / BTEC. The qualification has 16 units (classes) and each unit has defined Outcomes/Assessment criteria - see the Outcomes attachment that I posted here... http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=63577 (same post but with an attachment) for an example.
There are almost always 4 outcomes in these units, and each outcome has 3-7 assessment criteria.
For a student to "pass" a unit, he must produce evidence for ALL assessment criteria. The teacher is responsible to create a number of assignments (we recommend 3), each of which will cover a subset of the total assessment criteria for the unit. All together, the assignments for the unit will (must!) provide the opportunity to cover all assessment criteria - and depending on the unit and assignment structure, some assessment critera may be covered multiple times.
Each assignment is graded for the assessment criteria on a Met/Not Met basis. The results are then tracked in a rubric - see the second attachment for a rough idea, where the number in the matrix refers to the assignment number where the evidence was produced.
Students who miss some criteria on a particular assignment may be given a "referral", or opportunity to resubmit. Or the unit may be structured in a way that the assessment criteria appears in a later assignment as well. This is up to the teacher, based on his assigment design.
If a student meets all PASS assessment criteria, then the work is graded for MERIT and DISTINCTION.
In these Edexcel programs, there are 3 broad Merit criteria and 3 broad Distinction critera (hence the shorthand for M1,M2, M3. D1, D...). However, unlike the pass criteria, which are set in the course specification, the M/D grading requires the teacher to rewrite the broad indicators in the context of the particular assignment. The requirements for M and D grading criteria are made clear to the student on each assignment brief.
Like the Pass critera, the M/D criteria are then graded in a rubric on a Met/Not Met basis, with reference to the assignment number where the evidence is produced. Also, there may be multiple possibilities to get a particular M/D in the various assignments.
The students final grade for the unit is a MERIT only if all pass criteria are met, and M1,M2,M3.
The students final grade for the unit is a DISTINCTION only if a MERIT plus D1,D2,D3 is met
In an ideal solution:
- the Outcomes/pass assessment criteria would be imported to a particular Moodle course
- the teacher would create the assignment in Moodle, attach the Outcomes and Assessment critera that are covered in that assignment as a subset from above, and attach and contextualise the M/D criteria
- students would submit their work, which could be either one or multiple files, links or descriptions of physical work with a digital archive, thereby creating a rudimentary portfolio
- teachers would grade according to the rubric, and either send work back for re-submission or post to the "gradebook" - in this case the matrix of Pass and M/D assessment criteria.
- Feedback should be made by the teacher for the overall assignment and for each Pass Merit and Distinction criteria on that particular assignment
- At the end of the class, a final grade of P/M/D could be either extracted automatically or manually by the teacher, and posted to a transcript area either in Moodle or an external SIS.
Comments and thoughts:
- numeric grades are irrelevant and confusing in this system, so best if they could be turned on/off
- the roadmap spec for competencies should meet our needs, although a slight reworking of the assignment module would be ideal for us
- a portfolio system that locked down the evidence for each assignment submission would also be highly desirable
- Edexcel / BTEC curriculum is widely used in the UK and around the world. From what I have seen of similar HE competency tracking in US systems, with the addition of numeric grading for each assessment criteria (0-4 GPA or %), it should be easily used there too.
