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Outcome examples

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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:

  1. the Outcomes/pass assessment criteria would be imported to a particular Moodle course
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. Feedback should be made by the teacher for the overall assignment and for each Pass Merit and Distinction criteria on that particular assignment
  6. 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.