eSubmission

eSubmission of Student Coursework

Electronic submission (eSubmission) refers to the process of students submitting their work online. Academic, administrative and other staff can then easily access these assignments for marking, feedback, and storage.

Click here for a quick guide to choosing the right assignment types for your module. Further detailed guidance on the use of eSubmission at Edinburgh Napier can be found below.

Benefits of eSubmission

Evidence from across the university sector highlights that students appreciate being able to submit their work online. Staff also see significant benefits in adopting this practice.
Key advantages include:

• Students do not need to come to campus to submit their work.
• Text based submissions can be run through software to create an originality report
• Submission is automatically receipted via an email to the student.
• Staff can collect work immediately after the submission date, allowing speedier turnaround of feedback.
• Opens opportunities for staff to make use of online feedback tools, including typed feedback, audio feedback and the use of general and tailored feedback.

Submission Routes: The Options

There are two established routes for eSubmission of coursework, Turnitin Assignments and Moodle Assignments. Both routes facilitate online marking and permit downloading of submitted assignments and offline marking. However, there are differences in the acceptable file formats, and also the grading and feedback tools available. The links below describe this in more detail:

• Brief overview of submitting coursework to both routes. Note that Moodle assignments now include a Turnitin plagiarism plugin so that an originality report can be generated for any paper submitted by a student individually, or on behalf of a group.
• Staff Guidelines to help you with all stages of the assignment process.
• Instructions for downloading and printing assignment submissions.
• Instructions for extending assignment due dates.
• Instructions for external examiner access to module packs.
• Student guidelines for all aspects of Turnitin including videos for submitting coursework and finding their feedback and using the Turnitin report for improving referencing.
• Student guidelines for submitting to Moodle Assignments and for submitting video assignments to Moodle.

Getting Started

It is important to bring together your programme (or module) teams to consider your approach to assessment and how you are going to manage eSubmission. This will give you the chance to explore what is needed, when, and who will take responsibility for which aspects of the work.

Clear communication and planning of the process is vital. Get together with your academic team, learning technologist and School Support Service team to work through your plan. As you do so bear in mind:

• The value of consistency of approach across a module and clarity across the programme.
• That upfront planning is key to smooth running through the assessment cycle.

Points to consider in your team before you get started with your eSubmission choices:

• What will students be handing in?
  • What format do you expect the coursework to be? (written report, video, photographs, etc.)?
  • Are drafts to be allowed?
  • How will you be doing plagiarism checks?
• What is your marking and feedback process?
  • Who will be marking / how many markers will there be?
  • How will you be providing feedback to students?
  • How are external examiners to be supported?
• Assessment administration considerations
  • How will marks be formally recorded?
  • Process for archiving assignments
  • How will (non) submission be monitored and followed up?
• Are you aware of and using Moodle Minimum Standards for your module?

Further Support and Training

Training dates are continually added to the IS Training & Events Calendar.
Staff are also encouraged to contact one of the Learning Technology Support Team for support.

Elsewhere in the Hub we look at Feedback Studio and Moodle Assignments for predominantly text based assignments in more detail but also demonstrate how Mahara ePortfolios & videos can be submitted to a Moodle assignment allowing easier grading.