This guidance sets out how Inspera can be used to support Block delivery. Drawing on the expectations for assessment design for Block Delivery it maps these to functionality available in Inspera and provides links to existing resources and support for these uses of Inspera.
| Potential requirement based on CTP documentation | Potential use of Inspera | Existing Resources and Support |
| Continuous assessment Continuous assessment creates opportunities for making the assessment task a more dialogic process in terms of providing feedback; this can enhance the value and effectiveness of feedback and is recognised to help develop the ‘evaluative judgement’ of students. As a developmental approach, it is an assessment as learning approach and places the emphasis on the learning processes the students will be engaged in. Such process focused approaches will also be potentially valuable in helping to mitigate against any inappropriate use of AI. | Assessment Path – Assessment path in Inspera supports continuous assessment in either a formative (assessment for learning) or summative (assessment for learning) context. It allows the assessment task to be broken down into different steps, which can be weighted formatively or summatively, and which are then graded as a whole for the Assessment Path. In the context of Block delivery this might include: A Project-based assessment which requires students to submit evidence of how they have undertaken the task, these steps might be; initial conceptualisation of project and plan; initial research findings; reflections on peer feedback (from a presentation on initial ideas to peers); final report.Portfolio assessment – this might be in the form of a series of blog posts or multiple artefacts. A submission point for each item/artefact can be set for specific times or open during the Block. Each item/artefact weighted appropriately to contribute to final Assessment Path grade.Assessment Path that includes Core Assessment and Applied Core assessment. Steps might include: core assessment with specified multiple attempts (zero weighted for final Assessment Path grade); submission of Applied Core (100% weighting)Zero weighted Assessment Path used as part of orientation programme. Consisting of diagnostic tests to help provide insight on student skills combined with information presented, with quizzes, on academic literacies. The different steps provide opportunities to both monitor student progress and provide feedback, which can then be responded to in subsequent steps hence emphasising the dialogic nature of feedback. | Assessment Path Overview Assessment Path workshops delivered as part of AEPD Programme |
| Use of Rubrics With the move to Block staff are encouraged to develop contextualised marking criteria and rubrics, for each assessment, to enable the majority of feedback on summative assessments to be given through identification of achievement within the rubric. | Rubrics can be attached to manually marked questions in Inspera. They provide a means of communicating expectations of the assessment to students and help ensure marking and feedback consistency. They can also help with efficiencies, particularly where linked to live assessments for example. There are five rubric types available in Inspera: Points-basedPoints-rangePercentage-rangeQualitativeMarked Qualitative | Rubrics Overview – Inspera Rubric workshops as part of AEPD programme Guidance on design and use of rubrics Health & Care swayAEPD website#1Teaching Knowledge Base |
| Core Assessment These should be time-constrained or live assessments with multiple attempts. It is noted that with the move to Block the expectation will be for only one assessment per module and the use of Core Assessments will be by exception. | Multiple attempts functionality is available on both automatically and manually marked questions. Multiple attempts can be set as candidate control, meaning students take the different attempts when they select within the test time window; or specified times can be set for each attempt. | Guidance on using multiple attempts on the Inspera Teaching Knowledge Base pages. Inspera articles: Multiple attempts (automatically marked questions) Multiple attempts with grading progression |
| Live assessments These are one of the recommended formats for core assessments. Live assessments are also one of the recognised means of helping to mitigate against the use of AI. | Using Inspera to assess live assessments provides the potential to enhance the assessment workflow and ease release of feedback to students. There are two potential ways of using Inspera for assessing live assessments. Ideally any assessment should utilise rubrics, this is possible with the second option. Inspera does include a ‘live’ question type which allows the staff member to start and stop the period of the assessment. It does though only allow scoring of the student attempt.To use rubrics will require all students to submit to Inspera before the live assessment takes place. This might be submitting confirmation of understanding of the assessment requirements. Once all students have submitted it will be possible to access rubrics attached to questions so enhancing the feedback that can be provided to students. | Please contact Martin Jenkins or Education Technologists |
| Time Constrained Assessments TCAs are one of recommended formats for core assessments. | Any Inspera has a test Start and End time, which can be combined with a test duration time. The latter being the time the test is open, once started, within the specified test window (start and end times). Inspera therefore can easily support the setting up of TCAs. | Guidance on the Inspera Teaching Knowledge Base pages. |
| Formative feedback The CTP Curriculum Design Guidelines state that formative assessment opportunities should be embedded throughout module provision to minimise failure points and support learner progression. | Inspera provides a range of mechanisms for providing feedback to students, these include immediate feedback on automatically marked assessments; providing personalised feedback to students at the assessment level; and the functionality to provide Generic Cohort level feedback. Individual feedback and cohort level feedback can include audio feedback and/or file attachments. The feedback options available are: Pre-defined feedback on automatically marked questions and alternatives within questions. Post-submission review – allowing students to review their submissions with the option of showing if answers selected were correct and to show correct answers.Rubrics – as detailed above.Personalised feedback to students (Explanations) on the assessment. Can be provided as audio and supported by file attachments.Assessment feedback, this is Generic Cohort level feedback which can also be provided as audio and supported by file attachments. | Providing Student Feedback in Inspera Inspera articles Assessment Feedback Explanations |
| Diagnostic testing The carousel model will make it even more important to understand individual students and help guide them appropriately in their learning journey. Use of diagnostic tests will enable learning support needs of students to be identified with scope to direct students to appropriate resources. | Inspera provides for provision of pre-defined feedback, allowing for guidance to specific information and resources depending on responses to diagnostic questions. | Predefined feedback |
Notes on marking and feedback efficiency
With the turnaround time for marking being two-weeks and marking periods overlapping with teaching there is a need to ensure that marking and the provision of feedback can be efficient and effective. Continuous assessment approaches (see above), building on a dialogic approach to feedback, which will create a more consistent level of feedback across the Blocks rather than having a peak and trough pattern with feedback focused specifically on assessment points. In addition to this, efficiencies in providing feedback can be achieved by:
- Use of rubrics – rubrics are powerful tools in helping to communicate expectations of an assessment task to students and in helping developed a shared understanding of requirements for both students and staff. Marking using Rubrics allows for more targeted feedback against the assessment criteria and provides pre-defined indicators of the students level of performance which in Inspera can be annotated with personalised comments.
- Rubrics Overview – Inspera
- Generic cohort wide feedback – by providing generic feedback, themes that have emerged from the assessment can be addressed in detail and shared with the whole cohort, which then also provides the students with additional information against which they can reflect on their individual feedback. In Inspera generic cohort feedback is called ‘assessment feedback’ and can be shared with all students via the individual Candidate Report that each student will have access to.
- Assessment feedback – Inspera
