STEMinar Series: eSTEeM Scholarship Showcase - 29th May 2025

Dates: 

Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 14:00 to 15:00

Location

Via MS Teams

Contact

eSTEeM

An evaluation of use and impact of zero grades in assessment: are we being consistent, fair and transparent?

Karen New and Fiona Moorman

This project investigated the application of late markers (L-markers) to tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) submitted after the assignment cut-off date/without or beyond an agreed extension. Prior to this project, there was a lack of clarity about the extent to which L-markers were used within LHCS modules and anecdotal evidence suggesting an inconsistent approach to the application of such markers to students work. To evaluate the use of L-markers, in partnership with ACQ/data analytics, we extracted all assignments which had L-markers applied, for all modules within LHCS, over the time period 2018-2021. Demographic data was also obtained for these students. To explore what happened to students after an L-marker had been applied, VOICE was manually interrogated to determine number of assignments submitted/modules studied after application of the L-marker. Finally, to enable us to listen to AL perspectives relating to L-markers, an anonymous JISC questionnaire, collecting both qualitative and quantitative information, was distributed to a randomly generated list of approximately 1000 ALs across the University.  We will present our project findings and recommendations for best practice for dealing with late assignments, to ensure a consistent, fair and transparent approach.

Pair marking: Working together to learn from each other

Nigel Gibson and Kate Sim

This project grew from a desire to see whether an informal practice, that we have pursued for many years, might have wider application. Come along to find out what we did and what we learnt.

Registration

This event is open to OU staff, please visit the registration form to sign-up. Registration will close at midday on the 29th May. If you would like to attend, but have not regsitered by then, please contact esteem@open.ac.uk.  

Keep up to date on the STEMinar Series by visiting the STEMinar Series intranet site.