Pair marking: Working together to improve our teaching

Project leader(s): Nigel GibsonKate Sim
Theme: Innovative assessment
Faculty: STEM
Status: Archived
Dates: October 2021 to June 2023

This project aims to investigate using dynamically shared marking documents to support new tutors. In the process it will also provide this group some additional mentoring, and it allow experienced tutors to reflect on their own work and to share and develop good practice.

The project leads have used shared marking documents for several years, 8 presentations of TM111 (Introduction to computing and IT 1) and previously on TU100 (My digital life). When marking each Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA) we use a shared copy of the marking guide. On this document we share comments that we have written as feedback on student scripts. We also create a template with the standard information needed for each PT3 (TMA form); tutorial dates, reminders about Interactive Computer-Marked Assessments (iCMAs), and suchlike. We both prepare our own comments and templates, they have our voice, but by sharing them we can check our tone and understanding of the marking guide. We can also use comments written by the other marker; this is especially useful if one of us has already finished a batch of scripts. When we copy comments they are personalised, this might include referring to the student by name and often means editing the comment to reflect the student’s answer.

Feedback might be split into one of three types:

Standard – Comments for issues that arise on TMAs regardless of the question. They might include guidance on grammar or setting out answers. These comments are copied from previous presentations into the current marking guide. Where questions are reused some comments can be carried over from previous presentations.
Question specific – These comments relate to a particular variant of a question and will be generated while marking this batch of assignments.
One-offs – comments which are specific to this student. These comments are not added to the shared document.