| Description
Barbara teaches courses that focus on the advanced application of desktop/office software to provide efficient and accurate solutions for common business administrative, management and analysis needs which utilise good design principles. In order to reduce the problem of collusion in the preparation of electronic files required for most assessment tasks (e.g. spreadsheets, databases), Barbara has developed an integrated strategy to educate students about the rules concerning collusion. She has inserted a statement about avoiding collusion and plagiarism into the guidelines for each individual assignment, and repeats this advice at the start of each semester on her discussion boards and through emails sent via the remailer. In addition, she designs her assessment tasks in such a way that students have to personalise their tasks, meaning that collusion is no longer an easy option – for example, students are asked to create spreadsheets or databases which include some components they need to invent, and then explain why they think the parts they invent are suitable or useful.
Learning goals and objectives
When she started this course, Barbara found that many students did not understand the importance of avoiding collusion. There were particular problems with some partnership institutions in which the tutors were going over the assignments in class with the students, resulting in whole groups submitting work that showed collusion. Although there was an "individual work" statement on the coversheet that students submitted with their work, Barbara felt that few students read it and that even if they did, they did so once they had already completed the assignment. Barbara's objectives were to bring students up to standard in this area and make them aware of the value of developing their own individual skills.
The high-level goal of the software courses MGT2200 and MGT2202 is for students to attain practical expertise and demonstrate understanding of the principles of desktop information systems to a professional standard. Additionally, the courses aim to promote lifelong learning to support the continual version changes and increasing levels of sophistication in software version releases.
Target audience
The target audience are the students of: MGT 2200 Advanced Office Applications: Access and Word, and MGT 2202 Advanced Office Applications: Excel and PowerPoint. These courses form part of the Administrative Management major within the Bachelor of Business, and students come from different faculties including Education and Business. The second year courses normally have about 20-30 students on campus and 70-80 off campus.
Informing students
The course materials, discussion board and remailer are used to inform students of goals, roles and assessment. The assessment advice and strategy has been designed, at least in part, to clarify the course requirements to students and tutors. As well as the statement in the assignment descriptor and regular emails, Barbara keeps students informed through her use of the discussion board, which she visits every day. She has found that because she stresses the importance of individual skill development, the students themselves uphold this culture within the online environment and will help one another out with hints and tips but not give answers away. Students who provide hints to others generally are very thoughtful about the level of information they supply, and often make remarks that it is much more satisfying to work out answers from hints than to be given the solution.
Feedback
Barbara works hard to make the turnaround on assignments as fast as possible. She uses a specially-designed marking spreadsheet to record marks for each part of each task, and a detailed written solution guide used to generate customised feedback for each student that clearly shows what is required of them in different aspects or areas of the assignment, room for individual feedback, and solutions for key formulae. The spreadsheet automates the addition of marks, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. In addition, Barbara encourages students to attempt a past exam paper, for which she will also provide feedback. Once assignments have been marked, Barbara uses the remailer to inform students about the general standard of work, giving them a context in which to look at their own marks. For example, this semester, several students received full marks on an assignment, and the knowledge of this gave other students extra motivation. Barbara is careful to ensure that she points out that any student doing less well is still in a position to pass the single hurdle of a 50% mark.
Roles
Barbara designed this course and delivers and administers it. She says the students contribute enormously to the supportive atmosphere of the discussion board. She does spend a lot of time monitoring the discussion board, but she also finds that when she is on leave, a few of the more confident students tend to take over the roles of mentor and monitor, and this works well due to the co-operative and supportive attitudes of the vast majority of the students. Some students find the assessment workload is high and Barbara is aiming to reduce the size of the assignments in 2008 offerings.
Moderation processes
Barbara has a moderator who reads through all the materials for the course and the assignments but there is no need for moderation between markers because Barbara does all the marking. Because she has a detailed marking scheme and it is largely a quantitative subject there is little ambiguity.
Results
SELT ratings are generally higher than average USQ for most categories. In addition, Barbara has found that the collusion has virtually disappeared, and she attributes this to the fact that students are now clearer on the boundaries as well as on the reasons why personal skill development is important. She finds that students have a respectful attitude towards the rules and most students enjoy working out the challenges for themselves. Students have said they like to see how their marks compare in general with those of other students in their course, as they feel more included and better informed.
Problems and advice for others
Barbara says that in the future she will set smaller assessment tasks as the level of work required to deliver the current assignments is too high. Online submission will also be adopted in 2008 for faster delivery and turnaround of student work and smaller or shorter tasks will help to reduce the workload.
Additional comments
Barbara says that most students do want to do the right thing, and that communication is the key to helping students understand and appreciate the value of developing their skills through individual work.
|