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Practical help for digital teaching
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Organise Assessment Information in Canvas A Canvas Assignment provides a place for students to access and submit an assessment. It should include the information students need to complete the assessment, such as instructions, submission details, due dates, marks and assessment criteria. Sometimes students need additional information about their assessments. A Canvas Page is a useful place to provide this …
Students bring different experiences, strengths, and interests to their learning. Personalised learning pathways provide purposeful choices in how students engage with learning and prepare for assessment, while ensuring all students work towards the same learning outcomes and assessment standards. What are personalised learning pathways? Personalised learning pathways give students limited, purposeful choices in how they engage with …
Many assessments require students to apply knowledge in realistic situations. Story-based and scenario-based learning can help students connect theory to practice, build confidence, and prepare for assessment tasks. This approach supports students to understand expectations and practise skills before completing formal assessments. Story‑based learning Story-based learning uses an ongoing narrative to frame learning content. As the …
Students are more likely to engage with assessment when they can see how their learning is developing over time. When assessment consists of a single final submission, students often focus on completing the task rather than building understanding throughout the course. Interactive learning activities, regular feedback, and visible progress can help students stay engaged and …
Student engagement is influenced by how learning and assessment are designed. When learning activities clearly support assessment tasks, students are more likely to participate, apply their knowledge, and stay engaged throughout a course. This article explores practical strategies for designing assessment experiences that encourage ongoing engagement. What do we mean by student engagement? Student engagement refers …
Although model answers, marking schedules, and rubrics are often used together, they each play a different role in assessment and marking. Let’s look at a simple example. Question (5 marks) Describe a duck to someone who has never seen one. Model Answer A duck is a waterbird with a broad bill, webbed feet, and waterproof feathers. Ducks …
With your marking schedule in place, it’s time to start marking. A well-designed marking schedule should do much of the hard work for you. It provides a consistent guide for awarding marks, helps reduce guesswork, and ensures students are assessed fairly against the learning outcomes. Is the question answered correctly? Check if the student’s answer matches the learning outcome …
A marking schedule outlines how marks are awarded for each question in an exam. It identifies the key points, concepts, or answers that markers should look for when reviewing student responses. Unlike a rubric, which is typically used for assignments, a marking schedule focuses on allocating marks for specific answers. Read more about different marking guides (and the duck test). …
Staring at a blank exam paper can be surprisingly difficult. Before you begin writing questions, it helps to spend some time planning. A little preparation up front can save a lot of rewriting later. A few places to start: Testing the Learning Outcomes By reviewing the learning outcomes first, you can ensure your exam directly …
Stimulus content in New Quizzes allows you to provide students with information such as a case study, article, image, video, scenario, or data set before they answer related questions. This feature is useful when multiple questions are based on the same content, helping students easily refer back to the information as they complete the quiz. …
What is an Assessment Type? An assessment type is the method used to collect evidence of learning. Assessments are used to show whether learners have achieved the Learning Outcomes (LOs) for a course. Assessment types are suited to various kinds of learning, skills, and levels of complexity. Key points about assessment types: Ask yourself: “Can this assessment …
The Level Descriptors Guide helps lecturers design learning outcomes, activities, and assessments that match the correct qualification level. In Aotearoa, the NZQCF levels describe the knowledge, skills, and independence students should demonstrate. Using the guide helps ensure your course expectations align with the level students are studying. A useful idea when applying the guide is …
This guide provides a workaround to move your existing questions from Classic Quizzes into the modern Item Banks without manual re-creation. Item Banks are the standard for reusing, sharing, and standardising your assessment content in Canvas. If your courses still rely on Classic Quizzes, you’re missing out on key benefits like: While there isn’t a …
Creating a New Quiz involves three steps: establishing the assignment settings in Canvas, launching the Quiz Builder, and finally adding your questions and content. New Quizzes is the recommended tool for assessment, offering advanced question types, greater security, and powerful Item Banks for managing your content. Follow this step-by-step guide to quickly set up your …
The Stimulus feature allows you to present a shared piece of content—such as a case study, image, or reading passage—that applies to a group of related questions. Use a Stimulus when you have multiple questions based on a single piece of information. This keeps your quiz design clean and professional, prevents content redundancy, and ensures …
