As exams edge closer, the prospect of taking some time away from one’s coursework or research to grade student papers grows clearer. And since the quality of the evaluation of student work largely determines those same students’ motivation for continued learning, grading becomes a huge responsibility and as a result, potentially stressful.
With grading accurately and fairly being time-consuming, and more and more with time being in short supply, there are some ways that can be integrated into the grading process to make it better, faster and more equitable.
Prof. Nikolai J. Attard, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, and Head of the Department of the Oral Rehabilitation and Community Care within the same Faculty, has found WISEflow to be of great help in this.
WISEflow is the cloud-based digital, end-to-end platform that the University of Malta has chosen to help its transition from written to online assessment and examinations.
How has WISEflow facilitated the grading process for you?
WISEflow’s versatility allowed the Faculty to organise the same range of examinations, as per previous assessments, and to actually improve on them, through:
- added security since questions and answers can be shuffled
- a content bank that allows the tagging of assessments, allowing for faster classification and organisation
- faster correction, since there is no struggle with deciphering students’ handwriting
- inclusion of more than one examiner at the same time, making the process shorter, since it can be done concurrently, rather than waiting for their turn to receive examination scripts
How long have you been using WISEflow?
We have now used the programme twice for examinations and also throughout the year for continuous assessment in certain units.
Faculty academics, irrespective of age, have found the programme to be helpful with organising and completing the assessments, be they summative or formative in nature.
What words of encouragement do you have for your colleagues who have yet to embrace WISEflow?
I strongly encourage all academics to give WISEflow a try. I have no doubt that with some practice, and as they realise that it carries many benefits, they will embrace the program.
It’s a very supportive effort from the administrative services, and helps the University to be greener by turning the assessment process into a paperless one.
This is part of a series of testimonials on the use of WISEflow. This campaign is a collaborative effort by the Marketing, Communications & Alumni Office, the Office for Human Resources Management & Development, the Office of the Registrar and IT ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ.
For a list of available resources and upcoming training sessions on WISEflow, please visit this dedicated webpage.
