February 10

Our session with the curriculum teams finally took place on 3rd February – unfortunately I was unable to be there due to a prior commitment but from all reports it went very well.

The team were able to feedback on what they had done so far and we were able to demonstrate some examples of good practice from around the College.

However it did become clear from this session that the controlled assessment phase of the course would impact on the progress of the project. Controlled Assessment is the process used to internally assess coursework on the new Diplomas under exam conditions. It means that the assessor has to supervise the production of assignments, access to resources and time controls. Controlled assessment will continue for the whole of the Spring term so we may need to review some the timing of some of the enhancements we are planning to introduce.

The biggest impact from this has been learners’ reluctance to use Mahara to showcase work as they are concerned about their work being plagiarised as they are preparing for the controlled assessment. Hopefully future opportunities will be more appropriate and effective.