The Impact on Students of Coursework Assessment Deadlines and Penalties Dr Ray Stoneham School of Computing and Mathematical Science the University of Greenwich June 2008

The Impact of Deadlines Ariely and Wertenbroch – compared performance of students depending on whether deadline is imposed and staged self-selected and staged imposed and not staged – found that fixed imposed staged deadlines improve performance less procrastination more focused approach by students Are we all "Predictably Irrational" on deadlines?

The Impact on Students of Coursework Assessment Deadlines and Penalties Pre-university experience of students Current Deadline Policies in Universities Current Implementation at Greenwich Online system in CMS at Greenwich Data Collection Data Analysis Recommendations Benefits of Online Systems

Deadlines in Schools and Colleges A levels, GNVQs, etc. Distinction between formative and summative assessment may be blurred Deadlines may be flexible May be different experience for overseas students

Deadlines in Universities Mostly summative Wide range of policies – Zero tolerance – Sliding scale – Extenuating Circumstances Induction is crucial

Freedom Of Information Request Request sent 15 May 2008 Please can you supply me for the academic years 2006/07 and 2007/08: – A copy of your academic regulations regarding penalties for late submission of non-exam based assessment (eg coursework, essays, projects, dissertations) – Statistics for the imposition of penalties for late submission of non-exam based assessment items. Please supply the statistics grouped by main academic structure within the university (eg by faculty or school) and include the total number of items of assessment and the percentage of these items that have been penalised in accordance with the policy in force at the time.

University Deadline Policies and Implementation PolicyImplementation Statistics Response University of GreenwichZero toleranceNot held centrallyYes London South Bank UniversityNot yet University of East LondonAcknowledgement Plymouth UniversityZero toleranceNot held centrallyYes Exeter UniversityZero tolerance0.2%Yes Sheffield UniversitySliding scaleNot held centrallyYes Leeds UniversitySliding scaleNot held centrallyYes Hull UniversityAcknowledgement Cardiff UniversityNot yet Manchester UniversityZero tolerance OR sliding scale Not held centrallyYes Open UniversityZero toleranceNot held centrallyYes

The CMS Online Coursework Submission System Applies to all CMS coursework Enforces university policy on deadlines Integrates with other CMS systems – Assessment Offences – Extenuating Circumstances – Virtual Learning Environment – Staff Intranet Integrates with Corporate Systems

The System for CMS Students Unlimited number of uploads. The last one uploaded before deadline is the one that is marked Upload on the server by 3am the day after the due date 3am deadline is strictly enforced If Extenuating Circumstances approved may have up to 14 extra days If deadline missed and no ECs then any submission up to 14 days late may be considered as second attempt and capped at 40%

Statistics for CMS Uploads 15,000 Courseworks uploaded by 1,875 Students so far 2,800 invalid uploads – 1,300 – wrong file format – 1,050 – ZIP before PDF – 130 – File too big 162 Uploads are 10 minutes late 527 Uploads in 10 minutes before Deadline

The Way CMS Students Work

The Time of the CMS Uploads

Relationship Between Grade and Days Early for CMS Students

The System for Overseas Colleges Implemented from May 2008 Deadline is midnight local time in each centre 4100 Uploads by 687 Students 26 uploads are 1 minute late 122 Uploads are up to 10 minutes late 192 Uploads in 10 minutes before Deadline

The Way Overseas Students Work

The Time of the Overseas Uploads

Relationship Between Grade and Days Early for Overseas Students

The Benefits of Online Submissions Access to student work is easier Online marking is possible Centralised printing Submission to the JISC Anti Plagiarism service A complete audit trail is automatically created Staff time is saved – No more collecting and sorting paper hand-ins – No managing queues of anxious students – No lost work Quality Assurance is enhanced – Data analysis is easier – Ensuring policy is being implemented

The Things That Go Wrong Students have – Complained when their upload at 3:00:01 was treated as late and given zero – Renamed DOC files as PDF to enable them to upload – Uploaded a wrong file (by mistake?) and wanted to replace it after the deadline

The Recommendations for any Online Upload System Make the deadline early in the morning Put deadlines on Saturdays and Sundays Prepare students for online submission with a practice run Warn students that – they must have the file uploaded completely to the server by the deadline – server performance may be degraded at the deadline by excessive demand – penalties for late submission will be strictly enforced – their own technical problems and bad work practice are not valid extenuating circumstances Ensure that the server is up to the task, and that server logs can be examined where students feel they are being penalised unjustly Ensure all staff are consistent in implementing the system

The Final Benefit Deadline January 31 each year for self-assessment tax return £100 penalty plus interest charges