Assignments

The First Assignment

Experience suggests that the first Tutor-Marked Assignment is easily the biggest hurdle that the student has to overcome. For this reason we have intentionally made the first assignment in all courses easier than the others.

Receipt and Return of WorkAs part of the initial contact there should be discussion as to when the student expects to take the examination and how they are going to plan their studies to meet that target.

The OOL tutor should be aware that if an adult student completes all the assignments (scoring 40%+) but fails to achieve Grade E or better in the examination, OOL is contractually obliged to return all their fees; tutors should do all they can to ensure that students attain this level at the very least. This is not a guarantee that we make to OHS students.Students can send their tutor assignments by two different methods. Firstly, by post and secondly, and increasingly commonly, by e-mail.When a student sends their assignment by post they should have attached a TMA cover sheet. They are sent the first three of these (ie TMA A, TMA B and TMA C) with their tutor documents and studypacks. They are then sent another two each time a postal assignment is processed.

The information given on the TMA cover sheet is student name, student number, the course name and the assignment name or letter. This is important because it enables us to process the TMA correctly. If a student forgets or doesnt have the relevant TMA cover sheet, that is the information that we need in order to process their TMA, together with the percentage mark awarded.

Assignments sent by e-mail to the tutor will not usually have a TMA cover sheet scanned in by the student but again the information needed is the same - student name, student number, the course name and the assignment name or letter. It is possibly worth reminding them of this and ask them to put it in the subject matter of the e-mail rather than just TMA D!If your students forget to put any of this information on their assignment please put it on for them but do remind them for next time! Without it their assignments may be held up. Similarly if the information is wrong ie the TMA letter is a repeat of one already done we will hold it back while it is investigated.

Returning TMAs Paper copies of TMAs can be marked and then returned to OOL in the pre- paid envelopes provided to tutors. It is not necessary to put one TMA to one envelope; as a general rule you can get three or even four in an envelope.

E-mail TMAs can be marked online and returned by e-mail. The tutor can do one of several things: download the TMA to a document on their own computer, giving it a personal name (ie student name and TMA letter), make comments in the document and then upload it as an attachment to an e-mail to the student

read the attachment and make comments in the message section of the return e-mail;

print off the document, make annotations and comments as necessary, scan the document and return it as an attachment to the student

print the document off and annotate and return to OOL in the pre paid envelope as before, ensuring all the information required is there for the assignment to be processed.

The latter is probably the option we would least recommend because of the length of time it may take in the post, except possibly in the case of Maths and Science courses.

If you return the TMA to the student by e-mail it is essential that the following routine is carried out: the marked TMA should be returned to the student with any comments you feel are required in the message section. Tutors then must log on to the Tutor Application (TA) and make a note of the TMA marked via the students assignment screen, giving percentage mark and any notes needed to remind themselves of what they need to discuss with the student about the assignment. Without this record on the TA the tutor will not be paid for having marked the assignment! Recording on the TA in this way also triggers an automated e-mail to the student with a copy of the specimen answers for that TMA.However please do not follow this system with TMAs received through the post; these are processed on to the TA at the OOL office. TMAs received by post at OOL are, as a general rule, processed within 1-2 days of receipt. This is not always the case during very busy periods but we aim to process as soon as possible and TMAs are always dealt with in a strictly first in, first out system. Paper TMAs have the marks logged on the students record (which triggers the pay to the tutor!) and then a covering letter confirming the mark is sent with the original TMA and specimen answers for that particular assignment. Please see the section on Recording Contact recording an e-mailed assignment for information about e-mailed assignments and the TA.Should you receive a TMA through the post that has been held up due to insufficient postage being paid we do have a procedure to try and ensure this doesnt happen again. Firstly, we will of course reimburse you for any extra postage you may have had to pay. We would also suggest that you make sure that the student is aware of the inconvenience that you have had to suffer in order to collect the work from the nearest post office. Please let OOL know and we will include in the returned work a note explaining what has happened and stating that any similar work in future will carry a 10 surcharge to enable it to be returned.

TMAs marked at less than 40%Should a student not gain a mark of 40% or over then we will expect them to resubmit the TMA and specimen answers will not be sent to them until they have attained a mark of 40% or over. Tutors should be aware that students will be required to re-submit their TMA and they should offer whatever help and assistance is needed to guide them through. A standard letter is sent with the returned TMA asking them to contact their tutor for assistance when re-doing the work.You will find that if you attempt to put a mark of less than 40% on the TA you will not be able to! In this instance please e-mail the marked TMA together with your comments to your students, but ALSO cc assignments@ool.co.uk. We still need a % mark as this mark triggers the pay to you. We will then take a look at the TMA and contact the student if we feel that we should discuss with the student the problems they are having. We will then log the TMA (which ensures the tutor is paid for marking it).

Awarding marksDepending on the subject, some tests have a clear mark scheme and some do not. Where there is no mark scheme suggested, you will need to devise your own practices. Marks awarded should be numerical, i.e. either in the form of a percentage or out of a given total, e.g. 13/20. If possible choose a total which divides into 100 (e.g. 10, 20, 50) so that it is easy to deduce the percentage. Please do not use a letter grading system (e.g. A, B+, etc)

You are particularly requested to award 100% marks as rarely as possible, because it represents almost faultless work and gives the student no room for further improvement. This suggestion is not applicable for Mathematics where it is possible to receive 100%.Whatever mark you award, even if it is a very high one, please give sufficient comment to justify to the student whatever loss of marks is concerned. In good papers this may only consist of suggestions for minor improvement; in bad ones it will entail helpful advice, references to textual passages, etc. as well as factual correction. It is seldom sufficient merely to refer the student to the specimen answers.

If you deduct marks for untidy work, illegibility, bad setting out, etc, state as part of your general comment that you have done so.

Other aspects of markingAssigning a mark is only one part of the tutors marking job. The tutor is expected to give attention to the students written work and put in written comments, designed to encourage and improve the students performance.

The nature of the comments will, of course, vary enormously from one subject to another and one student to another. To a degree, tutor performance will be monitored according to the number and type of comments made by the tutor. If it is apparent to the Tutor Manager that a particular tutor is not marking in the most helpful way, the tutor may be given some guidance on how to improve marking performance.

All assignments go back with sets of suggested answers, so it would be pointless for the tutor to duplicate those answers in his comments. The answers can be taken for granted, leaving the tutor to assist with more detailed points, matters of presentation, suggestions for revision or further reading, amplification of topics, study tips, etc. We also recommend that further feedback is given verbally after the student has received his marked TMA back. Practice papersAs students reach examination stage they will, hopefully, have completed the assignments in their study pack, the last of which is usually a practice exam. At this stage we strongly urge tutors to suggest to students that they also obtain past papers from the examination board and complete these (preferably in exam-like situations). Papers should be returned via OOL or via assignments@ool.co.uk. It is expected that tutors will explain to students how important it is to have such preparation before they enter the examination. Tutors will be paid for marking up to two past papers per student. You should find copies of recent past papers (together with the marking schemes) on Alfresco. Please also try to ensure that your students are well aware that marks obtained at home with no pressure are not necessarily a reliable indicator of exam performance.