Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA) Guidance
Review Date, see bottom of the page
What is Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA)?
Contents
The term Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA) refers to the way that technology can be used ‘across the assessment lifecycle to support the electronic submission of assignments as well as marking and feedback’. (JISC EMA Guide). The terms “online submission” and “online marking” are also commonly used:
- Online submission is the process by which a student submits work online for storage and retrieval by academic, administrative or other staff for marking, feedback or review. This can also include originality checking to help identify plagiarism using Turnitin.
- Online marking is the process by which staff provide marks and feedback to students online, which can include online annotations e.g. using Google Classroom online grading, annotated files e.g. using comments in Microsoft Word, audio, video, or the use of online forms.
Benefits of Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA)
EMA offers a range of benefits for students and staff which have been summarised in JISC’s EMA guide.
Tools and approaches for online marking and feedback
There is currently no single tool which supports all EMA requirements, so workflows are available using Google Classroom and Scribbr. Each of these tools has pros and cons depending on requirements. For guidance on supported and recommended marking workflows see EMA guides. If you are considering using online marking, please contact MaCTRI’s central IT services, who will be able to provide advice on the most appropriate tool.
Approaches for providing feedback
- Provide digital feedback files e.g. standard feedback forms in Word format.
- Annotate work, for example using comments in Word or Adobe Reader. Upload annotated assignments back into Google Classroom.
- Fill in an online feedback form (rubric), available in Google Classroom.
- Create audio or video/screencast feedback, and make this available to students via Google Classroom.
- Annotate work directly in Google Classroom.
Health and safety
If you are marking or administering marking online, please see the Health and Safety policy on using display screen equipment.
The University of York has some useful guidance about reading on screen.
REVIEW
The effectiveness of this policy and associated arrangements will be reviewed annually under the direct supervision of the MEaP Head of the Institute.
Date: April 2022
Review Date: April 2023