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Using the Assessment Information block in QMplus to organise assessments

Note: This guide is relevant until mid-August 2022. Guidance relevant to the new QMplus theme will then be available here

There are many ways to organise assessment information in QMplus. The most effective way to do this is by using the Assessment Information block which will automatically collate all assessed activities that have been created in the QMplus module area.  This makes it easier for students to see, at a glance, all the coursework that they will need to complete for a particular module. It is possible to add new assessed activities directly to the block and it is also possible to add additional content to the block, such as coversheets, or special instructions so that students can easily access resources related to their assessments.

The assessment information block is part of our QMplus Baseline Standards

How to add the Assessment Information block

  1. Turn editing on in your course area from the top right of the page or select Turn editing on from the Settings block.

  2. Go to the Add a block menu (bottom right-hand side of the page).  Select Assessment Information.

  1. Adding the block will create a new tab called Assessment Info Block if the module area uses one of the following formats: Grid format (QMUL), Collapsed Topics (QMUL), Topics format (QMUL) or Weekly format (QMUL). The new tab will contains two sections;  Assessment Overview and Submit Assignments.
  2. Alternatively, if the module area uses a course format that does not support the use of tabs, the Assessment Information block will appear as a block in the right side of the module area and will contain the same two sections;  Assessment Overview and Submit Assignments. You will need to configure this block so that it appears at the top of the module area (known as Topic 0) and no longer appears on the right side of the module area.

A new topic will automatically be generated when the Assessment Information block is added to the module area. The name of the topic will be GENERATED BY ASSESSMENT INFORMATION BLOCK.  It will automatically be hidden from student view and can be found at the end of the module page. Please note that this topic is uniquely linked to the Assessment Information Block. You cannot link another topic to the Assessment Information Block and renaming this topic will not change the function.


Configuring the Assessment Information block (only for modules without tabs)

  1. From the Assessment information block, click on the cog icon and then select Configure Assessment information block.

  1. To select where the block will appear, under Where this block appears, select Topic Zero as the default region.  Under On this page, select Topic Zero as the region.
  2. To save these settings, click on Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.  The Assessment Information block will now appear at the top of the module area.

Add, edit and delete activities and resources in the Assessment Information block

The Submit Assignments section will automatically display all assessed activities that have already been created in the module area, including those that were brought across if the course was rolled over.
The Assessment Overview section can be used to provide easy access to useful module resources.  Hyperlinks can be added to the Assessment Overview section using either the URL option in add an activity or resource or as a hyperlink in text when using the Label option. It is also possible to add existing resources to the Assessment Overview section and create new activities and resources  from the Assessment Overview  section. If you wish, you can also change the Assessment Overview section heading to the heading of your choice.

  1. To make an existing resource appear in the Assessment Overview section, move the resource to the newly created topic – GENERATED BY ASSESSMENT INFORMATION BLOCK.  Refresh the page to see the resource in the Assessment Overview section.
  2. To create a new activity or resource, click on Add an activity or resource in the Assessment Overview section or in the GENERATED BY ASSESSMENT INFORMATION BLOCK  topic, then complete the process in the usual way. The newly created activity or resource will automatically be added to the GENERATED BY ASSESSMENT INFORMATION BLOCK  topic and will also be added to the relevant section within the Assessment Information block once you have refreshed the page.
  3. To add a hyperlink to the Assessment Overview  section choose the URL option in add an activity or resource.  Alternatively if you wish to add a hyperlink in text, choose the Label option.
  4. To edit or delete a resource that is in the GENERATED BY ASSESSMENT INFORMATION BLOCK  topic, find the resource in the topic and edit in the usual way or delete the resource.
  5. To change the heading of the Assessment Overview section, from the Assessment information block, click on the cog icon and then select Configure Assessment information block.
  6. In the Block settings section at the top of the page, change the Assessment overview heading to a heading that best describes the content you intend to add to the section.
  7. To save these settings, click on Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.

Adding and using an extra section in the Assessment Information block

Should you wish, you can choose to add an extra section to the block which can be used to further organise module resources. The extra section can also be used to temporarily hide assessed activities.

  1. To add the extra section, click on the cog icon and then select Configure Assessment information block.

  1. Tick the Enable extra section check box underneath the text editor, then add the heading of your choice.
  2. To save the settings, click on Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.  The extra section will now appear under the Assessment Overview section and you can now drag and drop items into the new section from the Assessment Overview and Submit Assignments sections.
  3. To use the extra section for assessed activities that you wish to keep hidden until a later date,  drag the activities from the Submit Assignments section and drop into the extra section.
  4. To hide the extra section and its contents, click on the cog icon and then select Configure Assessment information block. Remove the tick from the extra section check box.
  5. To save these settings, click on Save Changes at the bottom of the screen. The extra section will no longer be displayed in the course area.

Here is another example of how you might use the extra section to organise assessment information:

How due dates and submission times are displayed

When students view the Submit Assignments section, any assignments to which they have made a submission will display the submission date and time stamp, including seconds.  For students that are granted extensions, QMPlus will take into account any extensions that have been granted when displaying the assignment due date.

Note that students will not see assessment items that they do not have access to due to restrict access settings.

Did this answer your query? If not, you can raise a ticket on the online Helpdesk or email: its-helpdesk@qmul.ac.uk . Alternatively you can also request a particular guide or highlight an error in this guide using our guides request tracker.

Produced by the the Technology Enhanced Learning Team at Queen Mary University of London.
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