Moderation is here!
I'm not going to lie, I think moderation might be the feature that I was most looking forward to including in SmartRubric. Like many KS4 and KS5 teachers, I have participated in many epic moderation sessions.
They all start the same way. The big table. The enormous stack of coursework files next to each seat. There is no kettle, but that is intentional. Fleeing to the staff room at regular intervals on the flimsy excuse of a cuppa is one of the only things that keeps you sane. The jovial, strained tones of your colleagues at the beginning of the session, the grim and aching silence at the end.
And the worst part -- the sheer volume of admin. There's keeping track of what everyone gave each piece, and why. There's recording your final mark and the justification for it. There's filling in pro forma after pro forma in snatched moments for days afterwards to prepare your sample. There's the horrifying realisation that Timmy's folder has been called and he hasn't signed his bl**dy coversheet and he's off on study leave until July.
In short, it sucks. And if you get it wrong -- if there's one number out of place, or one piece missing, your students suffer. It's a repetitive, burdensome task that is extremely sensitive to human error, and when its April and the humans in question are Easter Wraiths (you know what I mean, teachers), that is seriously bad news.
The good news is that repetitive, burdensome tasks are what computers are for, and SmartRubric in particular has been designed in every aspect lift all of that trouble off of your shoulders so that you can spend your time on more meaningful aspects of the job. When it comes to moderation, that means devoting your full attention to evaluating students in a useful way and collaborating with colleagues to ensure that your marks are consistent.
SmartRubric captures all of the marking as you and your colleagues do it, and digests it, and compares it, and flags up divergence:
It lets you see exactly how each moderator awarded marks, and highlights specific objectives that were marked differently:
It generates summative statements using language from the mark schemes so that you can copy that into your justification for marks awarded:
External examiners love that.
All that remains is for you to review the moderation summary, confirm the final mark and save the commentary. Boom. Tea time.
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| We can't really help with this part of moderation. |
They all start the same way. The big table. The enormous stack of coursework files next to each seat. There is no kettle, but that is intentional. Fleeing to the staff room at regular intervals on the flimsy excuse of a cuppa is one of the only things that keeps you sane. The jovial, strained tones of your colleagues at the beginning of the session, the grim and aching silence at the end.
And the worst part -- the sheer volume of admin. There's keeping track of what everyone gave each piece, and why. There's recording your final mark and the justification for it. There's filling in pro forma after pro forma in snatched moments for days afterwards to prepare your sample. There's the horrifying realisation that Timmy's folder has been called and he hasn't signed his bl**dy coversheet and he's off on study leave until July.
In short, it sucks. And if you get it wrong -- if there's one number out of place, or one piece missing, your students suffer. It's a repetitive, burdensome task that is extremely sensitive to human error, and when its April and the humans in question are Easter Wraiths (you know what I mean, teachers), that is seriously bad news.
The good news is that repetitive, burdensome tasks are what computers are for, and SmartRubric in particular has been designed in every aspect lift all of that trouble off of your shoulders so that you can spend your time on more meaningful aspects of the job. When it comes to moderation, that means devoting your full attention to evaluating students in a useful way and collaborating with colleagues to ensure that your marks are consistent.
SmartRubric captures all of the marking as you and your colleagues do it, and digests it, and compares it, and flags up divergence:
 |
| I feel like Pippin is probably the one who forgot to sign his coversheet. |
It lets you see exactly how each moderator awarded marks, and highlights specific objectives that were marked differently:
It generates summative statements using language from the mark schemes so that you can copy that into your justification for marks awarded:
External examiners love that.
All that remains is for you to review the moderation summary, confirm the final mark and save the commentary. Boom. Tea time.
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