Moodle Workshop

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Overview

The Workshop Activity provides a robust tool for setting up peer reviewing for assessment of assignments submitted to the workshop. Moodle Workshop has four phases, Set up, Submission, Assessment, and Evaluation. Each phase is explained below, however, the first step is for the instructor to create the workshop:

Create

1.     In edit mode, go to a section and click on choose 'Workshop' from the Add an Activity or Resource link

2.     Give the workshop a name and description

3.     Select the settings appropriate for the assignment. There are quite a few settings, so if you are not sure, leave everything as default. See the Moodle Doc for  Workshop settings for more detailed information.

4.     Grading settings - students receive two grades, one for the work they submit and one for the quality of their peer assessments. The page Workshop grading strategies explains this more.

5.     Submission settings is where you explain the task they must submit.

6.     Assessment settings is where you give a brief outline of how they will assess the work of their peers.

7.     Feedback will, if enabled, allow students to add text comments when they review each other's work.

8.     Example submissions, if enabled, allows you to provide examples for students to practice with before they begin peer assessing. (Enabling this opens more options.)

9.     Availability gives you the option to allow students to start peer assessing as soon as the submission deadline is over, rather than you enabling this manually.

10.Click Save and display and explore the Workshop phases in the section Teacher view below, making sure you complete the Set up phase and switch to the Submission phase when you want your students to begin the activity.

Teacher view in Edit Mode

Click on the link to the workshop assignment to see the Set up Phase:

Set up Phase

Once a Workshop activity has been created and saved, it is in the Set up phase. It must be in the Submission phase for students to be able to submit work and then moved to the Assessment phase for them to review each other's submissions. The switch may automatic or manual.

This phase is where the instructor configures the workshop, including setting up the assessment criteria and deadlines. 

 

Student View of Setup phase:

Submission Phase

In a Moodle Workshop, the "submission phase" is the period where students are able to upload and submit their work for peer review, essentially the time when they can actively contribute their piece to the workshop activity; this phase occurs before the assessment phase where students would then review each other's submissions.

Teacher view of Submission phase in Edit Mode

Key points about the submission phase:

• Student action: During this phase, students can access the workshop and submit their work by uploading a file or typing directly into the text box.
• Timeframe: The submission phase is controlled by dates and times set by the instructor, with a defined start and end date for submissions. 
  
• Editing submissions: Students can usually edit their submissions until the submission deadline.
• Teacher control: The instructor can manage when the workshop transitions into the submission phase by adjusting the settings in the workshop activity. 
  

Student view of Submission phase

Student view of their submission

Assessment Phase

In a Moodle Workshop, the "assessment phase" is the stage where students review and provide feedback on their peers' submissions, essentially performing peer assessment on each other's work; this is where students actively evaluate the quality of their classmates' work based on the criteria set by the instructor.

Key points about the assessment phase in Moodle Workshop:

• Student action: During this phase, students are presented with a set of submissions from their peers and are required to assess them using a provided rubric or grading criteria.
• Feedback provision: Students can leave detailed feedback comments alongside their assigned grades, providing constructive criticism to their peers.
• Automatic allocation: The system can automatically allocate submissions to students for review, ensuring everyone gets a chance to assess multiple peers' work.
• Teacher oversight: While students are assessing each other, the instructor can monitor the process and intervene if necessary. 

The instructor reviews the peer assessments and finalizes the grades for each student based on the combined feedback. 

Evaluation Phase

In a Moodle Workshop, the "evaluation phase" refers to the stage where the instructor calculates the final grades for student submissions based on peer assessments, and provides feedback to both the authors and reviewers; essentially, this is the phase where the system determines the final grade for each participant based on the assessment data collected during the previous assessment phase, where students reviewed each other's work.

Key points about the evaluation phase:

·       Function: Moodle automatically calculates final grades by comparing the different peer assessments and identifying the most "consensus" grade, taking into account how closely the assessments align with the overall group evaluation. 

·       Instructor control: While the system automatically calculates the grades, instructors can adjust the "strictness" of the comparison, allowing them to control how much weight is given to outlier assessments. 

·       Feedback provision: During this phase, instructors can provide feedback to both the authors of the submissions and the reviewers who assessed them. 

·       No further edits: Once the workshop enters the evaluation phase, students cannot modify their submissions or assessments. 

             This article was created with help from the Google AI assistant.