Week Five 22 October 2019

Heads Up for Week Five 

It's Week 5 and we are mid semester already. Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

Preparing for Uploading Marks in the New Student Records System

The first set of marks upload using the new system will be for Module Leaders with PG mark entry in November, followed by UG mark entry beginning in January 2020 (which is a lot closer than you think). Training and support is two-fold.

First, there is a Moodle-based online mark entry tutorial with guidance on how to complete mark entry in the new system.

How to start the tutorial

1. Go to the SRS Moodle course
2. Log in to Moodle when prompted using your usual Brookes login details.
3. Select 'Enrol'.
4. Select the ‘Mark Entry’ tab where you’ll find a self-guided tutorial (PDF) along with an instructional video. 
5. Use the link to the test area to complete the course activities.
6. Once complete, check the ‘Your progress’ box to indicate you have completed the tutorial and activities.

Second there is also F2F guided-practice sessions especially for staff involved in the first round of mark entry. Staff can book onto these, the details are below.

Sessions will run from the end of October to mid-November and are intended as an optional follow-on activity once you’ve completed the online training. During the session staff can work their way through the tutorial guide and use the test Banner environment to practice. To request a place on one of these guided-practice sessions, click on the: SRS training schedule and select a date.

Access Requests - If you are not a module leader but you need access to mark entry to do your job, or if you are a module leader and when you try to access the Student Information system (Banner) you get a ‘Not authorised message’ you will need to make a request for access to Banner Gradebook  using the Oxford Brookes Service Now Access Request page: https://service.brookes.ac.uk/brookes/make-request.do (requests must be approved by a line manager, please include their full name in the request). Contact the SRS Training team at srstraining@brookes.ac.uk if you have any questions.

What is Good Practice in Completing a Module Evaluation Report

The Faculty Quality Team are trying to attend Subject Committee Meetings (SCMs) across the Faculty this semester. One of the really important functions of SCMs is to review the previous semester's modules via the module reports which include results of the Moodle module evaluation that students complete. One of the Faculty actions for this year is to: 

• try and improve the response rate to the evaluation (aiming for 50% of students to complete each of their evaluations) and 
• the quality of the Module Report that goes to the SCM. 

This is an important part of acting of student feedback and to close the loop in showing students that we do value their feedback, Section 5 of the Module Reports is published on the Faculty Student Voice googlesite. This is the section that states the Module Leader's response to the feedback and any action taken.

This completed Module Report is annotated to show what good practice looks like in completing a Module (Evaluation) Report. Any reflections welcome, please use the comment box below.

Knowing the Market for Your Programme - Tools you can use

The University's Market Insight Team have developed a 'Know Your Market' tool with both UG and PG versions. 

You can use this tool to:

- give context to Brookes' recruitment trends
- help to prioritise marketing activities
- give context to programme and portfolio planning
- give context to planning student numbers
- generally 'knowing your market'

The tool shows basic market trends in UG and most PG subjects in which Brookes currently operates, including A level entries, UCAS applications and acceptances, and employment trends.
To access the tool click HERE. This takes you to a spreadsheet on a Google drive, accessible to Brookes users. You can treat this as a website; just bookmark to find the page again.
Be aware in this shared tool that other colleagues may be using the files and filters at the same time as you.

The tabs available in the tool are:

A level dashboard	trends in A level entries
UG recruitment dashboard	basic market trends for Undergraduate subjects in which Brookes currently operates
UG recruitment dashboard by domicile	as above, split by UK, EU, non-EU
PG recruitment dashboard	basic market trends for PGT subjects in which Brookes currently operates
PG recruitment dashboard by domicile	as above, by UK, EU, non-EU
Employment dashboard	UK employment trends

Please do not share the application, acceptance, and enrolment data outside Oxford Brookes University.   

Being involved in Validation Panels and Review Events

A great way to refresh your view of teaching and learning is to take part as a Panel member or Chair of a validation event for a new programme or review event. It can be really interesting to discuss teaching, assessment and other issues with a programme team and other Panel members from different subjects/disciplines, and to see how the University processes work with respect to getting new programmes off the ground, refreshed in a revalidation or reviewed. It's also interesting just to meet other staff from across the Uni (and partner colleges) and share experiences.

If you're interested, it really helps to take part in the basic training which will run again in January in time for all the validation events and reviews that tend to happen in the second half of the year.

Sign up for the training here


That's all for this week. Take care.

Week Four 14 October 2019

Heads Up for Week Four

It's Week 4 already and the nights are drawing in. Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful  – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

New Academic Conduct - What to do if you have student plagiarism, cheating or other academic conduct issues

Last week's Heads Up contained information about how students apply for the new Exceptional Circumstances. This week we're looking at how staff can refer student academic conduct issues if they arise. The Referral Guide is on a link on the right hand menu and contains full information about when, and when not, to refer; what to do when you are marking anonymously, and other situations.

The very basic information is that there's a form to use to refer student's work, and that it is now the Student Investigation and Resolution Team (SIRT) who deal with academic conduct issues (as well as Exceptional Circumstances). Please DO NOT conduct the staff who used to be Academic Conduct Officers in the Faculty, as that role no longer exists.

How to Refer 
The google form can be found via this link: https://forms.gle/97xJZAqe3PsWDH2q7 

If you need help you can contact the Student Investigation and Resolution Team, via sirt@brookes.ac.uk, 01865 484203 or in person at B1.10 (Buckley, Headington Campus)

Removing students from modules using the M99E/F99D forms before week 6

As in previous years, staff are able to remove non-attending students from their modules using an M99E form for UG students (see menu on right hand side for details and form) and an F99D form for PG students (the latter available on your Moodle dashboard under Forms).

If students have a module or modules on their programme in error, then staff can use the relevant form to help correct the student's programme. This may help those students who still have errors following the introduction of the new Student Information system.

However, please note that students need to be informed before modules are removed by staff this way and the link to the M99E makes this clear. Module Leaders are advised to check with Subject Coordinators before they remove non-attending students from UG modules to make sure the module concerned is definitely not needed.

Only Subject Coordinators and Programme Leads can remove modules from PG students' programmes using the F99D form.

Moodle - why students might not be able to access their Programme-level site

As a consequence of introducing the new Student Information system students may have been unenrolled from their Programme-level Moodle site and enrolled onto a new (though hidden) site.
This new site must now be used instead of the original site one. Please contact Faculty DMELD Patrick Cheeseman pcheeseman@brookes.ac.uk. He will roll over information from the old site and make it visible. Staff enrolled in the old site will also be given access to the new site.

What are Reasonable Adjustments and what do I need to do?

Information about the Reasonable Adjustments Framework is available on the main page of the Disability section of the Wellbeing web pages. This details the appropriate adjustments you may need to make if you have a student or students requiring them via their Inclusive Support Plan (ISP). This could mean adjustments to teaching sessions, your Moodle site, as well as assessment. The Framework aims to provide a context for expectations and entitlements for students considered to have a disability as defined by the Equality Act (2010).The main points to be aware of are:

• The University has a legal obligation not to treat disabled students less favourably
• Students have a responsibility to disclose any disability to the University and can do this at any point during their studies
• Disability/Dyslexia Advisors will recommend reasonable adjustments where appropriate
• Reasonable Adjustments are stated for each student in their Inclusive Support Plan and are disseminated to relevant staff with the student’s consent
• Home students will receive assistance in applying for Disabled Students Allowance
• EU/International students are not eligible for the DSA, but may be allocated a proportionate level of support
• Applicants are encouraged to disclose a disability so that their support needs can be agreed before they enrol.

That's all for this week.

Week Three 7 October 2019

Heads Up for Week 3

Thank you to staff who continue to work hard to get students set up for the year. In particular shout out to our Student Support Coordinators - Catherine, Emma, Marta and Sam, for helping students sort out their programmes and timetables.

Here’s this week’s quick round up of information that might be useful as we go into Week 3 – short points with links to detail where possible. Please use comments section at the end if you want to follow up.

NOW CLOSED Modules with Assessment Details Missing - are any of them yours? LAST CALL

The first run of assessment information has been loaded into Banner. Some modules failed to load - mostly because the assessment doesn't add up to 100% - so there are details missing. Check whether any of the modules are yours on this spreadsheet. (NOW CLOSED)
Use the following procedure for any amendments on each line please:

• the assessment type eg. "Written assignment (Individual)". Use the drop-down list to select from.
• the assessment name identifier for Banner eg. CWS2WEEK07 means that line is the second coursework and is due for submission in Week 7. Use the drop-down list to select from
• the assessment weighting. The combination of all of the components must add up to 100%
• please highlight your changes in yellow so they are visible - otherwise they won't get changed

Exceptional Circumstances - How will it work this semester?

Unfortunately the Exceptional Circumstances portal is not quite ready yet. Students have assessments due so the Student Investigation and Resolution Team (SIRT) have an alternative method they can use until the portal is working.
Students will need to complete a Google Form.

Here is the link: https://forms.gle/MwFmbw4bpNVrLYK8A

The SIRT will consider coursework extension requests and if successful will email the module leader and student with the outcome.

If the student is using the grace period or self-certifying for an in-class assessment this will be granted and recorded, but students will be asked to let their module leader know directly (by forwarding the google form receipt.) This is so that module leaders can mark appropriately, or rearrange the in-class assessment as necessary.

Information and the link to the form will be available on the webpage very soon (scheduled for mid week). In the meantime individual students who have enquired have been directed to contact their SSC if they need any information.

Annual Reviews (UG/PG and Collaborative)

This is the time of year when subject co-ordinators and programme leads are gathering their information to bring together their annual review reports and to hold meetings to discuss those reports. 

This year is slightly different than in previous years due to the reporting system, APTT, no longer being able to produce those reports as downloadable documents. In light of this there has been a new report template produced by APQO for teams to complete which focuses more on the narrative of the programme rather than the discussion on data and graphs. This is an opportunity to focus more on the student experience and quality of the teaching and learning on the programme and to celebrate the strengths of innovation and good practice. It also allows the team to think more collaboratively about how they may want to enhance their programme to become more inclusive with a focus on diversity.

Data is still available from APTT and from NSS, BSS and module evaluations and can be used to support the narrative and information presented in the review. In addition, the external examiner report should be acknowledged and any points raised addressed. Please note that responses to external examiners should have been sent in by now and these should have been copied to Henry Swift, our Faculty Quality Administrator. Please forward your response to external examiners as soon as possible if you haven’t done so already.

Help and guidance for the completion of the annual reviews can be found here on the Quality googlesite which was been updated on 8 October https://sites.google.com/brookes.ac.uk/quality-in-tde/annual-reviews?authuser=0

There are additional pages for collaborative provision, data and templates so please explore the site and read the guidance. If you have any questions about the annual reviews then please email Lucy Turner – lturner@brookes.ac.uk.


Have a great week!