Electronic Submission of Assessments
For 2017/18 most assignments for PHY modules will be via electronic submission in Queen’s Online. For
written reports constituting a substantial proportion of the module mark (a few assessments at levels 3 and 4),
submission will be through Turnitin which has software which automatically checks the work for plagiarism. In
either case students will be required to submit an electronic pdf of their assignment work.
Rationale For Electronic Submission
Electronic Submission is Popular with Students
o Students do not have to be physically present at the University to submit
o Assignments can be submitted outside office hours
o Positive feedback was obtained from level 2 students last year who took part in a trial for the full
year
Access to Assignment Marks and Feedback
o Feedback on individual assignments will either be marked-up on the submitted pdfs and re-
uploaded, or entered in the QoL feedback text box
o The mark for each assignment will be entered on QoL
o Students will be able to review their submitted work at a later date as a revision aid or as an
indicator of their progress
There is a Record of Students’ Submission
o As assignments have become a larger component of module marks, external examiners (and
external auditors) will be able to review students’ coursework.
o This record can used as evidence for panels set up to investigate student appeals or suspected
academic offences
Challenges of Electronic Submission
Challenges for Students
o If the work is completed by hand, it needs to be scanned to a high quality
o The submitted pdf needs to be in the correct format (see submission protocols below)
Challenges for Staff
o Marking assignments and providing timely feedback is already immensely challenging for staff
when sometimes 80 or more scripts have to be marked. Electronic marking increases this workload
as the pdfs have to be downloaded and re-uploaded with comments.
o Not all staff are lucky enough to have access to the high-end tablet or hybrid laptop needed for
effective marking with an electronic pen. Some will be typing in comments onto the pdf or into the
QoL feedback textbox.
o Students sometimes submit poorly scanned work, multiple files, or pages with a variety of
orientations
Protocols For Electronic Submission in 2017/18
The deadline for electronic submission is normally 10 pm on the specified date
o Any submissions on the specified date but after 10pm will incur a 5% penalty
o The submission time is defined by that registered on QoL
o For assignments worth less than 10% of a full module, late submissions will receive a 5% penalty
per working day after the deadline up to a maximum of 2 working days, after which the assessment
will receive zero.
o If a feedback class has been scheduled less than 2 full days after the deadline, any submission after
this time receive zero.
o For assignments worth 10% or more of a full module, late submissions will receive a 5% penalty per
working day after the deadline up to a maximum of 5 working days, after which the assessment will
receive zero.
