Marking with MFA
Multi-format assessments come with built-in capabilities to automatically mark all question types, with the exception of extended response questions.
How does auto-marking work for each question type?
True/False Questions
These question types require students to select an answer between ‘True’ or ‘False’. Cadmus identifies if the student has chosen the correct option as set by the teacher.
If the student chooses the correct answer, they are awarded the full points set for that question in the assessment. If they choose a wrong answer they score 0 points.
NOTE:
- True/False Questions can only have one correct answer.
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
Multiple Choice question types require students to choose one or more correct answers from several choices.
For MCQs that have one correct answer -
If the student chooses the correct answer, they are awarded the full points set for that question in the assessment. If they choose a wrong answer they score 0 points. Note that the student can only select one answer in this case.
For MCQs that have more than one correct answer -
If the student chooses all the correct options, they are awarded full points set for that question. If the student chooses some correct options, they are awarded partial points depending on how many choices they got right for that question.
Worked example:
If a question has 3 accepted choices, and total points is 3, each choice worth 1 point, and a student gets 2 choices right, they score a total of 2 points.
Note that the student can select more than one answer in this case. In some cases, the student may select more answer choices than the total accepted answer choices. In such a case, students are awarded 0 points regardless of the number of choices they have gotten correct for that question.
NOTE:
- Multiple Choice Questions can have one or more than one correct answers.
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer and there is partial marking.
Short Answer Questions
These question types require students to type in a response like a word or a short phrase. Cadmus checks for the similarity between the student’s response and the accepted answers specified by the teacher in the assessment.
If the student's response meets or exceeds the similarity score % set on the question, they are awarded the full points set for that question in the assessment.
NOTE:
- All answers inputted by the teacher in the accepted answers are correct for Short Answer Question types.
- If case sensitivity is switched on, the similarity matching would be at 100%, which means only exact matches to accepted answers will be awarded full points.
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer and there is no partial marking.
Fill in the Blanks Questions
Fill in the Blanks Questions are scored per blank. This question type requires students to either type in their answer or select from a dropdown of possible answers.
- The total points set for the question are equally divided between the number of blanks in the question.
- Student responses per blank are scored individually.
- Points from each blank are combined into the total points scored on the question.
Worked example:
If a question has 4 blanks, and the total points are 8, each blank is worth 2 points. If a student answers 3 out of the 4 blanks correctly, they score a total of 6 points.
NOTE:
- For dropdown Fill in the blank question types, only one option can be marked as the correct answer.
- For text Fill in the blank question types, all answers inputted by the teacher in the accepted answers are correct.
- For text Fill in the blank question types, Cadmus checks for the similarity between the student’s response and the accepted answers specified by the teacher in the assessment.
If case sensitivity is switched on, the similarity matching would be at 100%, which means only exact matches to accepted answers will be awarded full points.
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer and there is partial marking.
Matching Questions
Matching Questions are scored per Question/Answer pair. If all the Question/Answer pairs match, the student will be awarded full points set for that question. If only some Question/Answer pairs match, the student will be awarded partial points depending on the number of pairs they matched correctly.
NOTE:
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer and there is partial marking.
Numerical Questions
Numerical Questions require students to input answers that are either exact numbers or a range of numbers. Cadmus checks for the margin of error between the student’s response and the accepted numerical answers specified by the teacher.
If the student’s answer matches or fits within the margin of error % as the answer set, they are awarded the full points set for that question in the assessment.
NOTE:
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer and there is no partial marking.
Hotspot Questions
Hotspot Questions require students to identify points or labels by marking hotspots, entering text label answers or selecting out of a dropdown of possible answers on an image.
- The total points set for the question are equally divided between the number of hotspots or labels in the question.
- Student responses per hotspot or label are scored individually.
- Points from each hotspot or label are combined into the total points scored on the question.
Worked example:
If a question has 2 hotspots or labels, and the total points are 4, each blank is worth 2 points. If a student correctly marks/identifies 1 out of the 2 hotspots/labels correctly, they score a total of 2 points.
NOTE:
- For text-type label Hotspot questions, the answer typed by the student should exactly match the accepted answer for them to score full points set for that question.
- There is no negative marking for a wrong answer and there is partial marking.
Extended Response Questions
Extended Response Questions are not auto-marked in MFA. These will need to be marked manually in the designated marking tool, much like classic Cadmus assessments.
How does MFA & auto-marking work with my marking tool?
Multi-format assessments do not disrupt the existing marking workflow. There are some key concepts that help explain how marking in MFA works.
Points Total
Cadmus can calculate the total points for an assessment by adding up the points specified for each question. These include all the auto-marked question types as well as the extended response question type. The points total is displayed under the heading of the assessment in the MFA builder.
When using Cadmus Marker or Turnitin Feedback Studio, this points total is automatically passed on to the marking tool as the maximum possible score for the assessment.
This is visible in the assessment settings.
For any other Marking tool, the points total needs to be manually updated in the assignment settings within the LMS.
Automark Total vs Manual Marking
Since an assessment can include both auto-marked and manually marked question types, the overall marks are calculated in two parts as well.
- Automark total
This is the total points the student has scored on the auto-marked questions. When the student submission is viewed in a marking tool, a summary of the scores on the auto-marked questions is available at the very top.
The total points awarded on auto-marked questions available in this summary is the auto-mark total.
To add these points to the overall student score:
- Manually add these points to the total score in the marking tool, or
- Create a rubric criteria for the auto-marked total and use it to input this score. The marking tool will automatically add these points to the total score.
NOTE: If the marking tool doesn’t accept decimal values, points may be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.
NOTE: The auto-mark total (student scores on the auto-marked questions) will not be automatically passed on to the marking tool or the LMS grade book.
It will need to be entered manually into the marking tool; either by adding it to the total score, or within a rubric criterion created specifically for it.
A ready summary that includes this total will show up on each submission in the marking tool.
- Manual Marking
This is the score provided by the markers after evaluating the extended responses within the marking tool.
Student submissions visible in the marking tool will include all extended responses in addition to the automark summary section.
Markers can grade these responses as usual, using all features of the marking tool like annotations and comments, etc.
Only one common rubric can be used for all the extended responses.
For assessments with multiple extended responses, the rubric can be set up with criteria for every extended response and an additional criterion for the auto-mark total.
Downloading fully auto-marked submissions with responses from the Teacher Environment
The entirety of a student’s submission along with the auto-marking decisions, scores and extended responses can be downloaded as PDFs from the class list on the Marking tab in the teacher’s view for Cadmus.