Summative Assessment Tools - Staff Guide

This guide highlights the tools available for summative assessments at Leeds and their main use cases.

View the supported tools for:

• Tests - typically a series of questions e.g. multiple choice/fill in the blank/matching/hot spot
• File/Handwritten submission - what to use for file uploads e.g. text/audio/video
• Tools to return grade/feedback without an online submission,  for example, a presentation delivered in person
• Blogs/Journals - a tool/webpage where students can record regular events or observations
• Portfolio - a workbook/e-portfolio typically used to support placements and programme based assessment

If you need more help or advice on which tool to use, contact us for support.

Tests

Our most used test tool at Leeds is Blackboard (Minerva) Test. In general, this is recommended as staff and students will already be familiar with the interface and it fulfils most use cases. Gradescope and Mobius (EPS main users) can be more useful for specialised maths questions.

Tool	Useful for	Minerva Gradebook Integration	Minerva Calendar Integration	Key Features
Blackboard (Minerva) Test	Most test types.	Yes	Yes	8 question types with automatic marking and mark by question for manual marking.
Gradescope Online Assignment	For subjects utilising STEM formulae/programming or code. Rubrics can speed up marking.	Yes	No	5 question types. Supports Markdown syntax.
Mobius Assignment - EPS main users	Auto-grading students’ understanding of math-based concepts in STEM subjects.	Yes	Yes	17 question types. Supports algebra, calculus, differential equations, discrete mathematics, statistics, numerical computation.

File/Handwritten Submission

Text based summative assessment must have a Turnitin similarity report generated.

Turintin Assignment and Blackboard (Minerva) Assignment can both generate these reports (although it is not supported for group or parallel grading in Blackboard Assignment). For a deeper comparison of these two tools, see our comparison between Blackboard Assignment and Turnitin.

Tool	Useful for	Minerva Gradebook Integration	Minerva Calendar Integration	Key Features
Turnitin	File submissions (not video/audio). Accepts one file/does not preserve previous attempts.	Yes	Yes	Turnitin similarity report. Inline marking, rubrics, text feedback options, 3 minute audio feedback option.
Blackboard (Minerva) Assignment	File submissions (not video/audio unless you are a Panopto earlier adopter). Accepts multiple files and preserves previous attempts.	Yes	Yes	Turnitin similarity report (apart from group submission/parallel marking). Inline marking, rubrics, content editor for feedback (including video/audio/file upload).
Gradescope Homework Assignment	Handwritten submissions, typically code or maths.	Yes	No	Handwritten work is scanned in for inline marking. No Turnitin similarity report is generated so this is not suitable for text based submissions.
Feedback Fruits Assignment Review - pilot for summative assessment	Audio/video	Yes	No	Inline feedback, tagging particular feedback. No Turnitin similarity report is generated so this is not suitable for text based submissions.
Blackboard (Minerva) Assignment using Panopto integration - for Panopto early adopters. See our news post about Panopto which includes information on how to become an early adopter.	Audio/video.	Yes	Yes	Integration with Panopto (media streaming platform). Rubrics, content editor for feedback (including video/audio/file upload). Supports group assignment.

Tools to return grade/feedback without an online submission

These options can be useful for recording and returning grades/feedback for assessments such as presentations. All three tools are similar, with rubrics available for marking and a variety of methods for returning feedback.  If you have no preference, you may prefer to use a tool you use for other assessment types for consistency.

Tool	Minerva Gradebook Integration	Minerva Calendar Integration	Key Features
Turnitin Assignment (no submission)	Yes	Yes	Rubrics, text feedback options, quickmarks (bank of comments to reuse), 3 minute audio feedback option. You must mark each student as submitting offline.
Blackboard (Minerva) Assignment (collect submissions offline)	Yes	Yes	Supports Group assessment. Rubrics, content editor for feedback (including video/audio/file upload). You must enter a submission time/date entered for each student.
Feedback Fruits Skill Review - pilot for summative assessment	Yes	No	Supports Group assessment. Pre-made feedback cards, rubrics.

Blog/Journal

At Leeds we have a Journal tool in Minerva which can be used for activities where students need a private space to record events or information which only module staff can see. We also have a pilot of CampusPress (powered by WordPress, an industry leading blogging tool). It can be used for assessment purposes by creating a class blog, in which the instructor has oversight of their student’s work.

Tool	Useful for	Minerva Gradebook Integration	Minerva Calendar Integration	Key features
Blackboard (Minerva) Journal	Personal reflections/Blog (cannot be shared)	Yes	Yes	Easy to use, students can use the standard Minerva editor to create entries.
CampusPress	Blogs and websites. Specific workflows must be used for summative assessment. For support, please contact us via the IT website	No	No	Industry leading blogging tool with a wide range of editing options.

Portfolio

Portfolios are commonly used to support in-placement and programme-based assessment with an increasing number of disciplines considering their use in aligning learning and teaching practices to learning outcomes.

Tool	Minerva Gradebook Integration	Minerva Calendar Integration	Key features
PebblePad	Yes	No	Scaffolding assessment; Competency-based learning; Placement (inc Apprenticeship); Tripartite assessment; MiniCEX & OSCE support; Assessing reflective practice; Mobile logging of evidence and/or hours.