Improve online text assignment submission screen

THIS IS AN MUA PROJECT PROPOSAL THAT WILL BE OR HAS BEEN SUBMITTED FOR POSSIBLE MUA FUNDING.  ANY EXISTING TRACKER ITEMS THAT THIS MIGHT DUPLICATE SHOULD BE LINKED TO BELOW.  

Overview

To enhance the UX and workflow of the online text assignment submission page, mainly for the context of a student submitting an essay type assessment in a timed/exam type scenario, but it's also applicable more generally. 

Over the last two years, as assessment has moved online, we have been using the quiz essay for timed assessment, but since we got timing developed for assignment (in 4.0) we will eventually switch to that activity to accomplish this as the grading workflow is more suitable.  

The choice of submitting a document or entering text into the editor is possible with both tools, however the scenario of writing online with either tool we think could do with some UX improvements. 

We assessed a tool by a company called Cadmus in 2021, for a slightly different context, however it made us think that the process of writing online using assignment could be improved in a similar way. 

Initially this work could involve reorganising the panes on the online text submission page to allow a larger panel for writing/editing with a side panel (and others with supporting information) to present relevant assignment information to assist with giving context in an assessment scenario eg the associated rubric, text matching data, word count, timer as well as putting the assignment title and description/tasks in the same context as the mode of submission. Currently when you enter the assignment to submit you tend to lose context. 

An example of how it might look would be the grading page for teaching roles, with a full page design, a main editing panel and a side panel.

Summary

• Project size: medium/large
• Audience: primary schools, universities, work places
• Target users: teachers, students, administrators

Goals

Improve the UX of online assignment submission

User Stories 

As a teacher, I should be able to enter elements to assist in scaffolding the aims of the assessment that will appear for students as they write the assignment. I want to make sure students are able to focus on their assignment and be clear around the aims and criteria upon which they are being assessed. I want to provide assistance around things like academic writing in the context of them actually doing the assessment.

As a student, I should be able to focus on comfortably writing the assignment online in an editor and have feedback around context of the aims, assistance available and know how long I have left to complete, as well as feedback/assurance that a draft is saved as I write. Word count and current text matching feedback would also be useful to know as I write.

As an admin, I should be able to configure elements that should be available for different roles, configure layout for different scenarios and configure text matching integration.

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Links to existing tracker issues, forum discussions, contrib plugins

not known

Requirements

see attachment for initial basic mock up

Further reading

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