Submitting Artifacts
What courses are due for assessment?
In Academic Year 2024-25, Cohort B courses are due for centralized assessment. Instructors of record for Core Curriculum courses due for centralized assessment are contacted via email by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Evaluation (assessment@tamu.edu).
- Written Communication will be assessed for all Cohort B courses.
- Empirical & Quantitative Skills (Analytical or Computational) will be assessed for Cohort B courses in the following FCAs: Life & Physical Sciences; Mathematics; and Social & Behavioral Sciences.
- Personal Responsibility will be assessed for Cohort B courses in the following FCAs: American History; Communication; Government/Political Science; and Language, Philosophy, & Culture.
The due date to submit artifacts for centralized assessment is:
Monday, December 16, 2024 for Fall 2024 courses
Monday, May 12, 2024 for Spring 2025 courses
What assignment should I select?
Instructors should identify one assignment where students are instructed to demonstrate the core objective that will be assessed. In identifying or creating the assignment, OIEE recommends reviewing the Core Objectives & Rubrics to ensure that the assignment aligns with what students are expected to demonstrate. For more information about the content that is expected in artifacts (student-produced work) per core objective, please refer to Instructor Resources.
OIEE can assess a variety of assignments as long as the appropriate core objective rubric can be applied to the artifacts. Prominent artifacts include research essays, mathematical calculations, reflection essays, response papers, laboratory/observational reports, open-ended exam/quiz questions, recorded audio/video presentations, slide decks, and portfolios.
Instructors can submit artifacts in one of two ways: Canvas linking or file sharing. For both methods of submission, instructors will ideally submit one artifact per student enrolled in the course. OIEE encourages Canvas linking if possible, as this is the simplest method of submission.
Minimum requirements of the assignment:
- The assignment is worth points/contributes to the student's grade in the course.
- All students in the course are required to submit the assignment (i.e., not extra credit).
- The assignment results in an individual file per student or a file that can be split up into individual student submissions.
Examples of artifacts OIEE is able to assess:
- Canvas Assignments or Open-ended quiz question from Canvas
- The submission types supported by the Canvas linking process are "File Upload," "Website URL," or "Media Recordings." Screenshots of these options are available in the section below titled "Assignment and Quiz Question Setup Screenshots."
- Written work in files types like Microsoft Word or PDF
- Video recordings in file types like .mov or .avi
- PowerPoint/Google Slides presentations
- Audio files like MP4
- Visual creations in file types such as PDF
- Web links to submissions (i.e., YouTube videos, Google docs, etc.)
- Student submissions from a third party tool like Gradescope if student submissions are separated into individual files
- If the third party tool only allows a mass download for an assignment, consider using other tools (like Mail Merge or Adobe Acrobat) to separate the files into individual student submissions.
Examples of artifacts that OIEE is unable to assess:
- "Discussion Boards" from Canvas
- Canvas Open-ended quiz question from a bank of randomized questions
- File types with .txt extension
- Apple-specific file types (.pages, .heic, etc.)
- TikTok videos
- Multiple student responses in one document (i.e., one file with links to multiple student responses)
- One file with links to multiple URLs
- Files with response items only (i.e., spreadsheet of student answers)
- Multiple-choice exams/quizzes
- Illegible files/documents (i.e., scanned documents with poor image quality)
How do I submit artifacts via Canvas?
The following process links student work submitted in Canvas to HelioCampus (formerly AEFIS, the cloud-based assessment management system) for centralized assessment by OIEE. Assignments in Canvas can be linked prior to students submitting their work. OIEE will only be given access to the students' submissions, not the instructor-provided grades, notes, or comments.
Supported Submission Types
- The linked assignment must be worth points in Canvas; it cannot be a no- or extra-credit assignment. However, the assignment does not have to count towards the final grade in Canvas; in the assignment options, you can select "Do not count this assignment towards the final grade" without disrupting the linking process.
HelioCampus (formerly AEFIS) supports student-assigned works that are labeled Assignment or Open-ended quiz question in Canvas.
- The submission types supported by the Canvas linking process are "File Upload," "Website URL," or "Media Recordings." Text box entries are not supported at this time. Screenshots of accepted assignment types are available by following the "Assignment and Quiz Question Setup Screenshots" link to the right.
Assignment Linking through Canvas
This option is only available for courses with a single section in a Canvas course page. For combined courses in Canvas (e.g., CHEM 101 501-504), follow the steps in “Assignment Linking through HelioCampus.”Assignment Linking through HelioCampus
Multiple sections that are combined in a single Canvas course page need to be linked per section in HelioCampus (formerly AEFIS).Answer Key for Empirical & Quantitative Skills
Assignment linking through Canvas or HelioCampus (formerly AEFIS) does not provide the option to upload an answer key. If you are submitting an answer key for Empirical & Quantitative Skills, please complete the Answer Key Submission Form.How do I submit artifacts via file sharing?
Instructors can indicate that they would like to submit artifacts via file sharing via the form below. OIEE will then create and share a link to a SharePoint folder per core objective. If downloading all student submissions from an assignment in Canvas, follow these steps.
If you would like to submit artifacts for assessment via file sharing, please click Request SharePoint Folder below.
Instructions for SharePoint Submission
- Request a SharePoint folder via the above link. You will have the option to submit an answer key for Empirical & Quantitative Skills if applicable.
- You will receive an email from assessment@tamu.edu with instructions and access to your folder(s). If your course is being assessed for more than one objective, you will receive a folder per core objective. Folders are manually created, so please allow time for processing.
- Identify one assignment where students are asked to demonstrate the core objective(s) being assessed.
- Upload individual submissions/files from all students enrolled in all sections of the course per learning objective.
Notes on the Process
- You can but are not required to include the assignment prompt or description in the SharePoint folder; however, if you are submitting for Empirical & Quantitative Skills, you are encouraged to upload the answer key if relevant to the assignment.
- You do not need to deidentify or rename the artifacts.
- Grading criteria, grading comments, or grades assigned to students are not required.