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Assessment

Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Evaluation Texas A&M University Office of InstitutionalEffectiveness & Evaluation

Submitting Artifacts


What courses are due for assessment?


In Academic Year 2023-24, Cohort A courses are due for centralized assessment; a list of these courses can be accessed here. 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).


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The due date to submit artifacts for centralized assessment is:
Monday, December 19, 2023 for Fall 2023 courses
Monday, May 13, 2024 for Spring 2024 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.

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. 

If you do not see Core Curriculum Assessment in the left-hand menu of your course Canvas page, follow the directions below to enable this option.

Notes on the Process

  • HelioCampus (formerly AEFIS) supports student-assigned works that are labeled Assignment or Open-ended quiz question in Canvas. 
    • NEW: The submission types supported by the Canvas linking process are "File Upload" or "Website URL." Screenshots of these options are available in the section below titled "Assignment and Quiz Question Setup Screenshots." 
  • 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. 
  • OIEE will only be given access to the students' submissions, not the instructor-provided grades, notes, or comments. 

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.” 
  1. In the course Canvas page, click Core Curriculum Assessment in the left-hand menu. Canvas Logo
  2. Click Refresh LMS Assignments.
  3. In the blue bar toward the top of the page, click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal white lines) next to the course name and select Assignment Linking.
  4. Click on the outcome to be mapped.
  5. Click Manage.
  6. Select the checkbox next to only ONE assignment, and then click Save Links. No other clicks are necessary!
    • Only one assignment should be selected per core objective. Selecting more than one assignment per objective disrupts sampling for the course.
  7. Repeat Steps 4-6 as necessary.
You can confirm that the assignment has been linked by clicking on the outcome to be mapped. The assignment title should now appear under Link Assignments. If you have linked an assignment in error, you can deselect it by deselecting the checkbox next to the assignment and clicking Save Links. 
 

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). 
  1. Log into HelioCampus (formerly AEFIS).
  2. In the dashboard widget titled My Course Sections & Syllabi, click the pencil icon next to the appropriate course section.Heliocampus formerly AEFIS logo
  3. In the left-hand menu under Assessment, click Assignments.
  4. Click Refresh LMS Assignments. 
  5. In the left-hand menu under Assessment, click Assignment Linking.
  6. Click on the outcome to be mapped.
  7. Click Manage. 
  8. Select only ONE assignment, and then click Save Links. No other clicks are necessary!
    • Only one assignment should be selected per core objective. Selecting more than one assignment per objective disrupts sampling for the course.
  9. Repeat Steps 6-8 as necessary.
You can confirm that the assignment has been linked by clicking on the outcome to be mapped. The assignment title should now appear under Link Assignments. If you have linked an assignment in error, you can deselect it by deselecting the checkbox next to the assignment and clicking Save Links. 

How do I submit artifacts via file sharing?


SharePoint LogoInstructors 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.

NEW: If you would like to submit artifacts for assessment via file sharing, please click Request SharePoint Folder below.
Request SharePoint Folder

Instructions for SharePoint Submission

  1. Request a SharePoint folder via the above link.
  2. 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.
  3. Identify one assignment where students are asked to demonstrate the core objective(s) being assessed. 
  4. 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.