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EssayTagger is a web-based tool to help teachers grade essays faster.
But it is not an auto-grader.

This blog will cover EssayTagger's latest feature updates as well as musings on
education, policy, innovation, and preserving teachers' sanity.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

How to configure an assignment for "Evaluation-only" mode

With today's release of "Evaluation-only" mode support, instructors can now evaluate end-of-unit and final essays without providing feedback comments. Here's how to get started.


We're super-excited that we were able to launch our new "Evaluation-only" mode in time for most schools' final exams. Finals are the strongest case for when to use "Evaluation-only" mode; it's too late to provide helpful feedback and the kids won't get much out of it anyway with their minds already on summer.


Enabling "Evaluation-only" mode
Create or edit an assignment as you normally would. You'll notice a new option: "assessment mode":



Click the droplist and select "Evaluation-only" mode:


If you are editing an existing assignment, you'll see a warning about changing assessment modes:



"Evaluation-only" mode data are stored slightly differently from standard "Evaluation + Feedback" assessments, therefore the data is invalidated when you switch from one assessment mode to the other. If you have already graded an essay, it will revert to an ungraded state if you change assessment modes.


That's it!
Now you're ready to grade! When you launch the grading app you'll get a quick reminder:



And when you evaluate each rubric element you'll only see one selectable option for each quality level:



Notice that the "add comment" button has been removed.


Data reporting
When you're done grading all the usual data reporting will still be available.


Enjoy! Let me know what you think!