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Forcing Evaluation blocks in a course

Block a student from advancing until a manager or instructor evaluates them, using an Evaluation gradebook item.

CourseMill lets a reporter evaluate a student's progress in a course before the student moves on to the next step. This "blocking mechanism" does not allow the student to proceed until the reporter takes an action. The block is a content item in the course defined as an evaluation gradebook item. For more information about creating evaluation gradebook items, see Adding a content item.

Example: a CPR course

A CPR course has three content items:

  • Online content describing how CPR is performed on an adult.
  • An Evaluation Block item, where the student cannot proceed to the next content item until the instructor physically watches the student provide CPR on the dummy, Annie.
  • Final content, which is an online written test.

Set up an evaluation process in a course

Create a course with your variety of content, including the Evaluation block somewhere in the middle. Using the CPR example:

  1. The first content item is the course explaining the CPR process. This is a Lectora course.
  2. The third content item is also a Lectora course. It is the online test the student takes to finish the course and get a certificate.
  3. The middle content item is the Evaluation block. Give it a descriptive name so the student sees exactly why they are blocked.
  4. When setting up this middle content item and its associated gradebook fields, state that the gradebook item is an Evaluation item. You then specify the name of the course that the reporter must execute in order to evaluate and grade the student.

Note: The instructor will also see this evaluation course in their interface under Evaluations.

Create an evaluation course that will be used only by your reporter or instructor. This course should not show in your course catalog, so make it inactive. The reporter or instructor launches the evaluation course to state their evaluation of the student. Set the course up so that if the score is not high enough to pass the student, the course remains incomplete.

How the evaluation process runs

  1. The student logs in, sees the CPR course, and launches the first content item.
  2. After the course is completed, the student sees that he or she cannot continue with any more content items until the reporter or instructor performs an evaluation. The launch buttons are inaccessible.
  3. The instructor is notified that a student needs an evaluation. The instructor clicks Evaluations in the instructor interface, sees the student pending, and launches the evaluation course.
  4. The evaluation course launches and asks the reporter or instructor to provide a grade. If the student passes, the course is marked complete. If the student fails, the evaluation course is left incomplete.
  5. If the instructor passes the student, the evaluation course shows as completed on the instructor interface.
  6. The student then sees the score he or she has been given and can continue with the content of the course.

Checklist

Five things are needed for this to work:

  • The course has a gradebook item set up as an Evaluation Gradebook item type.
  • The student reports to a manager.
  • The Outstanding Evaluation notification at the organization level is turned on so the manager gets the notification that an evaluation is waiting.
  • The manager (reporter) has progress reports turned on for all days.
  • The Overnight Progress reports task is set up to run so the manager gets a list of all those awaiting evaluations. This means students have to wait for evaluations to be run overnight.

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