M09i2 - Comparing Moodle Assignment and Turnitin
The table below compares two widely-used UCL technologies collecting, marking and returning student assessed work.
Please note that this guidance
- relates to UCL's integration of Turnitin with Moodle.
- is frequently updated in line with Turnitin and Moodle developments - so it's worth watching the page. (See also Turnitin FAQs)
- focuses on the Assignment activity - i.e. not PeerMark or Moodle Workshop.
- draws on definitions of marking in the UCL Academic Manual.
In a nutshell
Both interfaces offer:
- submission with deadlines.
- ability to hide marking from students until a certain date.
- an online feedback environment which supports the use of reusable comments, inline annotations, general comments and rubrics / marking guides, and a numeric mark.
- ability to download submissions to look at without a network connection.
- anonymous marking (student names are hidden).
- ability to generate a Turnitin Similarity Report
Particular benefits of Moodle Assignment:
- Submission in groups, with feedback and grades available and attributed to every group member.
- Supports the marking of any file type (Turnitin supports submission of any file type, but only generates Similarity reports and facilitates marking on particular compatible files types - e.g. Word, PDF, jpeg.
- Allows scale and letter grades, as well as a numeric mark.
- Offline marking with the ability to bulk-upload the marks and feedback (no special hardware or software needed):
- Using Word or PDF annotation tools to mark the submission directly.
- Provide additional feedback files of any type, such as a completed mark sheet or media (e.g. an audio recording commenting on group work, or a video of maths work being marked using a tablet).
- Grade and provide general feedback comments in a spreadsheet (downloadable from Moodle) and bulk upload back into the Assignment for automatic distribution back to students;
- Summary audio or video feedback recorded directly into Moodle (no need to save and upload).
- General feedback and criteria comments from rubrics and marking guides are visible in MyFeedback.
- On the rubric, the ability to give summary feedback for each criterion.
- Online marking interface for any file type, which includes the ability to:
- Add feedback symbols, including ticks and crosses.
- Add freehand drawn feedback, for example, connecting lines or corrections on graphs.
- Upload feedback files in any format.
- Support for multiple markers in the form of a workflow and some protections to prevent marks being overwritten in error.
- Support for extenuating circumstances and discretionary deadlines for individuals.
Particular benefits of Turnitin:
- Similarity Report - checking students' sources and referencing by viewing an overlay of matched phases while marking.
- Summary spoken feedback recorded directly into Turnitin (no need to save and upload).
- Online marking interface;
- Drag and drop in-text comments (and re-use saved comments across papers).
- Categorise comments for particular modules, assignment types and year levels.
- Ability to associate a comment with a single criterion, enabling cross referencing.
- A word count (though note this is inclusive, and may be discrepant from the word processor's word count).
- Marks are hidden from students by default until a set date and time known as the 'post date' (with Moodle you have to actively set this).
- If you have an Apple iPad, offline marking in an app (note that UCL ISD cannot guarantee technical support here)*.
- The ability to analyse Quickmarks and Rubric levels to better understand, and show to students, which kinds of feedback comments are associated with which grade bands.
Detailed Comparison
Capability | Turnitin Assignment (integrated with Moodle) | Moodle Assignment |
|---|---|---|
Overview | Third-party, commercial software we pay a licence for. Integrated with Moodle. | Core to Moodle (the open source Virtual Learning Environment we use at UCL). |
Supported formats | ||
Traditional essays i.e. word processed, maybe including graphics | Yes If 'Allow any file type' is enabled Turnitin will accept any file:
File types/formats that can be checked for similarity:
See: | Yes Moodle will accept any file:
Moodle does NOT check for similarity (but Turnitin can be enabled now within a Moodle assignment to perform this check). |
Range of media | Only limited by what the assessors can technically open using applications available to them. File types that cannot be processed to generate a similarity report and cannot be displayed in Feedback Studio can still be downloaded from the submission inbox, and marking tools can still be used to give feedback in Turnitin about the submission. Image types that are supported, and when embedded in one of the above file types do not hinder similarity checking:
| Only limited by what the assessors can technically open using applications available to them. |
Maximum file size per submission | 100Mb. | 160Mb. |
Number of separate files | Up to 5. | Up to 20. Or limitless if files are ‘zipped’. |
| Mobile support | Yes for students. iPad only for markers. | Yes. |
Operational processes - mostly by staff | ||
Impose deadlines / prevent editing | Yes. | Yes. |
Feedback on drafts | Provisionally. To avoid problems with a Similarity Report referencing an earlier submission, or with resubmissions overwriting earlier feedback, create a separate Turnitin assignment with the setting for drafts/testing selected | Yes. Caution – ask Digital Education to advise about settings to avoid resubmissions overwriting earlier feedback. |
Staff follow up on late work | Yes. Via Moodle Activity report. | Yes. Via Moodle Activity Report, which allows messaging. |
Release or withhold marks and feedback. | Yes. Caution – this applies across a cohort and cannot be done on an individual basis. | Yes. |
| Extenuating circumstances - discretionary deadlines for individuals | Minimal, with workaround. A tutor needs to restrict access to the Turnitin assignment to just those students. | Yes. Including the ability to set new deadlines. |
Word count | Yes. Caution - inclusive of coversheet, references, etc. Since this may differ from the word processor's word count, it's important to clarify with students how markers will check students' adherence to the word limit. | Yes. Caution – yes if word processed, no if PDF. |
Download summary report on spreadsheet | Yes. | Yes. |
| Technical cautions | Students and staff will need to disable their web browser's pop-up blockers. | No. |
Governance, fairness, ethics | ||
| Email receipt for student | Yes. Students also get on-screen confirmation and can check that their submission appears in the Turnitin submission inbox. | Yes. Students can also visit Moodle and check that their submission is in the submission inbox. |
Blind marking (student anonymity) | Yes. Caution – if marking is shared between more than one marker, arrange who marks which submissions, and how to identify them (e.g. apply Moodle Groups or sort by paper ID). | Yes. Caution – if marking is shared between more than one marker, arrange who marks which submissions, and how to identify them (e.g. Moodle Groups, or Moodle Marking Workflow). |
| Selective removal of student anonymity | Yes. With accountability. | Yes. With accountability. |
Independent marking (multiple markers working in isolation) | Minimal. Workaround necessary to present each marker with clean submission. | Working solution One marker downloads the submissions and marks outside Moodle. |
Moderating | Yes. | Yes. |
External examiners | Provisionally. Caveat – see Blind marking above. If external examining is planned for after student anonymity has been lifted (it needs to be lifted to enable feedback conversations) then in order to preserve anonymity for the external examiners, departmental staff need to plan for marked submissions and marksheets to be downloaded after marking but before Post Date; pass external examiners this still-anonymous, downloaded marked work outside Moodle. | Provisionally. Caveat – see Blind marking above. If external examining is planned for after student anonymity has been lifted (it needs to be lifted to enable feedback conversations) then in order to preserve anonymity for the external examiners, departmental staff need to plan for marked submissions and marksheets to be downloaded after marking but before Post Date; pass external examiners this still-anonymous downloaded marked work outside Moodle. |
Marking and feedback | ||
Similarity Report | Yes. Caveat – it’s simple matching that Turnitin does, so any coversheet will register as a match, for example. It's very helpful for students to have the chance to take action in response to the Similarity Report before the deadline. It is also important for staff to decide on systematic approaches with the Similarity Reports which treat students' work equitably. | Optional. It is now possible to enable Turnitin within a Moodle assignment. Students submit as normal, and will have access to Similarity Report in much the same way as they would for a Turnitin assignment. |
In-context (bubble) comments | Yes. Type your comments directly into Turnitin, drag them to where you need them, edit as needed, and save to use again, if helpful. It is possible to highlight text in different colours and attach comments. | Provisionally. If Moodle can convert the document to PDF (work ongoing as of Oct 2016). Otherwise, open and mark e.g. in a Word Processor. |
| Stored frequently-made comments | Yes. The ability to create and share multiple 'Quickmark sets'. These attach to the individual assessor but can be shared. | Yes. Attaches to the individual assessor. |
Structured mark sheet | Yes. Called Grading Form. Weighted criteria, blank space for markers grades and comments for each. | Yes. Called Marking Guide. Contains weighted criteria, blank space for markers grades and comments for each. |
Rubric | Yes. Marking grid plotting criteria reference statements against levels of achievement. If marks are attached to each level, can calculate a mark. | Yes. Marking grid plotting criteria reference statements against levels of achievement. If marks are attached to each level, can calculate a mark. |
| Rubric viewable by students | Yes. However, it is easy to miss - students need to be told it exists and where to view it. | Yes. Students need to know it exists, and where to view it. Once on the Moodle Assignment page, it is impossible to miss. |
| Cross-reference between rubric and comments | Some. Markers can associate each comment with a single criterion. This association displays both in the individual comments and in the rubric (students can filter all the comments for a given criterion). | No. |
| See all comments at a glance. | Yes. Students and tutors, page by page. | Yes. Students and tutors. |
Feedback as freehand drawings | No. | Provisionally. If Moodle can convert the document to PDF (work ongoing as of Oct 2016). Otherwise, open and mark e.g. in a Word Processor. Includes circles, rectangles, straight and freehand lines, ticks, crosses, and different ink colours. |
| Symbols as feedback | No. | Some. Ticks and crosses. |
Spoken word feedback | Yes. Record directly into Turnitin. | Potentially. Word processing software eg MS Word doesn’t allow this, but it’s possible to insert a different kind of feedback file eg MP3 for each student or for a cohort. |
Feedback as track changes | No. | Yes. If opened and marked in word processing software. |
Feedback as video or screen capture. | No. | Yes. Any file type accepted as feedback. |
Check if students have accessed feedback | Yes. | Yes. In a more roundabout way than Turnitin. |
Offline marking | Yes (with iPad); partly (without iPad). If you use Turnitin's Apple iPad app*, you can upload the marks back to Turnitin (take great care to coordinate with other markers because overwriting is possible). Or you can download the submissions, including anonymous ones - and read offline on any platform. But there is no upload of marks or feedback. | Yes. Bulk download submissions inbox with marksheet. You can also bulk upload marked submissions, feedback files, and completed marksheet. |
Bulk download | Yes. Caution – if anonymous marking is enabled then this is only possible only after marking - and if you need to preserve anonymity, only possible between completion of marking and the Post Date. | Yes. |
Group work | ||
Apply Moodle groups to an assignment | Yes. i.e. to allocate markers to pre-existing Moodle groups (not for group submission). | i.e. to connect markers to pre-existing Moodle groups (not for group submission). |
Collaboration on a single piece of work | No. No shared editing environment - consider using MyPortfolio or a wiki instead. | No. No shared editing environment - consider using MyPortfolio or a wiki instead. |
Submit a single piece of work on behalf of a group | No. Currently, every submission is attributable to an individual. | Yes. Can be set up based on Moodle groups. |
Differentiate between individual contributions within a group. | N/A | No. |
Peer review/assessment | Use Turnitin Peermark instead. | Use the Moodle Workshop peer assessment activity instead. |
* sorry to say that ISD cannot give you technical support to use this app because of the diversity of devices and software versions. Caution - with multiple markers take care not to overwrite each others' marks.
This information is provided by Digital Education
( https://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/digital-education-team-information ) and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
