Parabola provides comprehensive student progress tracking solution at Filton College A level Academy
Filton College in Bristol has gone live with its new, centralised student tracking system, Marking Records. The system replaces a previous web application, which the College found did not give it the flexibility to create and share information.
Marking Records was originally developed by Parabola in conjunction with Esher Sixth Form College in 2006 for which it is the preferred ILT partner. Filton College are the 3rd FE college to adopt Marking Records. It will be used to manage student assignments, student self assessment and student target setting. Teachers, tutors and admin staff will be able to interact with the students.
“Having been in charge of several IT projects and the working groups this one has been very positive and a joy to be in” – Roger Ellis, eLearning Manager, Filton College
Marking Records accesses information held on the College’s central Unit-e database and automatically updates the necessary records each time any change in Unit-e is made - such as a student changing class or a new member of staff. It is used to capture, share and synchronise student information including:
• Course and class changes
• Student enrolments in a class
• New staff and teacher access
• Recording marks and feedback on assignments
• Delivering reports on student progress
• Monitoring student progress
• Monitoring attendance
• Monitoring work production
Parabola have also added an additional feature for Filton, Student Notes, which enables staff to record key information such as agreed actions on problems with colleagues, tutors and if applicable the students themselves.
Student Notes enables staff to choose both what and with whom they share the information.
The Progress Assessment features allow staff to record what the benchmark grade, current assessed grade and target grade of the student is, giving them very granular information into that student’s progress and contributing to capturing information across a particular subject area or year group to help simplify target-setting and measuring attainment.
Information at a glance
Marking Records provides valuable management information, enabling College management to see trends, such as changes in popularity of particular course. Each student’s record has an easy-to-read graphic showing attendance, work production and attainment versus target in a simple dashboard style layout. Both teachers and students can view the student’s progress against agreed targets in graphic form.
Enabling self-assessment
Marking records is a key tool in the delivery of self-assessment at Filton College. It enables students to become involved in setting their own targets and providing feedback on their courses. Teachers and tutors can then update and review the self assessment in collaboration with the students.
The self-assessment feature is accessed through a web student interface - MyPlan - that the students can use from home or from college.
As Parabola MD Richard Gray explained, “The beauty of this system is the power it gives teachers to easily monitor their students and identify ‘at risk’ students early. From the student’s point of view, they can see what is being said about their progress and collaborate with teachers to set targets and review progress online”.
Parabola has provided training on the system through a ‘train the trainer’ programme which has been cascaded through the College. However, the intuitive interface has meant that staff have had to invest very little time in learning how to gain maximum benefit.
Technology Used:
• SQL Server
• Microsoft .Net 3.5 2008
• ClickOnce deployment
• SharePoint 2007