Essays

1. Intro to Essays

Maggie Matwiej

Nov 21, 2022

276

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The Essay feature enables learners to create and submit longform responses to a question or prompt provided. Learners can obtain either a final score or Feedback on their Essay from an official Grader. This means that you or someone from your team will grade student essays. BenchPrep does not offer grading services.

The Admin functionality supports both Grader Admins and Graders. Grader Admins have the ability to create new Graders & assign topics to Graders, which controls who can claim an Essay to grade. Graders have the ability to claim essays and provide feedback and/or a final score to students.

Submitting an essay to a grader sends the essay to a human grader (designated by either an admin or B2B admin) who uses the grading tools in the Boost Dashboard to evaluate the essay. Submitting the essay for feedback is similar to sending a first draft to an editor. If a user submits an essay for feedback, the grader does not need to provide scores, but should provide commentary to help the user flesh out their essay. After the grader provides their feedback, the user has the option to submit the essay again, either for feedback or for a grade. Submitting an essay for a grade means that the grader must provide a score, and the user will not be able to resubmit the essay afterwards - this is their final draft.

Learner Experience

Quick Points

How To Configure

Based on the essay’s configuration, learners can submit an essay to a grader for Feedback or a Grade (score), or self-grade their essays

Submitting an essay for self-grading gives the learner access to the essay rubric/grading criteria for them to judge their own work.

Learners submitting the essay for feedback is similar to sending a first draft to an editor.

If a user submits an essay for feedback, the grader does not need to provide scores, but should provide commentary to help the user flesh out their essay.

After the grader provides their feedback, the user has the option to submit the essay again, either for feedback or for a grade.

Submitting an essay for a grade means that the grader must provide a score, and the user will not be able to resubmit the essay afterwards - this is their final draft.

Enabled at the course level via Tenant Dashboard

How to Configure:

Tenant Dashboard > Courses > Click the name of Desired Course > Manage Features> Enable Essay feature in webapp > Toggle ON/OFF.

Essay Configurations

Name	Title of the Essay
Introduction	Instructions for the user on how to use the platform to write and submit their essay
Essay Prompt	The question or topic the user’s response should address
Essay Instructions	A shorter version of the essay prompt for the user to reference while writing. When a user minimizes the essay prompt, they will see only the essay instructions.
Solution	The essay rubric/grading criteria.
Essay Time	Unlimited - no time limit to complete the essay. Users will see a Time Elapsed indicator to show time spent within the Essay module. Timed - specify a max essay time to allow learners to complete the essay (in minutes). If set, learners will see Time Elapsed as well as Total Time remaining.
Grading Type	Manual (Submitted to a Grader) Self-Graded (Graded by the User). Custom Grading - select only if your platform is integrated with an external grading system
Feedback Submissions	Choose Yes or No to indicate whether the essay is eligible for feedback prior to submitting for scoring (only visible for Manual grading type).
Scoring	Choose Percentage or Numerical Range to designate the Scoring value for the Default Overall trait as well as any additional traits you want to create. A trait is a set of gradable criteria for feedback or score, such as “punctuation” or “clarity of argument.” Score Range is not displayed for Percentage scoring. NOTE: At least one additional essay topic trait is required for Self-Graded essays.
Additional Essay Trait Topics	Fill out Trait Name. Set Score Range (if scoring is set to Numerical Range).
Essay Grading Category	Fill out Essay Grading Category to define the essay and ensure it is reviewed by appropriate Graders (optional field visible for Manual grading type only). Using Essay Grading Categories enables essays to be grouped by defined criteria and ensures only graders authorized to grade that category can claim and review the essay.

To Setup Essays in Blueprint click here.

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