Tagged: changes

Minerva 2018 Summer Upgrade – Complete

The Summer upgrade is now complete and Minerva is available again.

For the best experience, make sure you clear your browser’s cache before using Minerva. For guidance on how to clear your cache, follow this link then select the appropriate browser: http://www.refreshyourcache.com/en/home/

If you use Microsoft Edge, follow the guidance in this link: https://goo.gl/AKSutD

Staff: A summary of the changes in 2018 are available on the Support Site: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/vle/staff/changes/

Students: Important changes are summarised here: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/vle/students/changes/

 

Keep up-to-date with VLE changes

You may have noticed some changes in the VLE when you logged on for the new academic year. An update over the Summer brought in a revamped interface as well as some new features:

  • Negative Marking
  • A new Discussion Board
  • A better, more functional text editor with spellchecking

Find out more about these and other major changes here:

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/vle/staff/changes/

If you’re looking for ideas of tools you can use in your module, you might want to read our recently updated ten things to improve your module guide.

Test tool improvements

What’s new?

Negative marking: Discourage random guessing by using negative marking. The option is available for multiple choice, multiple answer and matching questions. You add a negative percentage to answers as relevant; there is also the option to decide whether a question has a base score of 0 for multiple answer questions.

Test re-grade: No longer will you need to manually regrade tests if an error was made during set up! If an error is made in the scoring of a test e.g. a question was set to achieve 10 marks when it should have been 5, changing the score in the test canvas will now update all scores for completed tests accordingly.

Deployment exceptions: When you deploy a test in your module for students to take, you will have the option to create exceptions for certain users or groups. So if you have a student who needs an extra attempt this is now possible. Other exceptions include different availability dates and removal of Force Completion. All results will be stored together in one Grade Centre column.

Analysis of questions: The VLE will collate information to help assess a question’s ability to discriminate between students who understand the material and those who do not, highlighting which questions need to be reviewed in a test. A summary is available as well as detailed information per question.

How do I find out more?

Read our test tool guide. If you need help or more information, contact us via the ISS Helpdesk.

Coming soon: Discussion Board improvements

What’s coming?

This tool has two major changes: a visual revamp and a new first post feature.

First post: This optional feature prevents students waiting to read other posts before making their contribution; if post first is enabled, the student must start a thread before they are given the option to read other students’ threads.

Interface changes: The interface in the new tools is cleaner and easier to use. Most noticeably, opening a thread will present all posts on the same page – you no longer have to open each post one by one.

Here’s how a thread looks now: Continue reading →