Inspera: June 2024 – New Features and Resources  

New Feature: Grading of Candidate Selected Questions (CSQs) 

If you are marking an Inspera exam where students have been given an option to answer certain questions from a range of question options (i.e. students answer one out of three possible questions), this is known as Candidate Selected Questions (CSQs). When in use, the grading per student function (where markers would move to the next student awaiting grading using the downward direction arrow), meant that markers were shown the next student in the list, even if they had answered an alternate option.  

Now, markers who move to the next student using the direction arrow next to the student information (as shown below), will find clicking the down arrow will take them to the next student who answered the same question option. This means that marking of a particular question can be achieved. 

More information about the candidate selected questions feature can be found on the Inspera Help Centre.   

New Feature: Deleting Multiple Questions 

It’s now possible to select more than one question and delete in bulk. Previously, the deletion was only possible per question. Deletions should only occur if you no longer wish to use the question, for example, if you found errors or will no longer use the question in future.  

Deleting questions can be done via the Author Tab.  

To delete multiple, select the tick boxes on the left hand side of the questions you wish to delete. 

Multiple questions can be deleted simultaneously by using ‘move to trash’ – a pop up which will appear on the bottom panel. 

New Resources

The Digital Exams Team have created some new resources for colleagues. We have a brand-new website dedicated to the use of Grading Committees in Inspera. This website provides users information about what these committees are, how to use them and Frequently Asked Questions area.  

We have also recently released information on our colleague facing Inspera webpages relating to Inspera Feedback Release, as well as an Inspera for Professional Services Colleagues area.  

Inspera Marking: Hints and Tips

As we enter the assessment marking period, the Digital Exams Team want to share some marking ‘hints and tips’ for Inspera Digital Exams. Check out some of our hints and tips listed below. 

Hints and Tips

  1. To attach yourself to an exam as a grader, make sure you click the link from the Inspera assignment point in Canvas. This takes you into the ‘Deliver’ area of the exam and you can click the ‘Open in Grade’ button to enter the ‘Grade area’. 
  1. If you need to search for a specific student, within the ‘Overview’ section of the Grader area, you can search for a student number to locate their submission. In the screenshot below, ‘stutestX’ is a placeholder for a student ID. In your exams you will see student numbers listed instead. 
  1. If you are in the Grade area and need to go back to the Deliver area (for example, to set the feedback settings), there is a shortcut available. Click the ‘Options’ button at the top of the screen and navigate to ‘Shortcuts’. Select ‘Deliver’ and click ‘Open test in Deliver’, 
  1. It is possible to download raw marks from Inspera as an Excel file. Click the ‘Options’ button at the top of the screen and navigate to ‘Downloads’. Select ‘Marks as Excel file’, 
  1. As standard the Digital Exams team will set up the Canvas assignment associated with your Inspera exam as 100 points. This means (once released) students will view their Canvas Gradebook mark as a proportion. If you’d like students to see raw marks, please edit the Canvas assignment points area to match that of your total Inspera marks.  
  1. For manually marked questions, Graders can add Annotations to student submissions. Within student submitted text, click the left mouse button and move the mouse across the text you want to annotate. Click Annotate:  
  1. Within the Grade ‘marking’ area there is a search icon for students now for all graders. When marking, use the bottom panel to navigate to specific students using their ID. For example: 

Further Support

Webinars

The Digital Exams Team run two dedicated marking webinars which colleagues can book onto: 

These training webinars cover a range of marking workflows, including how to amend auto-marked questions and adding annotations to manually marked questions such as essays. 

Videos

There are a range of marking videos available on the Inspera L&T website which provide on-screen demonstrations of grading tasks. 

Feedback Release

If you would like to release feedback to your students on your auto or manually marked Inspera questions, check out our dedicated webpage on Inspera Feedback Release for further information.

Further questions?

If you have any questions about marking an Inspera exam, please contact the Digital Exams Team via Digital.Exams@newcastle.ac.uk.  

If you have any hints or tips that you think we could add to the above list, please do share them with the Digital Exams Team.