What is an Assessment?

Assessments are formal evaluations used to test student knowledge and measure competency against learning outcomes. In Nimbu, assessments are structured tasks containing questions that students must complete and submit for trainer marking.

What's Covered in This Article

This guide explains how assessments function in Nimbu:

• Purpose and Structure: What assessments are and how they're built
• Student Workflow: The journey from assignment to completion
• Marking Process: How trainers evaluate and provide feedback
• Control Features: Managing attempts, due dates, and submissions

What Are Assessments?

Assessments are formal evaluation tools that contain questions designed to test student understanding and competency. Unlike quizzes (which are practice activities), assessments contribute to a student's final unit result.

Key characteristics:

• Contain one or more questions requiring student responses
• Must be marked by a trainer (except for auto-marked question types)
• Results contribute to competency determination
• Support multiple question types: short answer, multiple choice, true/false, selection, and upload questions

Assessment Workflow

Assessments move through distinct stages from assignment to completion, with clear status indicators at each step.

1. Awaiting Completion

When first assigned to a student, an assessment shows AC (Awaiting Completion) status. The student can view the assessment details but hasn't yet started working on it.

At this stage:

• The assessment is locked until the student clicks "Start Now"
• Any due dates or attempt limits are displayed
• Students can review requirements before beginning

2. In Progress

Once a student opens an assessment and begins answering questions, the status changes to In Progress.

At this stage:

• Students can work through questions at their own pace
• Progress is automatically saved
• Students can exit and return to continue later (if permitted)
• The assessment can be submitted when ready, or will auto-submit if a due date is reached

3. To Be Marked

After submission, the assessment moves to To Be Marked (TBM) status and appears in the trainer's marking queue.

At this stage:

• Self-marking questions (multiple choice, true/false, selection) are automatically graded
• Questions requiring manual marking appear for trainer review
• Students can view their submitted responses but cannot edit them

4. Completed

Once the trainer finalises marking and assigns a result, the assessment shows Completed status with either Satisfactory (S) or Not Satisfactory (NS) outcome.

At this stage:

• Students receive notification of their result
• Feedback from the trainer is available to view
• The assessment may be locked, or students may be able to resubmit if permitted

Assessment Control Features

Nimbu provides several features to manage assessment delivery and completion.

Attempt Limits

Control how many times students can attempt an assessment:

• Set a specific number of attempts (e.g., 2 attempts)
• Configure due times for each attempt
• Students receive clear feedback on remaining attempts
• Assessments auto-submit on the final attempt

Use case: Allow students one practice attempt and one final attempt, each with a 2-hour time limit.

Due Dates and Auto-Submit

Set deadlines to ensure timely completion:

• Configure due dates for assessment submission
• Assessments automatically submit when the due date is reached
• Unfinished questions are marked as Not Satisfactory upon auto-submit
• Students receive notification when time expires

Use case: Set a due date of Friday 5pm to align with weekly course schedules.

Trainer Activation

Require trainers to manually activate assessments before students can access them:

• Control when assessments become available
• Set read-only periods where students can preview but not start
• Configure open times and due dates upon activation
• Students receive email notification when activated

Use case: Activate practical assessments only after covering prerequisite theory content in class.

Trainer Marking Process

Trainers mark assessments through a streamlined interface that displays student responses alongside marking tools.

1. Auto-Marking

Self-marking questions are automatically graded:

• Multiple choice: System marks based on correct answer
• True/False: Automatically assessed as correct or incorrect
• Selection: Marked based on matching selected options

Auto-marked questions show results immediately in the marking summary.

2. Manual Marking

Questions requiring trainer judgement appear in the marking interface:

• Short answer: Trainer reviews text response and marks S/NS
• Upload questions: Trainer downloads and evaluates submitted files

Marking actions:

• Provide individual feedback on each question
• Assign Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory to responses
• Request resubmission for specific questions if needed
• Set final assessment result and overall feedback

3. Resubmission Options

Trainers can request students resubmit assessments:

• Full resubmission: Student redoes entire assessment
• Selected questions: Student resubmits only marked questions
• Set due dates and provide feedback to guide improvement

Related Articles

• Creating an Assessment
• Assessment Question Types
• Marking Assessments