Writing Assignment

Note: This module is not in working order. I'm doing Google Summer of Code and won't have time to work again on the module until ~September. If anyone would like to help in the meantime, please contact me. Thanks!

This module makes it simple for a teacher to assign students to write on a topic and then for the writing to be read, commented on, and rated by other students.

The core principle driving the creation of this module is that students learn best if they teach what they learn. This module is an easy way to make students teacher/learners.

The basic workflow for this module is as follows:

1. Teacher creates writing assignment
2. Students create writing which is associated with the writing assignment
3. Students comment on and rate fellow students writing
4. All writings are copied to each student's blog where they become part of the classroom knowledge base
5. Teacher use comments and ratings for grading.

Some sample use cases the module supports (or will support):

1. Teacher x wants to assign students to write a 500 word essay due every week on Friday at 8pm. At the beginning of the semester she creates a writing assignment node for every week of the semester. As the semester goes on, assignments are automatically activated and ended.
2. Teacher p wants his students to turn in a rough draft a week before the final paper is due. He also wants each student to comment on other papers and rank the rough drafts according to a rubric he's created. He creates a writing assignment with a starting and ending date, a grading rubric, and sets the number of reviews per student to 3 and sets the type of review to “Students rate and comment on writing.”
3. Teacher y wants his students at the beginning of class to write a review of last nights readings. He creates a writing assignment with his questions, a grading rubric, and assigns students to grade 4 assignments using the rubric. After the class has begun, he clicks “start assignment” on the Writing Assignment admin page. Once he's seen that every student has submitted an assignment, he initiates the private message telling the students which writing nodes to grade. Once the students are done grading, he ends the assignment. Later he copies the average grade given for each student to his grading sheet.

Existing Features

• completely integrated with organic groups
• sophisticated access control based on state of the assignment: active, reviewing, ended
• e.g. if assignment = active, students can create/edit an assignment, but only view their assignment. if assignment = reviewing, students can only view the writings assigned to them to review but can't view/edit their writing. And so forth
• Writing assignments are copied to student's blog at completion of the assignment.
• Assignments are organized by taxonomy

Future Features

• Start and end assignments automatically
• Teacher can set a required word count – e.g. Assignment must have 500 words
• Simplified user interface for teacher/student
• Teachers can create scoring rubric for student to use while grading content
• Report page for each writing assignment listing average rating for each student
• Create default views for displaying finished assignments
• Choose between using regular email or the Drupal's internal private messaging system.

See http://groups.drupal.org/node/7401 for more information including screenshots.