“It made me ask questions about the assessment and helped me be more reflective.”

— Andrew Ewing

Edith Cowan University
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Why did you choose to use Cadmus?

I chose Cadmus because I thought some things could be improved in the unit. Specifically, I wanted to improve student engagement with the readings and support the development of their academic skills. I aimed to continue to challenge students, but make their experience more supported. With Cadmus, the support didn’t have to just come from myself or the tutors; it was built into where students completed the assignment.

How did you use Cadmus?

Before Cadmus, students used a WordPress Blog to complete reading responses. Help was available, but many students weren’t sure where to go. It was unclear how well utilised these resources were, and some even found incorrect information. With Cadmus, I merged all the key information into one spot. This made it easier to give students essential resources and reduced the chance of misinformation. I also introduced students to Cadmus in Week 2 and got them in Cadmus during workshops to take notes and begin the tasks.

How did your students respond?

Students responded positively, and it’s gotten better as I’ve used it more! I wanted students to use Cadmus in class so it could become a tool they could go to, to inform other work. I found most students now use Cadmus in class to write summaries or more extensive notes.

How did your teaching change?

The Learning Analytics summaries made me ask questions about the assessment and helped me be more reflective. The information was something that I could never have known before. It helped me understand if something wasn’t working and how I could improve it. In Cadmus, I could easily make these changes during the assessment to provide a better experience for my students.

Would you recommend Cadmus to colleagues?

Yes, for any unit where writing is the focal point. Cadmus is for the academic that wants to change for the better. You create an assessment space that is a one-stop-shop. You put everything in there, get learning analytics on how students are working and what they’re working with. Just go for it!

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1st year

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Design

A sketchy illustration of a paper document. Fortunately, Cadmus assignments are all submitted online. Think of all the trees we'll save

Reading Response

Highlights

42.6 %
increase in student engagement

96.6 %
of students rated their experience as good to excellent

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