LOUISA Academic and Professional Service User groups November 2025
November 2025 saw us hosting the first User Group meetings of the 25/26 academic calendar, one involving Academic Colleagues and one for Professional Services Colleagues, both focusing on the topics of how moderation of assessment is implemented across the various schools, how policy is interpreted, and how learning technology supports moderation. These meetings are pivotal for the LOUISA Project in our continuous efforts to enhance the student experience by fostering consistent and effective assessment workflows. Whilst any changes to policy are outside of scope for the LOUISA project it is important to find out how policy implementation and requirements influence the marking and feedback workflows and identify areas in which the project could provide support or documentation as to how the current suite of tools can be used to improve both the staff and student experience.
The sessions began with defining boundaries within the discussions to take place. It was made clear to both groups that the driver for these meetings was not to attempt to forge new policy, nor was it to look for feature requests with the current learning tools, but rather to better understand how existing policy is understood and implemented in the moderation process and how learning tools can best support that, as this helps to shape and hopefully improve the student experience of assessment and feedback.
A key point in both groups was how moderation practices exhibit variance across and even within schools. Academic colleagues highlighted difficulties in translating these policies into practical, routinely followed workflows. Whilst sample moderation was found to be the most common approach it was often constrained by logistical challenges and tight turnarounds, sometimes resulting in sampling before all submissions were marked. Professional Services staff similarly noted variations in moderation setups, noting that without one exact workflow, practices varied significantly. This variance led to staff being required to support or follow multiple workflows which duplicated workloads, this was often noted to be exacerbated by manual processes and tight deadlines. Interestingly, both groups hinted at a desire for a more standardised approach, albeit acknowledging the inherent challenges given the diversity in academic requirements.
The role of technology within the moderation process was then discussed. One suggestion was that due to the nature of intricate moderation workflows, some parts needed to be taken outside of Learn. Another that more support and documentation could help standardise aspects that take place in Learn, and that workflows for setting up assessments may help later on in the moderation process.
While there was also a general consensus that larger course cohorts were a challenge to apply good moderation practice owing to the ratio of late submissions and extra administrative burden this can place on Teaching Offices. The focus shifted to how best utilise Learn alongside offline processes to foster streamlined and efficient workflows.
Both meetings highlighted several positives to take forward. A shared dedication to upholding high standards remains strong. Suggested improvements such as templated forms and default workflows could simplify and standardise moderation processes across the university, provided these workflows are widely known and accepted. Additionally, greater involvement of Teaching Offices in planning and decision-making processes was advocated to bridge gaps between expectations and realistic outcomes, potentially leading to a more cohesive approach as well as better working outcomes.
A big thank you to all participants for coming along. Your engagement in these sessions plays a pivotal role in helping to achieve the LOUISA project’s vision. With Semester 2 having just commenced, our Early Adopter Programme continues with training underway, as participants’ contributions from testing and feeding back help to shape LOUISA workflows to ultimately enhance the student (and staff) assessment experience.
Please visit the dedicated LOUISA SharePoint page for more information.
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