Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Oops, I uploaded the wrong assignment!

Has this ever happened to you? Uploading the wrong assignment for a unit is an easy mistake to make. You have probably noticed that course units within a stream usually have the same letters preceding the course code to indicate they belong to that subject. For example, EDPE243 - ED indicates it is an education subject.

One student, Casey* submitted two assignments for her teaching degree three weeks ago. Today, Casey received her results. One assignment she received top marks and the other she failed. Casey looked at her assessment uploads and realised she had accidentally uploaded the same assignment for both subjects - subjects that had near identical course numbers. Upon realising this, she contacted her lecturer by email who confirmed that she had uploaded the wrong assignment but could only mark what was uploaded. The stress from this mistake and hoping for a solution left Casey in tears and sick to the stomach that all her hard work would go to waste. Casey sent the lecturer a copy of the correct assignment in hope that if anything, she would gain some feedback.

Other students' stories who came from different Australian Universities;

Another student, Danielle* said that she had mixed up two assignments once and it was the lecturers who realised and emailed her to upload the correct assignments.

Jacki* didn't realise that she had uploaded the incorrect assignment until her lecturer contacted her. But the due date had already passed by the time the mistake was picked up. However, Jacki was able to resubmit the correct assignment but with a penalty.

Jo* uploaded the correct assignment but an earlier draft. She had to learn the hard way as the lecturer stated that she could only mark the uploaded assignment as there was no way of knowing if she had used the extra days to complete the task.

Mixing up assignments when uploading assessment because the unit codes are near identical is an easy mistake to make. Here are three tips to ensure that you don't have to endure the same stress as Casey.

1. When saving an assignment, ensure that you use both the unit code, unit name and assignment number to identify it easily.

2. Before pressing 'submit' when uploading your assignment, triple check that it is the correct assignment for the unit. If you are tired (if it is not the due date), leave the uploading until you are feeling more refreshed.

3. Go back into where you submitted the assignment and ensure that it was received.

*names changed to protect identity.

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