(Formerly called Tutorial Booking)

Mark Daintree

Nottingham University Business School

With further examples from Politics and International Relations

View PDF:  Tutorial Booking PDF.pdf

Background

With a massive build-up of students in corridors trying to add their name to a printed sheet on the door of the academic’s office, we wanted to reproduce the model of a printed piece of paper online – keep the simplicity but use technology to avoid the crush.

We wanted to be able to use it for all sorts of sign-ups, groups, appointments etc., not just tutorials.

We needed to accommodate problems of limited access times and remote access - and it was important to have a way of printing out copies of the lists so students can physically sign in when attending the session.

What we did

A bespoke plugin - you can find it in Moodle as Signup Sheet - was created by the Moodle team working with Business School – can now be used by the whole University (and is available via Moodle.org as a plugin to download)

It has a freeform design so you can use it for anything

It solves the problem of limited access, as staff and students can access it whenever, wherever

One can print out lists in name order or signup order

You can email the group should you need to change the time etc.

Students sign up themselves, but staff can delete or add students afterwards.

You can lock the bookings so no further changes can be made

Bookings can be visible to all or private to the student booking it, e.g., for remedial sessions.

How it worked

• Has always worked well
• By modelling it on the ‘piece of paper’ system it is a tool that can be used for most purposes
• Simple for the academic
• First come, first served

Signup Sheet Tool Features

• Students can only sign up to one of the ‘time slots’
• They can remove themselves from one and sign up to another until it is LOCKED
• Similar to Choice, a maximum number of students can be set for each slot
• If an individual leaves a module but has signed up to a slot they will be removed from the slot once they are removed from the module

Examples

• Choose projects or essays
• Workshop, lab or practical sessions, mock interviews
• Booking equipment (camera, editing suite)
• Module choices
• Optional sessions
• Sign up for careers visits, talks etc.
• Choose presentation time
• Sign up for a Team or study group
• Visits & field trips

Reception by students

Students seem to like it

Easy to use

With links embedded in Moodle, students know where to find it (rather than having to look for the right door or wall to sign up)

Students use it as soon as we tell them the slots are available

Tips and recommendations

• Lock them as you create them, and only unlock once you have finished.
• Don’t create each time slot from scratch, but edit the previous one and 'save as new slot'.
• Use the notes field to make it clear what the session is for, how often it runs, and what the students should bring with them.
• Don’t expect them to turn up when they have signed up (true for any system you use!).
• If using for group signups, make it very clear in the notes who should sign up from each group (ie the Group Leader), but don’t expect them to get it right all the time!
• Make sure you leave room in sessions for the student who comes at the last minute and can’t do any session but that one!

EXAMPLE