Marking a student
The marking screen is where you record your observations during an assessment. It’s designed to be used live, while you’re in conversation with a student.
Open the marking screen
Section titled “Open the marking screen”From the assessment screen, click a student’s name to open their marking.
Capture view
Section titled “Capture view”The marking screen opens in Capture view. This is where you record:
Overall mark
Section titled “Overall mark”The overall mark is your holistic judgement of the student’s performance — a single number from 0 to 100.
It appears prominently at the top of the screen — use the slider or type directly into the number field. This is the anchor for everything else: per-criterion scores will be derived from this number, distributed according to your indicator observations.
Most markers form this impression naturally during an assessment. IOA Marker makes it explicit.
Indicators
Section titled “Indicators”Indicators appear below the overall mark. For each one, set a value using the row of five buttons:
| Button | Meaning |
|---|---|
| − − | Well below expectations |
| − | Below expectations |
| ○ | Meets expectations |
| + | Above expectations |
| + + | Well above expectations |
Click the button that matches your observation. Click the same button again to deselect it. Indicators default to neutral (○) if not explicitly set.
Prompts
Section titled “Prompts”If you configured prompts in setup, they appear on the left side of the screen as a checklist. Check each one as you cover it during the conversation.
This serves two purposes:
- A reminder of what to ask
- A record of what was actually covered
The notes field is for freeform text — a quote from the student, a quick observation, something you want to mention in feedback.
Don’t worry about grammar or complete sentences. Write quickly while the conversation is fresh. AI will turn rough notes into polished prose when you generate feedback.
Auto-save
Section titled “Auto-save”Changes save automatically as you work. You don’t need to click a save button.
The marking status updates as you work:
- Unmarked — no overall mark entered yet
- Draft — overall mark entered, feedback not yet saved
- Complete — feedback saved
Switching to Feedback view
Section titled “Switching to Feedback view”Once you’ve captured marks, switch to Feedback view using the toggle in the header to create written feedback. See Generating feedback.
- Enter the overall mark first. It’s your anchor — the impression you formed during the conversation.
- Don’t agonise over indicators. They’re observations, not micro-grades. Quick judgements are fine.
- Use notes liberally. Anything you might want in the feedback, jot it down.
- Check prompts as you go. It’s easy to forget in the flow of conversation.