iPeer User Documentation

iPeer is an application to develop and deliver rubric-like peer evaluations, to review and release student comments, to build progress report forms on-line, and to analyze evaluation results. It has extensive features including a user management system, student feedback control, data import/export, automatic installer, self-evaluation and etc…

Technical Information

iPeer is a Web Application. This means that it runs on a server, and can be accessed with any web browser.
iPeer is written in a web programming language called PHP (​http://www.php.net) and uses an application framework called CakePHP. (​http://www.cakephp.org) to structure its code. For more technical details, please see iPeer's Trac website at ​http://ipeer.ctlt.ubc.ca/

There are 5 types of users in iPeer: students, tutors, instructors, faculty administrators, and administrators.

Students

The students interface is focused on completing evaluations. After students have been created they can log into the system, and after they have been assigned to courses they can complete evaluation events and surveys.

Login for Students

Students can log in via 2 mechanisms:

• via username and password, like every other type of iPeer user.
• via the CWL plug-in (for University of British Columbia (UBC)).
  • Note that if CWL plug-in is enabled, the students cannot login via iPeer's username and password, and must always use their CWL login.

iPeer Login for Students

The students login with their username and password.

• Username: enter your student number.
• Password: enter the password given to you by your instructor or TA. You can update your password later.

Click the login button to complete the login process.

CWL Login for UBC Students

Click on the CWL logo at the login screen, and you will be taken to the UBC CWL login page. Login like you do for other UBC pages, and after the login is complete, you'll be taken iPeer Home.

• Please note that if you use your CWL login, changing your password in iPeer will have no effect on your CWL password.

Home Page

When a students logs in, they are presented with the home page. Student's view of iPeer is focused on submitting evaluations assigned by their instructors.
This page contains 5 sections, listing evaluation events:

Peer Evaluations Due

These are the evaluations that should be completed. Example:

Event	Group	Course	Due Date	Due In / Late By
Evaluation 2	Unnamed	COMP 101 101	Sun, Sep 5, 2010 11:55 am	30.2 days

To complete an evaluation, just click on its title. So, to complete the above event, you would click on "Evaluation 2".

Peer Evaluations Submitted

These evaluations were already completed. Example:

Event	Result Available / End	Group	Course	Due Date	Date Submitted
Evaluation 1	2013-01-01 00:00:00	Unnamed	COMP 101 101	Tues, Jan 1,2012 12:00 am	2012-11-23 12:24:51

If the "Viewable Start / End" date is coloured

• red, the name of the event is a link to the previously submitted evaluation, allowing students to change their submission.
• black, the name of the event is a link to the evaluation answers and results (if they were released by the instructor).

If the name of the event is not a link, the event has ended (no more submissions can be made) and the results are not viewable yet.

Peer Evaluations Expired With No Submission

These evaluations have expired and have not been completed. Example:

Event	Result Available / End	Group	Course	Due Date
Evaluation 3	2013-01-01 00:00:00	Unnamed	COMP 101 101	Tues, Dec 25,2012 12:00 am

If the name of the event is a link, results are viewable

Surveys Due

These are the surveys that should be completed. Example:

Event	Course	Due Date	Due In / Late By
Survey 1	COMP 101 101	Tues, Jan 8,2013 12:00 pm	6 days

To complete a survey, just click on its title. So, to complete the above survey, you would click on "Survey 1".

Surveys Submitted

These surveys were already completed. Example:

Event	Course	Due Date	Date Submitted
Survey 2	COMP 101 101	Tues, Jan 1, 2013 12:00 pm	2012-12-25 11:37:17

The name of the event is a link to the answers submitted.

Filling out Evaluations

There are 3 types of evaluations in iPeer: Simple Evaluations, Rubrics, and Mixed Evaluations. After clicking on an evaluation name, the selected evaluation will open.

Simple Evaluations

Simple evaluations are the most basic evaluation types in iPeer. They consist of a set number of points to distribute among your team members. The following instructions appear on the evaluation page itself:

1. Rate your peer's relative performance by using the slider. [Weight 1-10]
   • iPeer has a semi-automatic system for distributing points with amongst your team members. Slide each of the orange sliders to evaluate your team members relative to one-another. This will assign them "slider-points".
2. Click "Distribute" button to distribute points.
   • iPeer will calculate the percentage of "slider-points" you assigned to each of your teammates, and will then calculate how many real points each is given. For example, the evaluation has 200 Real Points to distribute amongst your 4 teammates. You assign them "relative score" of 8 for each. You then click distribute. The total number of "relative scores" will be 32. Each member has 8 relative points, their will all get 8/32*100% = 25% of the total real score. In real score, each member will get 200 Points * 25% = 50 points / member.
   • The above situation would repeat itself if you assigned each member a slider score, of 2, or 4, or 6, or anything else. Since the number of "relative points" you gave to each member mains equal, they will all be equal relative to one another. It is only the real score for each member that counts.
   • Quick note: If the above info is confusing, then simply forget about the sliders and Distribute button! Instead, enter the number of points you would like to give to each teammate manually, fill out the comments, and submit your evaluation. Make sure that the points add up to the total number of points to distribute. This is explained in point 3, below.
3. Allocate any remaining points.
   • This step usually occurs in cases where the "Distribute" button could not allocate all the points exactly according to your relative scores.
   • For example, if you relative-scored all your three teammates equally, and the number of total points is 100, the real points cannot be equally divided! Each member would get 33 points, and 33+33+33 = 99, with one real point left to distribute. To distribute this point, you would give one of your team members a score of 34 manually. That way, the total real score would be 34 + 33 + 33 = 100, and all points would be distributed.
   • If "Distribute" button succeeded in giving everyone a fair score, or if you distributed all the points yourself, this step is unnecessary.
4. Enter Comments
   • You may always enter a comment. Some instructors will require you to enter comments, and others will not. Whatever the case might be, please remember that explaining the reasons behind your evaluation of your team-mates is always a good idea!
5. NOTE: "Submit Evaluation" button will only be enabled when all points are distributed, and comments (if required) are filled!
   • Before you submit:
     • Look over your scores one more time.
     • Check that you entered all the comments that you like, or are required to.
   • If the Submit button is grayed out, something is likely missing. Check the comments and total number of real points once again.
6. The evaluation can be repeatedly submitted until date.
   • Resubmissions are allowed until the date and time specified.
7. (Show / Hide late penalty policy)
   • If the evaluation has a late penalty, details can be found here.
   • If there are no late penalty, "No penalty is specified for this evaluation" will appear.

Rubric Evaluations

In Rubric Evaluations, you will rate your team members on different aspects of their performance.

• For example, if one of your teammates participates very well in meetings, but is late turning-in assignments, you could rate them separately on these categories.

Each category has a score, and comment.

• Filling out the score is required. Make sure to set a score for each category (the lowest score is selected by default, and your teammate probably deserves more!)
• Comments may or may not be required, depending on your instructor's wishes. When writing comments, please be thorough, respectful and descriptive.

All you teammate's forms will be arranged in a "accordion"-type interface. This means that each member's evaluation is folded-up. Here's an example with 4 teammates:

Group Member Wilma	-	(click to expand)
Group Member Fred	-	(click to expand)
Group Member Betty	-	(click to expand)
Group Member Barny	-	(click to expand)

1. Your first teammate's evaluation will be shown already.
2. Please fill out that first team mate's evaluation, and save it!
   • If you don't save each part as you fill it out, the information could be lost when you move on to the next teammate. Always be sure you saved.
3. When you click another teammate's name, their evaluation forms will unfold. You can now complete the evaluation and Save it. Please complete each teammate's evaluation in this way.
   • You may freely go back and forth between your teammates, but if you modify anything for a teammate, please save their section before moving on.
   • When you save a section, the accordion interface will show your first teammate's evaluation form again. This is a known iPeer issue - please select your next teammate manually for now.
4. When you have finished rating and commenting on all your teammates, submit the evaluation!
   • If the Submit button is disabled, some of the evaluations have not been complete. You should:
     • Check that you have completed the evaluations for everyone.
     • If your instructor requires comments, check all the input fields (blank-white areas) for your teammates are filled. There's a comment for each teammate's category, and a general comment about each teammate.
5. Late Penalty
   • To check whether it is implemented for the evaluation, click on "(Show / Hide late penalty policy)".
6. The evaluation can be repeatedly submitted until the date and time specified in the instruction.

Mixed Evaluations

Mixed evaluations may have different question types that include Likert questions (rubric-like), short answers, long answers, and Score Dropdown (simple evaluation like).

1. Evaluate your team mates by answering the questions below their name.
2. All required questions are marked with a red *.
3. You can save your evaluation by clicking on the Submit button at the bottom of the page. Your answers would be saved; however the evaluation would not be submitted until all the required questions are answered.
   • Note: If the evaluation has a Score Dropdown question, the evaluation cannot be saved or submitted before all the points are distributed among the members
4. After you have filled out all the required questions, you can fill submit the evaluation by clicking on the Submit button.
5. The evaluation can be repeatedly submitted until the date and time specified in the instruction.
   • Note: Resubmissions can only be made if all required questions are answered.
6. Late Penalty
   • To check whether it is implemented for the evaluation, click on "(Show / Hide late penalty policy)".

Instructors

Instructors are responsible for importing student into iPeer, and creating and scheduling evaluations. There are many options and tools; these will be covered in the next sections.

New to iPeer?

If you're an instructor that just started to use iPeer, this is how you can get started. After your account has been created by an administrator, you are ready to login and use iPeer.

• You should login with the username and password provided by your admin.
• If you are at UBC, please note that CWL login does not work for instructor accounts. In iPeer, CWL is meant for students only.

Next is a list of steps for new Instructors. To get your courses up and running, you should:

1. First, create a course!
2. Then, add students to your course, either one-by-one, or all at once using a CSV file.
3. Assign your students into groups.

You would then be ready to create evaluations for your students to complete, which is done like this:

1. Create an Evaluation. There are 3 types available, and each evaluation can be re-used many times.
2. Create an Evaluation Event. This will give the evaluation to the students to complete, once.
3. After the due date, look at the Evaluation Event results, or export them into a CSV file.

All of these steps are described in detail in the sections bellow.

Courses

All objects in iPeer have some connection with courses. Courses contain student lists, group lists, and evaluation events.

Creating a Course

To create a course:

1. Click on the courses tab.
2. Click "Add Course", just like in the image on the right
3. Enter a course name. This is best done as [Department] [Course#] [Section#], so for example:
   • ENGL 112 102, meaning this is English course number 112, section 102.
4. Enter a course Title, like:
   • Academic Writing
5. Select the instructor(s) of the course. Click "Add Instructor".
6. Select the tutor(s) of the course. Click "Add Tutor".
7. Select the department the course belongs to. This will allow admins to help troubleshoot. To select multiple departments hold "ctrl" or "command" key.
8. Enter a homepage for the course, with a URL starting with http:// or https://
9. Click Save. A course list will show up, and you can select your new course to start adding students. To do this, click on the course's name or title.

Course Maintenance

If you ever wish to edit the information you entered when creating your course, you can do this from the courses tab:

1. Click on the courses tab.
2. Right click on the course and select "Edit Course" on the menu.
3. Edit any information you choose, and save it by clicking the "Update Course" Button.

You may also delete your own courses. Please be warned: deleting a course also removes all students from that course, their responses to evaluations for that course, and any evaluation events. If you are absolutely, positively sure that you want to delete a course, this is done by:

1. Clicking on the courses tab.
2. Right click on the course and select "Delete Course" on the menu.
3. Confirm that you intend to delete the course by clicking on the OK button.
4. The course is now deleted.

Course Home Screen

Most functionality is accessed from a course's home screen. You can manage students, groups, and evaluation events from the home screen. To activate it:

1. Click on the courses tab.
2. Click on your course's name or title links.

Details of what is done at the home screen are found in the next few sections.

Students

Adding students to your courses can be done in 2 ways, and these are explained bellow:

Adding Students one by one

This method is best for classes with few (10-20) students. Each student is entered manually via iPeer form. For larger classes, it may be better to assemble a CSV form, as described in the next section

1. Go to a course's home page.
2. Click on "Add Student"
3. Enter the student's username. If
   1. a duplicate username error appears, click on "here" to enrol the student.
   2. no duplicate username error appears, enter the student's data.
      • Note: Username, First Name, Last Name are all required. Email is not required.
      • Click Save to add the student, the student password will now be randomly generated and printed near the top of the interface. Please record this password, and give it to this student so that they can login.
      • Note, that recording a password is not necessary if you are at UBC, since the students can use CWL to login to iPeer.
      • Click on Save & Add Another to add more students. Then, repeat from step 3. for all the students in the class.

Adding Students via CSV file

To add many students as once, you can create a CSV file in the following format:

Each line represents a new student, and the column order is the following:

Username, First Name,Last Name, Student#, Email (optional), Password (optional)

22928030, Sam, Badhan, 22928030, sam@server.com, password123
78233046, Jamille, Borromeo, 78233046, jb@server.com, pass5323123
39577051, Jordon, Cheung, 39577051, jc@server.com, psaswdrcD23  
68000058, David, Cliff,  68000058,  dc@server.com, password123

If you wish to leave the Email Column out, just empty that column out, leaving the comma, for example:

22928030, Sam, Badhan, 22928030,, password123
78233046, Jamille, Borromeo, 78233046,, pass5323123
39577051, Jordon, Cheung, 39577051,, psaswdrcD23  
68000058, David, Cliff,  68000058,, password123

Note the double-comma between the student number, and the password. This type of file should be created in a text editor, like Notepad. You could also create this file with a spreadsheet editor like OpenOffice Calc, or Microsoft Excel, but make sure you set the CSV export settings correctly when saving the file:

• Comma character as the separator.
• No quotes in rows or columns.

When the CSV file is ready, do the following to access the student import form.

1. Go to a course's home page.
2. Click on "Import Students"

Follow the steps below to upload your CSV to iPeer.

1) Select the file to import, click on the Browse... button and select the file from your computer. 2) Select the course to import into:

• Make sure to choose the right course to import the students into. This will not always be set to your current course, so please check this field before importing.

3) If you would like to update your current class list in iPeer (eg. remove students not in your new list and enrol new students in your list), check off "Update Class".

• If you prefer to only add the new students from your new list and not remove students that are not in your new list, don't check off "Update Class".

4) Once ready, press Import button to import the students. The next screen will display a summary of the students that were imported. Look over the data to check that the import process completed successfully.