Sisu instructions: Recording the grades of completed studies

If you have been defined in Sisu as the teacher of an ‘implementation’ (e.g., a lecture-based course or a closed-book examination), you can record grades for it. If you have been defined as the coordinating teacher, you can also confirm the recorded grades. 

Quick guide:

1. Log in to Sisu, go to My teaching and select an implementation.
2. Select the Assessment tab.
3. Record grades and any additional information. Check and, if necessary, change the language of learning and date of completion. 
4. Check and confirm the assessments.

Immediately after being confirmed, the credits will be displayed to students as partially completed. The information will automatically change overnight so that the credits appear as fully completed. When students have completed all the credits required for a course, the credits will not appear as fully completed in the study plan until the day after the assessments have been confirmed.

You can also see the instructions as recordings in Unitube: Recording the grades of completed studies, quick guide or the more comprehensive version Recording the grades of completed studies.

You can find the tab for assessing implementations (e.g., lecture-based courses and examinations) under My teaching in Sisu. This tab lists all the implementations for which you have been defined as the teacher. By clicking on the title of a course or examination, you can access its information as well as the Assessment tab under which the assessment is to be recorded.

You can record grades one student at a time or record the same grade for a group of students in one go by using the Bulk edit information tab. Alternatively, you can import assessments from a CSV file (Excel) or the Moodle learning environment.

Filtering the list of participants

Under the Assessment tab, you can see a list of up to 100 students shown on one page. You can change the maximum number of students shown on the list from the drop-down menu on the right side of the page. 

To filter the participants included in the list, click on Search and filter participants in the upper part of the page. You can filter participants by assessment item, study group, credits, language of learning, date of completion and persons responsible for assessment. The criteria you selected for filtering will remain in place if you move to bulk editing information or confirming assessments.

You can also search for a particular student by name and student number. By selecting Show unconfirmed assessments only, you can exclude from your search students whose assessments have already been confirmed.

You can also organise the list of participants by clicking on the list headings by name, student number, credits, grade, date, language of learning and status.

Assessment criteria and feedback

By clicking on the three dots next to the Review and confirm feature on the Assessment tab, you can open a menu that includes the option Assessment criteria and feedback.

On the page that appears on the screen, record the assessment criteria unless they are included in the course details. On this page, you can also record the date, time and location of a feedback session, if any. Record the criteria unless they are included in the course details. You can also record assessment criteria and feedback information after you have confirmed assessments. Students can see the information under their completed studies.

You can use the Bulk edit information feature to record the same grade for a large number of students in one go. When using this feature, you can only see the students for whom a pass grade has not yet been confirmed. You can also view confirmed fail grades which you can replace by recording a new, pass grade. Please note that changes made using the Bulk edit information feature will replace entries made for the selected students whose assessments have not yet been confirmed.

1. Select the students for whom you wish to record the information. You can also use the Search and filter participants feature to access the students for whom you wish to record the same assessment.
2. Next, select the grade, date of completion and language of learning to be entered using the bulk edit feature. You can also change the person responsible for the assessment and record written feedback and additional information on the completed studies using the three dots menu. 
3. Save the information by clicking on Save changes at the top of the tab. If you have recorded assessment information for an individual student before using the bulk edit feature, such information will be replaced by the bulk edited entry. However, bulk editing will not replace confirmed assessment information.                                                       
4. You can continue to record assessments by returning to the bulk edit page. Enter assessments for the next group of students and save the information.
5. To conclude, confirm the assessments under Review and confirm. You can find a detailed instruction under the heading Confirming the assessments.

The Assessment tab shows a list of the students whose registration for a course or examination has been approved and confirmed. You can record a grade and other information by clicking on the relevant field. You can also click on the first grade row and then move from one field and row to the next in the participant list using the tab key or the Shift+arrow combination.

Any information you record on the Assessment tab is continuously saved, so you can proceed in the order of your choice. Students cannot see the information until the day after the assessments have been confirmed.

If you notice an error in the assessment scale, number of credits or other information, or if a language is missing from the language of learning menu, please contact the University’s assessment support services (assessment@helsinki.fi) before confirming the assessments.

1. Check the credits. As a rule, the information on credits is fixed, which means that you cannot change it.
2. Select the grade. The grading scale is also fixed and based on the scale defined for the course in the curriculum.
3. Enter the date of completion. This is the date on which the student completed the studies, for example, took the examination or returned the essay.
4. Check the language of learning and change it if necessary.
5. Check and, if necessary, change the responsible evaluators. Several persons may have been defined as evaluators.
6. By clicking on the three dots under the Additional info field, you can record written feedback to students and provide additional info to be included in the transcript of studies.                                    
7. Written feedback is shown to students, but does not appear on the transcript of studies.
8. Additional info is included in the student’s transcript of studies. In this field, you should only enter important additional information (e.g., the title of the course if it is not the same in Sisu as it is elsewhere). It is recommended that the information be entered in Finnish, Swedish and English.
9. To conclude, confirm the assessments by clicking on Review and confirm. You can find a detailed instruction under the heading Confirming the assessments.

1. To conclude the recording of assessments, confirm the assessments by clicking on Review and confirm. 
2. Tick the box next to the students whose assessments you wish to confirm. Check all the information one more time.
3. Then click on Confirm.                                     
4. A notification indicating the number of confirmed assessments will appear on the screen. 
5. If a given assessment has not been successfully confirmed, you will see a red notification bar. By clicking on the link in the notification, you can access further information about the error. If you need assistance in resolving the error and confirming the assessment, please contact the University’s assessment support services (assessment@helsinki.fi).

When you have successfully confirmed the assessments, they will be recorded for the relevant students and the credits will be immediately displayed to them as partially completed. When students have completed all the credits required for a course, the credits will not appear as fully completed in the study plan until the day after the assessments have been confirmed.

A wreath icon will be shown under the Status column on the list of students if the student’s assessment has been confirmed. A downward arrow icon will be displayed for students who have received a fail grade. A new, pass grade can be recorded to replace the fail grade. 

Further information on resitting courses and examinations can be found in the general instructions for recording grades.

Raising

A fail grade on a course (implementation in Sisu) can be raised by reselecting the student on the Assessment tab and changing the grade (and any other information, such as the date of completion). You can identify students whose studies can be re-assessed by the arrow at the end of the row in the list of participants. The amended grade is verified in the usual manner with the Review and confirm feature.

A passing grade is usually raised through what is known as a separate implementation. In such cases, the student registers separately in Sisu, for example, in a general examination session or a re-take exam, which is assessed as a separate implementation. If you are unable to find a re-take implementation in Sisu, please contact your degree programme's planner. Contact information for planning teams can be found on the Instructions for teaching page Teaching programme.

More information on raising of completed credits can be found on the Instructions for teaching page Assessment and grading in different systems.

Rectifying

If you notice an error in the grading of an already confirmed evaluation or it needs to be rectified for any other reason, please contact the Assessment support services (assessment@helsinki.fi).

Credits can be recorded on the basis of completed components (parts of a completion method) either automatically or after the coordinating teacher or an administrator has approved it. Credits can be recorded once the student has completed all the compulsory components that they have selected. Further information on course components can be found on this page under What do 'implementation', 'completion method' and 'assessment item' mean? 

You must be defined as the coordinating teacher of the course to be able to record credits once the student has completed the necessary components. Credits are recorded on the course maintenance page on the Assessment tab. 

1. Open the Curriculum planning page, click on the Courses tab and select the course for which you wish to record credits. Then go to the Assessment tab.
   
2. From the drop-down menu at the top under Sufficient assessment items, select which students you wish to assess based on the completion method they have selected. By default, the students displayed in the list are those who have selected the completion method in their primary study plan. You can also select students manually by deselecting the check box Only show students who have this completion method selected in their primary plan.
3. Select the students to be assessed and click on Continue to assessment above the list of students.
4. You can see the students’ component grades in the list. By default, the grade, language of learning and completion date are selected. The grade is based on the average grade of the completed components. You can change the grade if you justify it. The language of learning is deduced on the basis of the completed components. If necessary, you can change the language. The completion date is the date on which the student completed the last component. If necessary, you can change the date. Click on Continue.
   
5. The details entered for the course components completed by the student are shown by default under Details. If necessary, you can add information or edit the existing information. See that the field only contains readable characters. Click on Continue.
   
6. Verify the information on the final evaluation and correct it if necessary. Information on the evaluators and the organisation is retrieved from the course details. Verify the information and edit it if necessary. Click on Continue.
   
7. In the Confirmation section, you can see a summary of the completed studies to be recorded. Verify the information and confirm it. A notification will appear in the top margin once the evaluations have been successfully confirmed.

The assessment  of a large number of students is easier if you import evaluation data using a CSV file (i.e., an Excel file). The Excel-based Sisu converter (SIMU) helps you compile student information, assess completed studies and import assessment data into Sisu. After importing assessment data into Sisu using SIMU, you only need to confirm the data in Sisu. SIMU requires a list of student numbers for the assessment data to be connected to the right students. It is possible to obtain a list of student numbers, including names, from Sisu, Moodle or Examinarium, for instance.

New: If you've ordered the course participant list through the Course Pages, you can use the prefilled SIMU-sheet in the second tab to save and import the grades to Sisu.

If you don't have prefilled SIMU-sheet from the Course Pages, first download the Sisu converter down below:

Download the Sisu converter SIMU here (.xlsm)

NB. If you are using the latest version of Excel, you need to first enable the use of macros from the folder where you save the SIMU file:

1. Open the Excel file.
2. Go to the "File" tab.
3. Select "Options."
4. Navigate to "Trust Center" settings under "Security Center."
5. Choose "Trust Center Settings."
6. Go to the settings for "Trusted Locations."
7. Add a safe location:
   • Click the "Add new location..." button.
   • Type or select a secure location on your computer, such as C:\Folder, where you allow the execution of macros.
   • Press OK to confirm the addition.
8. Confirm the changes and close the settings.
9. Save the file.

NB. The macro functions in the Sisu converter require Windows and Microsoft Excel in order to work. If you do not have access to these, you can still use SIMU by logging into the university's virtual Windows 10 desktop from https://vdi.helsinki.fi. Further instructions can be found from Helpdesk.

How to assess completed studies using a CSV file obtained from Sisu

If you have ordered the prefilled sheet from the Course Pages, you can jump to section 4.

1. Click on Enrolled students to download their information.
2. Click on Create a CSV file of the students and download the file to your computer. Download the participant list in the same language that you use the SIMU tool with.
   
3. Open SIMU and click on Import Sisu enrollment CSV file to import student numbers into SIMU. SIMU's macro will clean all the unnecessary information from the participant list, including rejected enrolments.
4. Enter the missing assessment data in SIMU (grade, credits, date of completion, language of learning and verbal feedback, if any). When importing the file back to Sisu, Sisu will check that the data entered matches the amount of credits and the available completion language set out in Sisu. You can check the available options regarding the amount of credits and completion languages that can be registered from Sisu's interface. 
5. When you're finished, delete all the empty rows from the table that you won't send to Sisu at this point (Sisu won't accept empty rows). Click on Save as Sisu assessment information CSV file.
6. Go to the Assessment tab in Sisu. Click on the button Import assessment information.
7. Select the information you have saved in SIMU as a CSV file and send the file.
8. You can then add possible further details concerning the assessment. If you are the coordinating teacher, you can then confirm the evaluations. See an illustrated instruction for how to add assessment's details and confirm the assessments on this page (higher up). 

How to assess completed studies using an Excel file obtained from Examinarium

You can also transfer grades directly from Examinarium to Sisu for which instructions can be found on the page Examinarium - user instructions. You should import an Excel file if the grade obtained from Examinarium is not the final grade.

1. Download the Excel spreadsheet from the Examinarium examination under Completed credits. Completed examinations must be locked. 
2. Open SIMU and click on Import Examinarium assessment Excel file.
3. If the grades are not the students’ final grades, update them and add feedback if you wish.
4. Click on Save as Sisu assessment csv file.
5. Go to the Evaluation section in Sisu. Click on the button Import assessment information.
6. Select the evaluation information you have saved in SIMU and send the information.
7. Then go to Assessment data to add possible further details concerning the assessment. If you are the coordinating teacher, you can then confirm the evaluations. See an illustrated instruction for how to add assessment's details and confirm the assessments on this page (higher up). 

See Exporting grades from the online learning environment Moodle to Sisu

The course or examination to be assessed cannot be found on the ‘My Teaching’ page

You have probably not been added as the teacher responsible for the course or examination (‘implementation’ in Sisu). Please contact the planning officer responsible for the degree programme and ask them to add this information. You can find the necessary contact details on the page containing instructions for the degree programme.

The assessment has not been confirmed

Click on ‘Review and confirm’ at the top of the ‘Assessment’ tab and confirm the assessments. You can find more detailed instructions in the chapter Confirming the assessments.

Information on the responsible assessors is missing

If the information on the responsible assessor is missing from the student-specific rows, it prevents the confirmation of assessments. Information on the assessor may have been inadvertently removed from the ‘Assessment’ tab. Check this information and add at least one responsible assessor. You can add this information for several participants all at once using the bulk edit feature. 

The student cannot be found on the list of students to be assessed

The student has either not registered for the course or examination, or the student’s registration has not been confirmed. Check that the student can be found on the ‘Registered students’ tab. You can use the menus above the list of registered students to access rejected registrations or registered students who did not meet the registration criteria. Students can be registered for a course or an examination by the Student Services staff responsible for the degree programme in question, or the students themselves can register if registration is still open. You can check whether registration is open by clicking on the ‘Registrations’ tab of the relevant course or examination.

The students do not appear on the list of students to be confirmed

Compulsory information on the students to be assessed is missing, which is why the students do not appear on the list of students to be confirmed. Make sure that the rows for all participants to be assessed include the scope in credits, the grade, the attainment date, the language of learning and the responsible assessor.

The confirmed assessment appear to students as a partially completed course

When you have confirmed the assessments, they are immediately visible to students as partially completed. During the following night, the course assessments will automatically change into a full completion. Only if a course consists of several components, the assessments must be manually compiled by an administrator in Sisu.

Completed studies are not necessarily displayed to students the day after the grades have been recorded if they have not added the course to their plan, the course information does not include a responsible teacher or the method of completion is unclear. In such cases, completed studies appear to students as partially completed courses. You can ask the students to contact Student Services, where the staff can change the course from partially to fully completed. 

Problems with transferring assessment information from Moodle to Sisu 

You can find a list of the most common solutions on the Exporting grades from the online learning environment Moodle to Sisu -page.

An implementation can be a course, an examination, a traineeship, an essay or any other learning activity for which students register and which they complete to demonstrate their skills.

In Sisu, courses (e.g., HY110) offer several completion methods available to students, who decide the format in which they wish to study the course content. For example, completion method alternatives may include 1) attending teaching, 2) an examination and 3) an essay.

A completion method may consist of several parts (identical to course components and assessment items), in which case students must complete each (compulsory) part to earn the credits. In other words, parts of completion methods are similar to course components. For example, the completion method of attending teaching may consist of the separate parts of lecture-based teaching and exercises.

Parts of completion methods are necessary if a teacher wishes to create separate implementations (e.g., exercises and lectures) for course components in Sisu and to assess them separately in Sisu. For information on whether a course has several parts in its completion methods, please see the course brochure. Completion method 1 below includes several parts, whereas completion methods 2–4 include only one part.

An implementation can be connected to several parts of completion methods. For example, an implementation entitled Exercise Group can be connected to the completion method of both the course HY-110 Truth, Bildung and Freedom and the course HY-120 Best Place to Study. Consequently, when registering for the Exercise Group, students can choose whether to complete the course HY-110 or HY-120. This means that when you are assessing completed studies, they are appropriately connected on the basis of each student’s choices.

If an implementation has been connected to several courses, you can see it

• in the course brochure, under the information on teaching,
• at the top right corner of the implementation maintenance view, under the implementation summary.

 If an implementation has been connected to several parts of a course completion method, you can see it 

• in the course brochure, under the information on teaching.

For example, students can complete in an examination session the resit examination of a lecture-based course (part of a completion method) and a closed-book examination (part of a completion method).

If you have questions about assessment or the use of various assessment systems, you can contact the University’s assessment support services at assessment@helsinki.fi.  

You can find compiled Sisu instructions for teachers on page Sisu instructions for teachers.

Frequently asked questions about Sisu

You can find compiled Sisu instructions for students on page Sisu instructions for students.