In the past academic year, I introduced Numbas online assessments in a number of science modules at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). The trial was mostly successful as far as students are concerned, with high engagement, good results, and excellent feedback. It was also relatively easy to get colleagues on board, resulting in significant savings in staff marking and feedback time. However, we experienced (known) Blackboard SCORM issues whereby student marks are often not recorded in the Grade Centre; we adopted an effective workaround (involving students taking a record of their attempts) which however is not ideal, due to the extra time and manual intervention required from students and staff. A tried and tested solution involves using the Numbas LTI, seemingly a straightforward option. However, our institution has a strong preference for not providing such a service in-house. An alternative under consideration involves contracting an IT company.
