Assessment and Feedback Resources Hub

What is a flexible submission window?

Offering a ‘submission window’ means setting a period of time for submission of an assignment, rather than specifying a single deadline. So, for example, you might ask students to submit an assignment between the Monday and the Friday of a particular week.

Flexible submission windows are best suited to larger pieces of coursework that students complete over the course of a semester, for example, a substantive essay or report. The length of the window is typically a week but could be longer for larger pieces of work such as a final year project.

What is an intention to submit form?

Importantly, the use of a submission window should be accompanied by a requirement that students indicate on which day of the window they intend to submit the assignment. Possible ways of doing this and accompanying student communications are explained below.

Why use a flexible submission window?

The benefits of the flexible submission window when combined with an intention to submit form are twofold. When its use is explained clearly and explicitly, it can help students to take control of their time and manage their assessment deadlines without creating bottlenecks later in the semester. In having a positive impact on the volume of extension requests submitted, it can also enable staff to manage marking loads more effectively and return feedback in a timely manner. Importantly, introducing a submission window has been found to result in minimal additional work for those administering the assignment.

The use of a flexible submission window was first trialled at UofG by colleagues in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience. In 2023-24, we extended this pilot across a number of other courses and subject areas, as part of work to manage a rapidly expanding number of extension requests. The areas that volunteered to be part of the extended pilot found the use of a flexible submission window to have a small but positive impact, and many chose to continue with it. A report on the 2023-24 pilot was submitted to the University’s Learning & Teaching Committee in November 2024.

How to implement a flexible submission window

Communication with students

Key to the success of a submission window is clear communication with students about its purpose and how they can use it to manage their workload.

1. Ensure that all references to a single deadline are replaced with reference to a submission window, for example, in assessment and feedback calendars or in assessment briefs:

• Example communication: For this assessment you have a flexible submission window. You may submit your report from Monday 3rd March at 12 noon until the final deadline of Friday 7th March at 12 noon.

2. Explicitly draw attention to the time management component of the submission window so that students understand the purpose of the window and the intention to submit form. This can be included as part of the assessment brief and reused each year. It is also helpful to draw attention to other resources that help with time management, such as the SLD Time Management course, on which all students are enrolled.  

• Example communication: To help with your time management, you should review any other deadlines and commitments you have at this time, and decide which day during the flexible submission window works best for you. You will be asked in reading week to make a note of which day you plan to submit – this isn’t binding, instead, we're asking you to do this because there's evidence that having a specific intention is the best predictor of future behaviour.

3. Additionally, it is useful to pre-empt some frequently asked questions and ensure there are no expectations that an earlier submission will result in an earlier return of feedback. This can also be included as part of the assessment brief and reused each year.

• Example communication: We encourage you to plan to submit your report early so that if you need a few extra days you can still meet the final deadline – if the day you submit your report is different to the one you intended, you don’t need to inform anyone as long as you still submit within the window.

• Example communication: Marks and feedback for reports submitted within the window will be released on Monday 7th April.
• Example communication: If you need an extension beyond the final deadline, please see the Extensions & Good Cause guidance. Your extension request should explain why you were unable to submit during the flexible window.

4. Finally, to bolster the connection with time management, it is useful to explicitly link the availability of the submission window with requesting an extension. Previous pilots have found this useful in reducing extension requests related to minor illness the day before the deadline.

Implementation on Moodle

 

1. Set the availability of the Moodle assignment to the beginning and end of the submission window. Moodle can only display a single deadline and so the final day of the submission will be displayed as their deadline and as such communications are key in reinforcing and explaining the purpose of the submission window.

2. Set up the intention to submit form as a Moodle Feedback Form. There is a public Flexible Submission Window template available on Moodle that you can adapt.

3. Optional settings:

a) You may set a deadline for completing the intention to submit form.

b) The form can be anonymous or the user’s name can be logged with their response. Logging the name allows you to identify and contact students who have not submitted the intention to submit as well as to evaluate the impact on late submissions and extensions, although this is not a necessary part of the process.

4. Provide a reminder for students to complete the intention to submit form by an appropriate deadline. If you use Progress Trackers / Moodle Checklists, it is useful to include a reminder to complete the form approximately two weeks ahead of the start of the flexible submission window.

 

 

Gathering Student Feedback

There are various ways in which you can gather feedback from your students on flexible submission windows for both evaluation and enhancement purposes. It is recommended that you use an established method within your course (e.g. EvaSys,  SSLCs, Class Representatives) and ask a targeted question or set of questions tailored to the aspects you wish to explore. A question that has been asked in earlier uses of the flexible submission window that may be adapted for use is:

• Example feedback prompt: For the [coursename] essay, you had a flexible submission window and were asked to complete an ‘intention to submit’ form. We’d be grateful for any feedback you have on this process; for example, did it help your planning and time management; were the instructions clear; and how did this process compare to your other subjects?

You are also welcome to explore and develop other feedback mechanisms that might lead to clearer insights. When doing this, you should keep in mind pressures faced by students, such as time poverty, and try to address these where possible to maximise the number of students that can easily access these mechanisms. Further guidance on Student Voice is available.

During the flexible submission window pilot, it was found that areas which did not explicitly ask for feedback on flexible submission windows did not receive feedback on them. To encourage students to give feedback, we recommend that you explain clearly from the beginning why flexible submission windows are being used, so that they are able to give more informed and reflective comments on whether they feel flexible submission windows work for them.

If feedback from students on your use of a flexible submission window is particularly strong and you feel that other areas would benefit from using this method, let your College Dean of Learning & Teaching know.