Thank you to everyone who has been using the Jisc attendance capture system this year to log student attendance at Timetabled teaching sessions and Core supervision sessions on project and dissertation units. As capturing attendance at Supervisor meetings is new this year, we thought we would share some FAQs to help you along with the process 🙂. [NB This is only in relation to UG and PGT students – PGR students are managed separately using the ProGRess system].
Why is it important to capture attendance at Supervisor meetings on Jisc?
Recording attendance for Supervisor meetings within Jisc allows student activity to be monitored via the Engage app and this data feeds into the student engagement review process. The data can also be reviewed in Jisc by teaching staff on the unit and Programme Leads.
How is the process for taking attendance at Supervisor sessions different?
Attendance at timetabled teaching sessions is captured by sharing a 6 digit code with students during the session. As Supervisor meetings for projects and dissertations are not timetabled, attendance for these events is logged by manually creating an event on Jisc associated with the Project or Dissertation unit. Student names are added individually to the event and attendance set as ‘Attended’ or ‘Not attended’. To record attendance for a Supervisor meeting you will need to be assigned to the Project/Dissertation unit in Brightspace with a Unit Lead or Teaching Team role.
Do I need to share a code with students for a Supervisor meeting?
No, you can create the event prior to or after the meeting has taken place and update the register manually. A code will be created alongside the event but there is no need to share this with students.
Can I create a single event for multiple students on the same day?
Yes, if you see several students on the same day you can create one event to check them into. Create the event to run from 09:00-17:00 to cover the whole day then add the relevant student names to the register. You can mark their attendance in one go by clicking on the + icon next to ‘Amend’ in the register.
What if students don’t attend a scheduled meeting?
If a student doesn’t attend a scheduled meeting, the event should still be recorded with the student set as ‘Not attended’.
Should I populate the register for the event from the unit classlist?
No, add the name of the student(s) who were scheduled to be at the Supervisor meeting individually. When you create your event and associate it with a unit make sure you untick ‘Populate register from module(s)’.
If you do populate your event from the module (unit classlist) any students who weren’t required to attend will need to be retrospectively set as ‘Not required’ otherwise the engagement data will show the students as having missed a session as their attendance will default to ‘Not attended’.
Can I link my created event to multiple units?
Yes, when creating an event for multiple students you can select all the relevant Project/Dissertation units from the list. You don’t need to know which individual unit a student is on – their attendance will only be recorded against the unit that they are enrolled in, even if you select multiple Project/Dissertation units.
If I create a session with multiple students, do I need to set the attendance for each student individually?
No, if your event was created for multiple students you can mark their attendance in one go by clicking on the + icon next to ‘Amend’.
How do I adjust the register for a supervisor meeting?
To find the register, go to the ‘Events’ page and navigate to the day when the meeting took place. Or alternatively go via ‘Units’ and open the register from the unit’s ‘Attendance grid’ report. You can modify a student’s attendance status at any time – How to view and update attendance registers.
How can I view the attendance data for a student at their supervisor meetings?
Student attendance at supervisor meetings is captured via their Project or Dissertation unit. You can view this attendance data by clicking on ‘Units’ in the left hand menu in Jisc and searching for the relevant unit. The ‘Attendance Grid’ report for the unit will show attendance for each session. The overall ‘Sessions attended‘ percentage includes other taught sessions for the unit that the student has been scheduled to attend.
Further help and guidance
Step-by-step guidance for capturing attendance at Supervisor meetings is available online – How to capture attendance for Supervisor meetings. If you have any further questions about attendance capture, talk to your Faculty Learning Technologist.
There is lots more guidance on using Jisc and viewing reports in the Jisc section of the Brightspace Staff Resources area and on the Academic Engagement Framework sharepoint site.
