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The basic structure of Cirrus is top-down: each course forms a new ‘group’, where users are either administrators or editors.
- Administrators have access to and control over all aspects of the group: course coordinators are administrators.
- Editors have control over their own work, but no administrative control over the group: students are editors.
Once the course group has been created, the course coordinator can then add assessment items.
Currently, Cirrus supports two primary kinds of assessment items: annotation-based tasks and long-form writing tasks. Each type of task has a number of different forms and myriad different applications.
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The following table lists the types of assessment currently supported through Cirrus. The first option is available as a Blackboard LTI plug-in from semester one, 2018. (See Linking between Blackboard and Cirrus.) The second to fourth options are currently only available through the Cirrus website.
Type of Assessment Description Options Available 1. Convenor-led Annotation Tasks Course co-ordinators upload objects for students to annotate through the Cirrus annotation tools. Annotation assignments can be set to individual (annotations visible only to the individual student and course staff) or group (annotations visible to an entire tutorial group / course). - image annotation
- text annotation
- video annotation
- audio annotation
2. Student-led Annotation Tasks Students upload an object for annotation by themselves, by a cohort of their peers, or by course staff. Annotation assignments can be set to individual (annotations visible only to the individual student and course staff) or group (annotations visible to an entire tutorial group / course). - image annotation
- text annotation
- video annotation
- audio annotation
3. Solo Exhibition Students individually create an online exhibition / webpage, displaying their research in an engaging, multi-modal format. - multi-page website
- parallax long-form publishing platform
4. Group Exhibition Students collaborate to create an online exhibition / webpage, displaying their research in an engaging, multi-modal format. - multi-page website
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Cirrus also includes a comprehensive student manual, including:
- guidance to writing online.
- instructions on logging in to the Cirrus system.
- instructions on completing annotation assignments.
- instructions on building exhibitions.
- guidance on exporting work as a PDF.
- information on the post-assessment publishing process.
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Annotation assignments allow students to respond directly to written or visual texts.
Students can upload their own work for annotation, or can annotate an object uploaded by the course convenor. Annotation assignments also allow threaded conversations and enable participants to upload visual content into their annotations. Annotation assignments are designed not as a feedback system, but as a form of assessment in which the annotations themselves are the assessable content.
Annotations can be individual (where each student’s annotations are visible only to themselves and the convenor) or collaborative (where students all annotate a single text, or are able to annotate each others' work). The available combinations allow for a rich variety of annotation-based assessment.
Completed annotation exercises can be downloaded as PDFs, for easy transfer or for submission via Turnitin.
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Students annotate a document that is uploaded into Cirrus.
An example of the text-based annotation as it appears on screen is shown below. Students highlight a section of the text, and write their annotation in the pop-up window that appears. Annotations can be edited or deleted at any time. Students can also reply to annotations and upload images into individual annotation boxes.
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Example use cases:
- course coordinators upload a representative section of the novel set for that week's class, allowing close engagement with the text before class discussion.
- creative-writing students upload their own in-progress work, inviting peer review from their classmates.
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Students annotate an image uploaded into Cirrus.
An example of the image-based annotation as it appears on screen is shown below. Students draw a box around a section of the image, and write their annotation in the pop-up window that appears. Annotations can be edited or deleted at any time. Students can also reply to annotations, upload images into individual annotation boxes, and link out to source material.
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Example use cases:
- students annotate a work of art in conjunction with class discussions, facilitating a close engagement with the actual work, as well as its context.
- students upload their own visual work (such as an advertising poster) for peer review.
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Example use cases:
- course coordinators upload a section of a film under study for students to annotate prior to class.
- students upload videos of specific dance or song performances, to closely analyse staging and production.
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Example use cases:
- students directly interrogate a piece of music.
- students address the components of oratory using the audio file of a speech rather than the printed text.
- students demonstrate their facility with a second language with a file the tutor can annotate.
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A new way of exploring the traditional university assessment task.
Essays have long been at the core of student assessment, especially in the Humanities. AusArts allows students to explore different ways of presenting long-form writing, from enhanced essays and articles to multi-page online exhibitions to parallax publications.
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Students can enhance their critical, creative, or non-fiction work with embedded images, audio-visual material, and more.
Completing work online rather than the traditional Word document encourages students to think differently about their readers, their message, and its delivery.
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Example use cases:
- students produce collaborative assignments showcasing a semester-long research project.
- students produce individual research essays, with the objects under analysis (such as music or video) embedded in the essay.
View examples of published student work from previous semesters.
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Students create multi-page exhibitions of rich, visually engaging online content.
Not all assignments work best as a single, long-form essay. With the AusArts CMS, students can easily create multi-page exhibitions or websites. They can incorporate visual and audio-visual material, embed the object of their analysis directly in their critical response, include interactive maps and timelines, and much more.
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Example use cases:
- students can prepare an online exhibition to accompany a physical exhibition in an art gallery or museum.
- multiple students can work on a single exhibition, each contributing individual sections while working in a group space.
- students complete non-traditional assignments, such as designing a season of theatre or a writers' festival.
View examples of published student work from previous semesters.
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When, in 2012, the New York Times published Snow Fall, it marked a new way to interact with long-form writing online. In 2018, Cirrus has prepared parallax-formatting options for student work.
Cirrus's parallax system allows students to easily create richly illustrated and engaging long-form pieces. The system works on an intuitive branching interface that allows students to build up the work panel by panel.
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Example use cases:
- students produce an illustrated history of a genre or publication.
- students create an immersive piece of long-form journalism.
Parallax options do not replace the existing exhibitions and enhanced essay, but provide an alternative for specific assignments or ambitious students.
See the following examples of parallax use on AustLit:
- Wendy Blacklock essay (from Players): biographical essay
- The Hardest Fight (from Parasols and Prosthetic Limbs): republication of short story
- Australian Pulp Westerns: illustrated guide to the genre
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