CADMUS CASE STUDY

University of Manchester
Enhances Student Success
Amongst Diverse Groups
with Cadmus
About The University
of Manchester
The University of Manchester is the largest university in
the UK with over 37,000 students, and is part of the
prestigious Russell Group. The institution is committed to
world-class research, ensuring an outstanding learning
and student experience, and upholding social
responsibility, leading to its #54 ranking globally (Times
Higher Education World University Rankings 2023).

About Professor Gabrielle Finn

Gabrielle is the Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students at
the University of Manchester. Her research interests include
curriculum development, with a focus on widening participation
and equality, diversity, and inclusion.

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Challenge
In 2021, the University of Manchester (UoM) rapidly deployed to online learning and
assessment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In a constantly evolving environment
demanding quick evolution, UoM began their transition to online practices. Through
this process, UoM, like institutions globally, realised they needed a solution to:

Assure academic integrity in an online environment.

Enhance opportunities for underrepresented and minority groups who

were disadvantaged by non-inclusive teaching and assessment, improving
the degree awarding gap.

Maintain teaching and learning quality in a disparate environment.

Support students and educators facing change fatigue to adopt and

execute new learning technology with ease and efficiency.

Cadmus provided an all-inclusive solution for the University of Manchester, driving

significant improvements in the overall student experience and success rates, including a
2% increase in the pass rate and an 11% improvement in the high distinction rate.

Amongst all students supported by Cadmus, including those in minority groups, only 0.4%
presented as at risk of academic misconduct, which is directly attributed to the point-of-
need-support and educative nudges provided to students within the platform as they
progress through their assessment.

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Cadmus’ Solution
Cadmus partnered with the University of Manchester and worked closely with key
stakeholders over one semester to transition 4 academic units online across various
disciplines. This included 4 subjects, 20 educators, 3 unit coordinators, 589 students and
7 assessments.

Major Phases of Work

01 Analysis of Units: Cadmus conducted individual consultations with educators and

ran educator surveys to deeply understand the university’s strategic objectives, the
associated challenges, and the best approach to drive immediate results in an
evolving environment.

02 Assessment Redesign + Exam Transition Online: Cadmus Academic Team

redesigned and deployed all applicable assessments to align with UoM’s
Assessment, Examination, and Teaching and Learning Policies. Within the Cadmus
Student Environment, the university’s academic skills support and academic
integrity resources were integrated.

03 Educator Onboarding: Cadmus delivered comprehensive training to educators on

improving assessment, teaching and learning quality within an online environment.
In addition, ongoing product training and support were provided to both educators
and students.

04 Validation of Unit Success: Within the Cadmus platform, rich learner analytics were
captured at both a cohort and individual student level. UoM’s key stakeholders
utilised this data to understand and validate changes in student progression and
success driven through the use of Cadmus.

05 University Research Partnership: The University of Manchester and Cadmus are

both deeply committed to improving equality of opportunity in education for
underrepresented groups. Following the exceptional outcomes achieved, a joint
research project is currently underway to better understand the learning behaviours
of at-risk student groups.

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Outcomes
In an environment that required rapid, high-quality
+2%
deployment of online assessment and adoption from increase in student
pass rate
various educator and student groups, stand-out results
were achieved in student success rates and educator
satisfaction.

The enhanced student success rates are directly attributed

to the learner support and real-time educator feedback
available within the Cadmus platform, with each student
+11%
accessing 4 learning support resources per assessment in increase in students
receiving Class 1 (HD)
Cadmus. Of these students, 78% accessed and utilised
real-time educator feedback prior to submitting their final
assessment, which underpinned the student success rate.

“I highly recommend Cadmus; it has

supported our accelerated transition to 86%
blended and online learning, ensuring the of students accessed
formative feedback before
authenticity and integrity of online final submission
assessments. Students learn meaningfully
during the assessment process because the
Cadmus platform provides an educative and
supportive workspace that drives successful
outcomes,” said Gabriella. 100%
of educators said Cadmus
Through the successful outcomes obtained, the utilisation improved the quality of
their assessment design
of Cadmus increased to 30 academic units in the
subsequent semesters.

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Feedback
Students

I loved the layout and formatting of Cadmus, and it was

so helpful to have all the instructions separated into a
step-by-step checklist. This made the workload so much
89%
of students had a
more manageable, and I knew exactly what I had to do to
positive experience
complete my assessment.
in Cadmus

UoM National Student Survey

student experience:
71.8% (2021)

Faculty Leaders + Academics

Importantly, Cadmus has supported the University of

Manchester in our efforts to ensure assessments are

100%
inclusive and in our ongoing work to tackle differential
attainment across our diverse student cohorts. Cadmus
provided a bespoke solution based on our needs and
of academics had a
delivered on their capabilities.
positive experience
Gabrielle Finn, Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and in Cadmus
Students

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Interested in learning more?
If you’d like to understand how Cadmus can support your institution,
contact us at hello@cadmus.io

cadmus.io linkedin.com/company/cadmus-io twitter.com/cadmus_io

Read on for more feedback from our partners…

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From Executives
“Edith Cowan University regards this partnership as one of
our key success stories. The synergies between the
approach of Cadmus and our priority work in assessment
redesign and success for diverse students are obvious.”

Professor Angela Hill

D E P U T Y V I C E C H A N C E L L O R ( E D U C AT I O N )

Edith Cowan University

“Cadmus has the potential to transform teaching and

learning, unblock the transformation of Higher Education,
and the ability to lower the cost of Higher Education.”

Emeritus Professor Ross Milbourne

VICE CHANCELLOR (2002 — 2014)

University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

“We see Cadmus as one of the leaders in digital

assessment. The novel approach in which Cadmus
supports students has transformed the way we think
about assessment.”

Professor Andrew Ooi

A S S O C I AT E D E A N ( A C A D E M I C ) , E N G I N E E R I N G

The University of Melbourne

“The level of scaffolding and built-in support resources in

Cadmus gave us confidence that we could impact more
subjects than with our learning design team alone.”

Dr Prue Gonzalez
ACADEMIC LE AD (SCIENCE)

Charles Sturt University

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From Academics
“On a plain old admin basis, Cadmus is better. But at a
higher level, the tool encourages you to think more often
and more deeply about what you’re trying to assess the
students on, and why you’re assessing it.”

Professor Michael Vitale

LEECTURER (ENGINEERING)

The University of Melbourne

“There were fewer instances of plagiarism, demonstrating

that students were learning through the process.”

Dr Alice Payne
A S S O C I AT E P R O F E S S O R ( D E S I G N )

Quuensland University of Technology

“We have 2000 students and it definitely helped. Our

teaching team had a positive experience and students
benefitted. I haven't had many experiences with new
technology that have been this good.”

Dr Trisha Downing
HE AD TUTOR (SCIENCE)

The University of Melbourne

“Cadmus really contributed to engaging students with

their assessment. Student feedback was very positive,
noting how easy it is to integrate research and writing
using Cadmus.”

John Gaffey
LECTURER (ARTS + HUMANITIES)

Charles Sturt University

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From Students
“Cadmus shaves off all the unnecessary features and only
leaves those that the average student actually needs to
complete their work. Overall, I found it to be easy and
efficient to use.”
THE UNIVERSIT Y OF BIRMINGHAM

“Unlike other platforms I felt at ease while working in it

which is important when doing an exam alternative
assessment.”
E D I T H C O WA N U N I V E R S I T Y

“Cadmus is very easy to use and I love having access to

everything in one place. Because of this I was able to
easily work on my assignment and get it finished quickly.”
DEAKIN UNIVERSIT Y

“I enjoyed how easy it was to use and the layout being

ready for me to concentrate on the assignment at hand.”
CHARLES STURT UNIVERSIT Y

“Cadmus was really easy to work with. The features were

really useful so it made the work feel easier to do.”
THE UNIVERSIT Y OF MELBOURNE

“I really rate Cadmus, not having to worry about losing

work, and the submission process is so much easier. I
wish it was used for all units.”
QUEENSL AND UNIVERSIT Y OF TECHNOLOGY

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