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Assessment Policy
1.
Purpose:
- This policy sets out the University's principles underlying how student assessment occurs at the University of Canberra.
- Information on all types of assessment, irrespective of mode of delivery or assessment method is presented.
2.
Scope:
- This policy applies to all coursework units delivered by the University of Canberra (UC), at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, except where an exemption is approved in this document.
- Information included relates to assignments and examinations (including intra-semester/term exams), and deferred examinations.
- Policy and procedures for assessment in higher degree by research courses are found on the Higher Degree by Research Policy page.
3.
Principles:
Introduction
- The performance of each student is individually assessed against the learning outcomes of the unit, independently of the assessment of other students in the unit.
- Student performance is recorded in the form of marks and grades in relation to a set of agreed standards known as grade descriptors. These standards are applicable across all disciplines and professional fields.
- Assessment will be moderated to ensure that judgments of students’ performance are consistent, transparent, reliable and valid.
- The keeping of records of assessment processes, samples and outcomes is required for University accountability to students, staff and the community.
- The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 require the University to reasonably accommodate the needs of students with a disability or health condition.
- A student may appeal the final result of an assessment item or unit, if evidence is provided in support of the appeal (in accordance with the Student Grievance Resolution Policy).
- Assessment is used to evaluate a student's achievement of identified learning outcomes.
- Assessment may include items which are normally submitted as work conducted during the semester, and which help to develop graduate attributes.
- Assessment items can be formative or summative, formal or informal and can take many other forms including, but not limited to, essays, short answer questions, case study analysis, practicals, demonstrations, workshops, portfolios and examinations to measure graduate skills.
- Unit outlines will give information on assessment briefs which will outline the method of submission, format, deadline for submission and information on late submission acceptances, and other relevant information.
- All assessments are required to be submitted electronically, unless exceptions are granted by the Associate Dean (Education) (ADE) for the relevant faculty. Where an assessment cannot be submitted electronically (e.g. a photograph, a model, a practical assessment), an electronic coversheet must be submitted online.
- Assessment must include a student number as the sole identifier. Students’ names should not be visible for grading and/or moderation.
- The University uses text-matching software to check originality of all text-based student submissions.
- Students have a responsibility to fulfil participation and assessment requirements set out in the unit outline for the unit in which they are enrolled.
- A student may apply for an extension if extenuating circumstances unduly disadvantage the student in their university studies, and where the circumstances can be evidenced.
- All units (unless exempted) will offer students supplementary assessment according to the criteria and organisational principles outlined in the Assessment Procedures.
- University examinations are designed and held in an environment that allows students to perform to their potential within the scope of a unit's learning objectives.
- Assessment of a unit must not rely on a final examination as the only form of assessment.
- The timetabling of examinations must minimise disadvantage to students.
- No material other than those specified in the examination paper will be allowed in an examination room. Changes to permitted materials will not be allowed after the final version of the examination timetable has been published.
- Deferred exams
- There must be evidenced and acceptable grounds for the approval of a deferred examination. Any request for deferral that does not meet the grounds specified (Assessment Procedures) and does not have suitable evidence, will not be accepted.
- The content of the deferred examination should be significantly different from the original examination.
- Students are only permitted one deferral per examination unless otherwise approved.
- Any student unable to attend their deferred examination will be given a fail grade for that examination, or permitted a late withdrawal if acceptable evidence is provided and approved.
- In the context of assessment, feedback is information on a student's progress in their course or unit, and which is returned to students in a timely manner, within 15 working days.
- The purpose of feedback is to provide students with information on:
- what the student has learnt and how effectively they are learning;
- what standard of performance the student has achieved; and what the student needs to do to improve that standard of performance. Students will be provided feedback, so that they may be able to anticipate their final results.
- Grades (for example, pass, credit, distinction) are symbols that indicate either the level of student performance in an assessment item or overall performance in a unit against specified standards.
- With the exception of ungraded passes, the final grade in a unit provides a final aggregation of a series of prior assessments of student performance in that unit of the student’s achievement of the learning outcomes in that unit (see Procedure 3.16.).
- In some units, it is appropriate to require students to pass all, or only specified, items of assessment to achieve a pass grade in the unit.
- Grades reflect an individual student’s performance in relation to pre-defined standards set out as grade descriptors. The awarding of grades is an issue of professional judgment. Such judgments will be managed by moderation to ensure consistency, both within and, across units.
- Moderation enables judgments made by different staff involved in assessing student performance to be compared and either validated or adjusted as appropriate.
- Pre-moderation of a question/assessment item will be undertaken by faculty appointed internal moderators.
- Moderation of assessment items will include independent peer review either within or across offerings as appropriate; where borderline grades occur, a teaching team is to adjudicate.
- Moderation is fundamental to good assessment practice. The purpose of moderation is to:
- maintain agreed standards in the assessment of student work through a valid, consistent and transparent process; and
- ensure that assessment reflects student performance rather than variable standards among different markers.
- Units must have documented moderation procedures where they vary from the recommendation.
- Records must be kept by faculty to:
- keep track of the multiple assessment items required for good practice in assessment. It is from such records that an overall judgment will be made about what progress a student has made;
- judge the reliability and validity of assessment items;
- provide a basis for teachers to reflect on assessment practice, especially where records refer to the processes and contexts of assessment;
- provide a legal basis for judgments made about student performance; and
- provide evidence (such as samples of examination script books) of the quality of courses or of compliance with professional accreditation requirements.
- Faculties will maintain a database of assessment not managed by central servers such as LMS. The database should include a record of:
- each assessment item regardless of the form of the assessment item;
- the receipt of an assessment item from a student;
- the marks (and grades) for each assessment item; and
- any special consideration given to a student’s submission of assessment items (such as applications for extensions).
This information needs to be retained for twelve months longer than the duration of the student’s course.
- Where electronic versions of unit outlines and assessments are not maintained on central servers such as the Learning Management System (LMS), faculty record-keeping will also include:
- information provided in the section on assessment in the unit outline;
- the retention, for the purpose of external audits and benchmarking, of samples of assessment items awarded different grades; and
- the retention for at least one year of completed examination script books from centrally timetabled examinations.
- Records of assessment will be sufficient to enable an adjudicator within or outside the institution to make a credible and independent judgment on a student’s progress or result. This applies, in particular, to the review of a result under grievance procedures.
4.
Responsibilities:
Responsibilities
The following responsibilities apply to final exams that the Timetabling and Examinations Office in Student Connect, schedules and manages during the University examination period.
The following responsibilities apply to final exams that the Timetabling and Examinations Office in Student Connect, schedules and manages during the University examination period.
Who | Responsibility |
Students |
|
Student Connect |
|
Faculties |
|
Unit Conveners |
|
Course Conveners |
|
Heads of discipline (or equivalent) |
|
Associate deans (education) |
|
Deans of faculty |
|
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) (DVC(A) |
The DVC(A) will resolve student appeals regarding an ADE’s decision to fail a student who has not provided sufficient evidence of exceptional circumstances leading to that student not attending a requested deferred examination. |
Faculty assessment board |
|
Faculty board |
|
University Education Committee |
|
Academic Board |
|
5.
Legislation:
This policy constitutes part of the procedures approved by Academic Board in accordance with Rule 13 of the Courses and Awards (Courses of Study) Rules 2023.
University legislation relevant to examinations and other assessment includes the University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023.
University legislation relevant to examinations and other assessment includes the University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023.
6.
Supporting Information:
7.
Definitions:
Terms | Definitions |
Final examination | A final examination is an invigilated examination based on, for example, a test, quiz or essay paper set for students to complete in the official examination period at the end of each teaching period. |
Marking Guides (also known as Marking Criteria or Grading Schema/Descriptor) | Refers to the general aspects against which work is assessed and gives the the generic indicators of a level of achievement such as HD, D, C, P etc.; or A, B, C etc. |
Marking Rubric | A rubric is an evaluation tool or set of guidelines used to promote the consistent application of learning outcomes and expectations, and to measure their attainment against a consistent set of criteria. Rubrics clearly define academic expectations for students and help to ensure consistency in the evaluation of academic work from student to student, and assessment task to assessment task. Rubrics are also used as scoring instruments to determine grades or the degree to which learning standards have been demonstrated or attained by students. |
Record-keeping (assessment) | In the context of assessment, record-keeping refers to the documentation of all aspects of the assessment process. This includes records of individual student performance and progress, summary statistical data relating to each unit and evidence of assessment standards. |