Effective from Semester 1, 2012
| Approving Authority: | Academic Committee 7/2011 |
| Approval Date: | 24 November 2011 |
| Approved Document No: | 2011/0002831 |
| Review Date: | 2012 |
| Policy Adviser: |
Head of the Secretariat, ext 57726 |
Description of the Policy:
This
policy specifies the University's assessment philosophy and the general principles that guide the University's assessment practices.
Related Policies, Procedures & Forms:
Alternative Assessment for Students with Disabilities
Examinations Timetabling Policy and Procedures
Governance of Assessment and Academic Achievement Standards
Guidelines for Dealing with Lost Assessment Items
Guidelines for Group Assessment, Self-Assessment and Peer Assessment
Student Academic Misconduct Policy
Academic Misconduct Policy - Higher Degree Research Students
Policy
on Invigilation of Examinations
Calculation of Grade Point Average
This document is available in Word format for downloading. Click here to download this document.
Philosophy of Assessment Roles The Assessment Plan for a Course Moderation Processes Responsibilities of Examiners and Course Convenors Award of Overall Grades Pass Conceded Grades, Supplementary Assessment Special Consideration, Extensions and Deferred Assessment Conduct of Students in Examinations Cheating, Plagiarism Notification of Results Appeals Against Award of Grade Disposal of Assessment Material]
Assessment is the process of forming a judgment about the quality and extent of student achievement or performance, and therefore by inference a judgment about the learning itself. Assessment inevitably shapes the learning that takes place;
that is, what students learn and how they learn it should reflect closely the purposes and aims of the course of study.
The aims of assessment
include:
· improving the quality of the curriculum (courses and programs);
· evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching process and facilitating continuing improvement;
· improving and promoting subsequent learning through feedback that is clear, informative, timely and relevant;
· formally certifying achievements for external audiences; and
· accountability to the University, accrediting bodies, employers and the wider community.
Assessment
methods may take a variety of forms: the key criterion for choice among methods should be appropriateness to the learning outcomes. Assessment should be criteria based rather than norm referenced, and may include individual or collaborative achievement or both. The requirements for learner success should be made clear, and the overall strategy should be to develop in students the ability to evaluate the quality of their own work in order to equip them to function as professionals with a commitment to life-long learning.
Assessment practices within the University are based on the general principles of criteria based assessment. These are that the desired learning outcomes for a course of study are clearly specified; assessment tasks are designed to indicate progress towards the desired learning outcomes; and the assessment grade is a
measure of the extent to which the learning outcomes have been achieved. The standard of performance that is required for the award of a particular grade is a judgment that is based on the professional expertise of the various staff who contribute to the assessment process and is informed by experience with accepted standards, including, where appropriate, standards in other institutions. There is no pre-determined distribution of grades as the outcome of assessing a group of students.
Student learning is gradual and cumulative, with qualitative changes taking place throughout the process. For this reason, the assessment plan for a course should enable the teaching staff to engage in both formative and summative assessment. Academic staff responsible for a course exercise their professional judgement in using a variety of assessment methods that are relevant, valid, fair and appropriate to the aims and objectives of the course.
The assessment plan for a course is documented in the submission for approval of the course (the Course Profile). In approving the course for offer, the relevant Dean (Learning & Teaching) shall have regard to the relationship between the assessment methods and the learning outcomes expected for the course.
Where considered to be appropriate, students may be offered a choice of assessment
tasks from a specified range. The range of assessment tasks shall be specified in the Course Profile. In such cases the assessment requirements should be discussed with students. The assessment tasks for each student should be negotiated between the lecturer and the student and, as soon as is practicable, should be documented in the form of a contract between the lecturer and the student as to the assessment tasks to be performed and the expected learning outcomes for the course.
Proposals to alter the assessment plan of a course should be made to the Dean (Learning & Teaching) prior to the next scheduled offering of the course by the academic staff responsible for teaching the course by lodging a revised Course Profile. The Dean (Learning & Teaching) shall determine whether the proposed revised assessment plan is consistent with the originally approved assessment plan in its relationship to learning outcomes and its overall demands on the students.
The Course Convenor is required to provide all students with the approved Course Profile which states the assessment plan for the course, including the due dates of assessment items and relevant characteristics such as word lengths for essays or duration for examinations. The Course Profile must state the criteria against which individual assessment items are judged and their relative weighting. The Course Profile must also indicate the way in which the assessment of individual
assessment items are combined to give an overall grade.
The Course Profile is normally provided to students on the University's web site, in which case the Course Convenor should ensure that all students are advised
of the location of the Course Profile at the commencement of the course.
Where a student enrols in a course after the commencement of teaching or for whatever reason is not present when students are given information concerning the assessment plan of the course, it is the student's responsibility to ascertain the information from the Course Convenor.
In exceptional cases, the Dean (Learning & Teaching), on the advice of the Course Convenor, may approve a variation of detail in the assessment plan of a course, providing any such variation maintains the relationship between the assessment methods and the learning outcomes expected for the course. Notification of the change to the assessment plan must be provided to students in written and/or electronic form. In giving approval for the change, the Dean must be satisfied that students are not disadvantaged by the change or the timing of the change.
Consensus moderation processes are used to develop a common disciplinary understanding of the course standards that underpin comparability and ensure consistency of marking. One or more of the following approaches to moderation are conducted every time a course is offered:
· Course level planning e.g. self and peers (internal or external to the course) review the assessment plan to ensure the assessment regime and tasks are appropriate to the learning objectives of the course (section 3.1).
· Individual student work e.g. examiners (internal or external to the course) develop and use marking guides/rubrics specifying predetermined criteria so the bases for marking are consistent and communicated to both students and examiners.
· Recommended course grades e.g. examiners (internal or external to the course) review assessment exemplars across different grades at the end of a course to assure consistency of assessment judgements.
· Course standards over time e.g. examiners (internal or external to the course) review assessment exemplars and marks awarded to current students with those awarded for comparable exemplars from previous course
offerings.
· Cognate courses e.g. Griffith colleagues, colleagues external to the University or through professional accreditation processes, review marks and/or grades awarded to assessment exemplars to assure comparability of course standards within the degree program, across the qualification level and across like programs offered by other providers.
The Course Convenor documents the moderation process with the teaching team, in
conjunction with the recommended grades, for consideration by the School Assessment Board.
Course Convenors are responsible for conveying to students clear advice about the aims and objectives of the course, the assessment requirements, the relationship between the assessment methods and the expected learning outcomes, the criteria against which individual assessment items are judged and their relative weight.
Examiners are required to provide feedback to students on their performance in assessment items conducted during the semester. Examiners should give guidance to students and comment on work presented for assessment during the semester by written comments or other suitable means. Examiners should be prepared to discuss with students their performance
in an examination. For courses, in which there is an end of semester exam, the timing of the exam may mean that students are unable to obtain their examination mark prior to receiving their final grade. Students may, within 14 days of being notified of their grades, on request and under supervision of the Course Convenor, peruse their marked end of semester examination paper.
Regardless of whether the invigilator for an examination is a University staff member, a postgraduate student, or a paid invigilator, the Course Convenor or nominee must be present in the examination room 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the examination and for the first
15 minutes of the examination, except where the examination is conducted at a remote location. In this case, the Course Convenor or nominee must be available by telephone for the period 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the examination and for the first 15 minutes of the examination.
It is desirable that the Course Convenor be able to be contacted by telephone throughout the duration of the examination.
During the semester, individual examiners communicate their evaluations of individual assessment items to students with reference to the criteria against which performance has been assessed. A mark is an indicator of the standard of the students' academic achievement in an individual assessment task.
The use of the grading nomenclature (Pass, Credit, Distinction, etc.) in evaluating individual assessment items is not permitted since this may curtail the ability of the Chair, Assessment Board to exercise discretion in the award of the final grade.
A grade is the result that students receive in a course through the process of aggregating and weighting the marks achieved in individual assessment tasks. The overall grade is awarded by the relevant Dean (Learning & Teaching), and signifies the student's overall performance in the course.
Students' results in courses are recorded using the following grades. The description that accompanies each grade is given as a guideline to assist comparability across the University, but these descriptions must be interpreted within the context of each course.
High Distinction (HD)
Complete and comprehensive understanding of the course content; development of relevant skills to a comprehensive level; demonstration of an extremely high level of interpretive and analytical ability and intellectual initiative; and achievement of all major and minor objectives of the course.
Distinction (D)
Very
high level of understanding of the course content; development of relevant skills to a very high level; demonstration of a very high level of interpretive and analytical ability and intellectual initiative; and achievement of all major and minor objectives of the course.
Credit (C)
High level of understanding of course content; development of relevant skills to a high level; demonstration of a high level of interpretive and analytical ability and achievement of all major objectives of the course; some minor objectives not fully achieved.
Pass (P)
Adequate understanding of most of the basic course content; development of relevant
skills to a satisfactory level; adequate interpretive and analytical ability and achievement of all major objectives of the course; some minor objectives not achieved.
Non-graded Pass (NGP)
Successful completion of a course assessed on a pass/fail basis, indicating satisfactory understanding of course content; satisfactory development of relevant skills; satisfactory interpretive and analytical ability and achievement in all major objectives of the course.
Fail (F)
Inadequate understanding of the basic course content; failure to develop relevant skills; insufficient evidence of interpretive and analytical ability; and failure to achieve some or all major and minor objectives of the course.
Other grades that may be awarded are:
| · | Pass Conceded – refer to section 7.1 |
| · |
Fail No Assessment Submitted (FNS) |
Did not present any work for assessment, to be counted as failure:
| · | Withdraw with failure (WF) |
Cancelled enrolment in the course after the final date for withdrawal without failure (see Student Administration policy, section 6):
| · |
Withdraw (W) |
The student has withdrawn from the course. This is NOT counted as failure and appears beside the course on the academic record when the withdrawal from the course is processed administratively after the last date to drop a course without being liable for fees, up until the final date for withdrawal without failure
Course Convenors and examiners are not required to include marks as part of their recommended grade, with the exception of Honours courses where percentage marks are required to be awarded as these are used as the basis of the Honours classification. Where marks are
allocated to individual assessment items in order to facilitate the combination of the assessment of individual items to arrive at an overall grade, the Course Convenor recommends the "Grade Cut-offs" as the manner of recommending the students' grades. The School Assessment Board may vary the grade cut-offs and/or the grades recommended by the Course Convenor. Where the grade cut-offs and/or grades are varied by the School Assessment Board, the Course Convenor will be consulted.
Because grade cut-offs may be varied from the standard grade cut-offs by the School Assessment Board, students must not be advised that a course will have pre-determined grade cut-offs.
Where
a student has not achieved a passing grade but has demonstrated a level of performance that is close to that of a passing grade, the Dean (Learning & Teaching) may award a grade of Pass Conceded in order to facilitate student progress through a program. The grade of Pass Conceded does not satisfy prerequisite requirements.
Limits on the number of credit points that may be awarded in respect of courses awarded a grade of Pass Conceded are set down in the general requirements for degree programs (Bachelors Degree Policy), for Honours programs (Honours Programs - Requirements and Administration) and, in some cases, in the approved requirements for specific programs, as advised on the University's web
site.
The Dean (Learning & Teaching) may, at his/her discretion, grant supplementary assessment to any student gaining a Pass Conceded in a course, and to any other
student with a grade of Fail whose overall performance in the course justifies it. The purpose of supplementary assessment is to provide the students with additional time for private study followed by the opportunity to demonstrate that the criteria for passing the course have been met.
The Dean (Learning & Teaching) may, at his/her discretion, grant supplementary assessment where the student has failed the last course required to complete the requirements of the degree. To be offered a supplementary assessment under this provision, the student must have attempted all assessment items and attended any examination associated with the course and must apply to the Dean (Learning & Teaching) for the supplementary assessment within two weeks of the release of examination results.
Supplementary assessment is not available in Honours programs or in other programs where the program requirements indicate that no supplementary assessment may be granted.
The supplementary assessment item or examination should, as far as possible, take the same form and cover the same material as the original assessment item or examination and must have the same weighting as the original assessment item or examination.
A student may not be awarded a grade higher than "Pass" for a course in which supplementary assessment is granted.
A student's result for a course in which a supplementary assessment item or examination was undertaken shall be determined by combining the mark obtained in the supplementary assessment item or examination with marks obtained for those assessment items in the course for which supplementary assessment was not granted, according to their approved weightings.
Where a student who attempts a supplementary assessment item achieves a grade that is poorer than the one obtained in the initial attempt, the original grade recorded stands.
Pending the notification of the result achieved in supplementary assessment items or examinations, the student's academic record shall show, for each course in which a supplementary assessment item is being attempted, the code SP (central supplementary examination) or SS (school based supplementary assessment/exam).
A student is allowed only one attempt at each supplementary assessment item.
As a general rule, supplementary examinations are held in the designated deferred/supplementary examination periods as advised on the University's academic calendar.
8.1.1 The Chair, School Assessment Board may extend special consideration to a student in any course and in respect of any assessment item.
8.1.2 Students may apply for special consideration if:
| · | their performance in an assessment item was seriously affected, or |
| · | they were seriously disadvantaged when the assessment item was attempted, |
on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances.
An application for special consideration is applicable only where the assessment item or examination has been attempted. Where the student is unable to attempt the assessment item or examination, the student may apply for deferred assessment (section 8.3) or an extension of time to submit an assignment.
8.1.3 Requests for special consideration must be made in writing and accompanied by appropriate documentary evidence (See Section 8.4).
Requests for special consideration in respect of an examination must be lodged at a Student Administration Centre no later than three working days after the date of the examination. Requests for special consideration in assessing an assignment must be lodged with the submission of the assignment. Requests for special consideration in respect of performance across all assessment items in a course must be lodged at a Student Administration Centre no later than three working days after the date of the final examination or assessment item.
8.1.4 Form of Special Consideration
In response to an application for special consideration, the Chair, School Assessment Board may take one or more of the following options:
| · | take no action; |
| · | provide for an extension of
time in which to complete an assessment item; |
| ·
| award a final grade on the basis of the student's performance across the course; |
| · |
provide another assessment task. This may be either an alternative assessment task or a replacement assessment task. An alternative assessment task provides an opportunity for the student to demonstrate learning outcomes similar to those related to the original assessment task; for example, an oral examination may take the place of a written examination. A replacement assessment task is one that resembles as closely as possible the original assessment item and carries the same percentage of total weighting for the course; |
| · | recommend to the Director, Student Administration that the student be granted withdrawal without failure on compassionate grounds. |
8.2.1 Students are required to submit assessment items by the due date, as advised in the Course Profile. Assessment items submitted after the due date will be subject to a penalty unless an extension of time for submitting the
item is approved by the Course Convenor.
8.2.2 Requests for Extension
Requests for extension of time to submit an assessment item must be made in writing to the Course Convenor. Where the request is made on medical grounds, an appropriate medical certificate must be submitted (see section 8.4.1).
The request for an extension should be lodged by the due date for the assessment item. A copy of the extension request should be attached to the assessment item
when it is submitted.
8.2.3 Penalties for Late Submission
An assessment item submitted after the due date, without an approved extension, will be penalised. The standard penalty is the reduction of the mark allocated to the assessment item by 10% of the maximum mark applicable for the assessment item, for each day or part day that the item is late. Weekends count as one day in determining the penalty. Assessment items submitted more than five days after the due date are
awarded zero marks.
8.2.4 The Course Convenor may vary the provisions of section 8.2.3
provided that any penalties to be imposed for late submission are approved by the relevant Dean (Learning & Teaching) in the context of approving the Course Profile and are conveyed to the student as part of the Course Profile.
8.3.1 Students may apply for deferred assessment
if they were prevented from performing an assessment item, such as an examination, text, seminar presentation, or other assessment activity scheduled for a particular date. The following would generally be considered acceptable grounds to approve a deferred assessment:
· on the grounds of illness;
· accident;
· temporary disability;
· bereavement;
· sporting or cultural commitment at state, national or international representative level. Students applying for a deferred examination for this reason may also apply for an alternate sitting (refer to Examinations Timetabling Policy, Section 12.0);
· or other compassionate circumstances (for example, death of a family member or
close relative, serious illness of a family member or close relative, involvement in an accident where this does not involve injury, significant and unexpected employment problems or pressures, significant relationship problems).
Approval to sit a deferred examination will not be granted where students could
reasonably have been expected to avoid the circumstances of missing or performing poorly in an examination. The following would generally be considered unacceptable grounds to approve a deferred examination:
· misreading an examination timetable;
· applications submitted after the 3 day deadline (See Section 8.3.2);
· holiday arrangements, including for international travel. Booking a plane ticket prior to the end of semester examination period is not considered an adequate reason for a deferred examination;
· sporting or cultural commitment, other than at state, national or international representative level;
Applications may be rejected if there is reason to believe that a student is seeking to achieve an unfair advantage through deferred assessment. This judgement may be based on the particular circumstances of the application together with the student's academic record and history of deferred examination applications.
Where a student is prevented from attending an examination for other reasons that are specified in the Policy on Examination Timetabling the student may apply for an alternative sitting.
8.3.2 Requests for deferred assessment must be made on the form provided for this purpose and accompanied by appropriate documentary evidence. (See Section 8.4) Requests for deferred assessment in respect of an examination must be lodged at a Student Administration Centre no later than three working days after the date of the examination. Requests for deferred assessment in respect of other assessment items must be lodged with the Course Convenor no later than three working days after the date pertinent
to the assessment item.
8.3.3 Approval of Deferred Assessment
Applications for deferred examinations for central and end of semester examinations shall be considered by the Manager, Examinations and Timetabling or nominee who approves or rejects the application.
Application for all other deferred examinations, including school-based examinations, shall be considered by the Course Convenor or nominee who approves or rejects the application. The Course Convenor notifies the Chair, School Assessment Board of the outcome of the deferred assessment application.
8.3.4 Form of Deferred Assessment
Where the Chair, School Assessment Board grants a student deferred assessment, this normally takes the form of a replacement assessment item or examination, in which case, the replacement assessment item should resemble as closely as
possible the original assessment item or examination and should carry the same percentage of total weighting for the course.
In exceptional cases, the Chair, School Assessment Board may respond to an
application for deferred assessment by giving special consideration through one or more of the actions described in 8.1.4.
8.3.5 A student who is granted deferred
assessment in a course is eligible for the full range of grades available for that course.
8.4 Documentation required to support an Application for Special Consideration, Extension or Deferred Assessment.
8.4.1 Students applying for deferred assessment or special consideration on medical grounds must submit the Griffith University Student Medical Certificate, completed by a registered medical or dental practitioner stating
| (i) | the
date on which the practitioner examined the student; |
| (ii) | the severity and duration of the complaint; |
| (iii) |
the practitioner's opinion of the effect of the complaint on the student's ability to undertake the assessment item. |
Where it is not practicable for the student to submit a Griffith University Student Medical Certificate, a certificate from a registered medical or dental practitioner may be accepted, provided that the certificate is an original copy and that the certificate contains information equivalent to that contained in the Griffith University Student Medical Certificate.
A statement that the student was "not fit for duty" or was suffering from "a medical condition" will not be accepted unless the information required in (i), (ii) and (iii) above is included.
8.4.2 Students applying for Special Consideration, Extension or Deferred Assessment on other grounds must submit suitable documentary evidence, such as a bereavement notice, letter from employer, practitioner or professional, statutory declaration, copy of accident report.
8.5 Students who feel that their case for Special Consideration, Extension or Deferred Assessment has been wrongly
dismissed by the Course Convenor or Manager, Examinations and Timetabling or nominee may appeal in writing against that decision to the Dean (Learning & Teaching). The decision of the Dean is final.
Invigilators shall have and may exercise all such powers as are reasonably necessary to ensure the proper and efficient conduct of the examination.
If invigilators detect student behaviour that could be construed as cheating or other misconduct they may ask
the student concerned to move to another position or, in the event that the student is creating a disturbance, ask the student to desist. If the student fails to comply, the invigilator may require the student to leave the examination room. Immediately following the conclusion of the examination, the invigilator shall make an incident report that includes evidence of alleged cheating or other misconduct. The Manager, Examinations conveys the incident report to the Course Convenor who takes action according to the Student
Academic Misconduct Policy.
Students may, under certain conditions, be permitted to use resource materials during an examination, such as dictionaries, including English-foreign language dictionaries and electronic dictionaries, calculators, text books, reference books, student notes. The Course Convenor is required to specify the resource materials that will be permitted in an examination. This information must be advised to students in writing prior to the examination and must also be provided to students in the examination
room. A discrepancy between the information on permissible resource materials that has been conveyed to students prior to the examination and in the examination is grounds for appeal by students.
It is the responsibility of the Course Convenor or nominee to ensure that the materials brought in to the examination room by students conform to the specifications of permissible resource materials. This may be done prior to the examination or during the examination.
Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, special arrangements may be made for students with disabilities, as provided for in the University's policy on alternative assessment provisions for students with disabilities.
Refer to the University's Student Academic Misconduct Policy.
Examiners are responsible for recording the marks of all students enrolled in a course for each assessment task in one place but students are to have access only to their individual marks and not to the marks of other students, other than for group
assignments.
Students' marks should normally be published in 'My Grades' on Learning@Griffith.
Marks for individual assessment items should not be posted in public places (i.e. hallways, on office doors or non-secure websites), and neither the student's name nor student's ID number are to be published. Any publication of marks must not occur in a manner that allows a student's name to be associated with a mark, other
than by the student concerned.
Following approval of grades by the Dean (Learning & Teaching), students are notified of their results by the
following means: -
·
publication on the University's web site, accessible to the student with appropriate security measures.
Results that are unfinalised or unavailable at the time of the general release of results must be finalised by August 31 in the case of results applicable to semester 1, and March 31 of the following year in the case of results applicable to semester 2 and May 31 in the case of results applicable to summer semester. Results that are unfinalised by these dates are converted to a Fail (F), unless the Dean (Learning & Teaching) gives approval for the finalisation of the result to be held over to some later date specified when the approval is given. UNF (Unfinalised) is entered on the transcript for approved late finalisation of grades.
| (a) | be made in writing on the appropriate form |
|
(b) | state the grounds for the review request |
| (c) | be lodged with a Student Administration Centre within 14 days of the date on which student grades are posted on the University's web site. |
Schools are required to retain all uncollected essays, assignments, examination booklets and other assessment materials for a minimum of six months from the date of issue of results. At the completion of the six-month period, Schools may destroy all assessment material except that material that relates to appeals that have not yet been finally determined.
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