(1) The University is committed to providing an effective, high quality-learning environment in which staff, students and external stakeholders have justified confidence in the University’s learning and teaching processes and outcomes. The University is committed to developing graduates who effectively meet the challenges of a complex, changing world. Academic assessment is one strategy by which the University can measure its achievement of these goals. (2) All Higher Education units offered from the 2023 academic calendar will be assessed in accordance with the new Higher Education Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure, effective 6 March 2023. (3) This is a compliance requirement under the: (4) This document provides consistent, fair and transparent assessment procedures for all students enrolled in a Higher Education program of learning offered by the University. It recognises the complex nature of assessment and encourages ongoing discussion of the elements contributing to the judgement process. (5) In the context of this document: (6) All unit assessment tasks must be clearly aligned to learning outcomes in accordance with the University’s Higher Education Quality Management System and the Higher Education Course Accreditation and Re-accreditation Procedures. Students must be provided with clear explanations of what is required to complete an assessment task successfully. (7) At a minimum, the Unit Outline must include the following assessment information: (8) Unless required by a professional or statutory regulator, no unit will be graded only on the basis of a final examination. (9) Any changes to an assessment task must be in accordance with the University’s Higher Education Minor and Major Amendment Procedures. (10) Hurdle assessments must be: (11) Students who fail a hurdle assessment for a unit are deemed to have failed the unit, regardless of the aggregate of marks that the student may achieve. An additional assessment may be granted at the discretion of the Unit Coordinator in special circumstances, if the student has obtained an aggregate mark of 50% or greater. (12) Practice-based assessments are developed by the University in conjunction with students and employers or practice placement staff members by working together to design and create a work-integrated learning experience that benefits all parties. Student progress and learning outcomes are monitored and assessed by the University, with input from the employer or practice placement staff members who conduct assessment of work-integrated learning. (13) The relevant School, through the Unit Coordinator, will provide relevant training and/or mentoring for workplace assessors that is formally documented and meets the University’s quality assurance and external regulatory requirements. (14) The Unit Coordinator or nominee is responsible for the student’s practical experience and the recommendation of a final grade to the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel. (15) Students will be provided with clear guidelines on the specific referencing system required for each discipline and the source for that referencing style. A statement of the required or preferred referencing style and a link to the preferred style will be included in all Unit Outline and each Learnline site, for example, Students need to comply with the Referencing Guide: Harvard or Students need to comply with the Referencing Guide: APA. (16) Students who have consistently and accurately utilised a recognised referencing system will not be disadvantaged when a referencing guideline for a specific unit is not specified in the Unit Outline. (17) Students should, where practicable, submit all written assessments through Learnline’s SafeAssign for comparison against existing works. (18) Submission via Learnline provides long-term storage and retrieval if an assessment requires a re-mark or there is an appeal. (19) SafeAssign assists students to attribute sources properly and identify possible plagiarism. Students should be provided with the opportunity to submit a draft assessment paper to SafeAssign with the report returned to the student for self-evaluation. (20) SafeAssign reports provide an indicator of what percentage of the submitted assessment matches against existing sources. It is not possible to identify a 'cut-off' matching score that indicates plagiarism as some assessments may return a higher than average matching score such as when students use a cover sheet, quotations or include assessment task requirement text that all students may use. Staff members and students need to review the SafeAssign reports and carefully consider what is shown as matching in order to determine appropriate action. (21) Unit Coordinators should consider strategies to reduce the potential for plagiarism, when planning and developing assessment tasks, such as regularly changing assessment tasks and/or assessment topics, highlighted statements in online instructions, or randomised questions from large test pools. (22) Assessment feedback is essential to assist students to achieve desired learning outcomes. Feedback on assessment tasks will normally be provided to students within two (2) to three (3) weeks of submission and must be: (23) When developing assessment tasks, staff members must consider both staff and student workloads to ensure that assessment due dates and turn-around times provide students with sufficient time to use the feedback in order to prepare for the next assessment. (24) Wherever practicable, each unit will have an assessment task, which is weighted less than 25% of the final mark due within the first four (4) weeks of semester in order to provide students with early feedback and guidance. (25) Substantive comments that are encouraging and supportive of a student’s efforts and provide detailed individual feedback will enable a student to improve his or her work. These comments may include identifying areas that require further study and any other strategies that may assist the student in the learning process. (26) Generic comments provided to groups of students may be useful but would not normally substitute for substantive individualised feedback particularly during the early stages of a course. Individualised feedback should give sufficient detail explaining not only what needs improvement but also why and how it can be improved, for example, ‘Compare and contrast this example to the literature’ rather than ‘Issues not sufficiently analysed’. (27) Students are able to meet with staff members face-to-face, by telephone or other agreed upon method, to discuss students’ studies and assessable tasks. Staff members must allocate and notify students through Learnline of reasonable times when they are available to meet. (28) A marking schema or rubric of pre-established criteria against which each assessment task will be marked will be provided to both students and markers. The marking schema or rubric will note the relative importance of the criteria and should be used to identify areas done well and areas for future improvement. (29) The marking schema or rubric of pre-established criteria will assist students to achieve the learning outcomes for the unit and assessment; and assist markers in providing appropriate, consistent, reliable feedback to students. The marking schema or rubric will normally address aspects of English language proficiency (see Entry Requirements). (30) Students will be awarded marks for achieving the required learning outcomes and provided with individualised and substantive comments based on the criteria. Marks will not be deducted for any incorrect or missing answers. A negative mark cannot be awarded for an assessment task. (31) Students are expected to meet the due dates for the submission of assessment tasks. Should circumstances prevent a student from meeting a submission date, the student may apply for an extension. Extensions may prevent feedback from being received in time to be used in preparation for the next assessment task. (32) Decisions on granting of an extension must be based on the principles of procedural fairness. Decisions must be documented and auditable, for example, in case of a grievance. (33) A student may be granted an extension to the submission due date of an assessment task where circumstances beyond the control of the student may prevent the timely submission of the assessment task. This may include, but is not limited to, the following circumstances: (34) Discretionary activities or circumstances within the student’s control, for example attendance at sporting events, holidays and other discretionary travel, and/or other foreseeable events will not constitute grounds for an extension. (35) Applications for an extension must be submitted to the Unit Coordinator by email and contain the following information: (36) Extensions sought during the teaching period will not be granted after the due date for submission of the assessment except under special circumstances. (37) Extensions sought beyond the teaching period, must be applied for through the Unit Coordinator before the end of the teaching period, and supported by the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel. (38) Extensions sought during the teaching period may be approved at the discretion of the Unit Coordinator. The response to the application for extension must be provided in writing to the student in a timely manner. (39) Extensions sought during the teaching period will not be granted for more than two (2) weeks (fourteen (14) calendar days), except under special circumstances. (40) Extensions sought past the teaching period, must be approved in writing by the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel and will be for a maximum of three (3) months. The Faculty PVC may extend this period in special circumstances. (41) Assessment tasks that are submitted after the due date without an approved extension will incur a penalty of 5% of the mark given, per day late. For example, an assessment task awarded 35% that is three (3) days late will have 15% of the final mark (3 days x 5% per day x 35%) deducted (5.25%) and rounded up to a final mark of 30% (42) A grade may be reviewed in accordance with the Complaints Policy - Students. Students must be informed before they proceed with a request for Review of a Result, that the outcome of the re-mark will replace the original result, therefore their result may be increased or decreased as an outcome of a review. (43) A request for a review of a result for an assessment task may only be initiated by a student once and must demonstrate a reasonable case for that review, for example, where: (44) Where no reasonable case is made, the request for review will not be considered. (45) Where a reasonable case is made, the relevant staff member/s must make every effort to resolve the student’s concern. This may include but is not limited to: (46) A written response must be provided to the student that addresses the issues raised. (47) If the student remains aggrieved following discussion with the relevant staff member/s a written complaint may be submitted in to the University’s Student Policy and Complaints. (48) Where a written complaint has been received, the Student Policy and Complaints will contact the relevant Head of School, who will appoint an academic staff member of the Faculty (not the Unit or Course Coordinator or Head of School) to examine the grievance and report on: (49) Where discrepancies are identified the Head of School will appoint an independent, appropriately qualified, external marker to undertake a re-mark of the assessment task/s. (50) Where a reasonable case has not been demonstrated, the student may be requested to provide further information or the Head of School may recommend that no action be taken. (51) The timeframe for review of a grade must be in accordance with the Complaints Policy - Students. (52) In order to complete an independent re-mark, for example during a Review of a grade, the external marker must be provided with the unit outline, the marking schema or rubric for the assessment task/s and a de-identified copy of the original student assessment task/s submission with original marker’s comments and any other markings removed. Submitted works must not be altered or added to by the student. (53) The external marker will make a written recommendation to the individual or organisational unit responsible for arranging the re-mark. (54) Where practicable the original marker of the assessment task/s will be: (55) Where the outcome of a re-mark is a change of assessment task mark, result and/or unit grade, the individual or organisational unit responsible for arranging the re-mark will notify the student of the result in writing and submit the change of grade information. (56) Where the outcome of a re-mark is no change to the mark, result and/or grade, the individual or organisational unit responsible for arranging the re-mark will notify the student of the result in writing. (57) Where the individual or organisational unit responsible for arranging the re-mark determines that there has been a significant error in the assessment processes, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty must be notified and determine what remedial action should be taken. For example, if an adjustment of grade is necessary, then the Examinations Team, Academic Liaison Unit (ALU) and other relevant offices will be notified. (58) The Unit Coordinator will provide a report on all re-marks to the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel. (59) An adjustment of grades within a unit may only be determined by the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel or the Faculty PVC when the grades for all students in that unit, in that teaching period, are available. (60) An adjustment of grades will not normally include re-marking all student assessment task/s. Only those students who may be affected will be informed that the process is being undertaken and that original grades may be altered upwards or downwards. (61) The methods for adjusting grade will be determined by the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel or Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor and may include: (62) Where an adjustment of grades is undertaken, the Student Administration (SA), in liaison with the School, will provide a report detailing the background, rationale, method and outcomes of the adjustment and actions implemented to avoid any identified problems in the future, to the relevant: (63) Official final grades will be conveyed to students in accordance with the Grading Policy. (64) Grades compiled by staff or students or displayed on Learnline are not final. All grades must be reviewed and approved by the relevant College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel prior to determination of the official final grade. (65) Central examination papers will not be returned to students however, students may discuss the examination with the Unit Coordinator. (66) The Academic Administration will notify Unit Coordinators of any unfinalised grades such as Assessment Continuing, three (3) months following the end of the semester. Grades remaining unfinalised four (4) months after the end of the teaching period will be referred to the College Higher Education Assessment Review Panel with a recommendation of awarding a Fail grade. (67) The Student Administration, Unit Coordinator's and/or relevant Heads of School must ensure that an electronic copy of each examination paper conducted during the Central Examination Period is submitted to the Library. Examination papers must be submitted by the final day of teaching following the final examination for the relevant unit and must not be made available until after the date for completion of Special Examinations. (68) Multiple-choice sections within examination papers and mid-semester tests may be voluntarily submitted but are not required to be submitted. (69) Where units have different content for internal and external students, or differ by campus location, examination papers must be submitted with the relevant information clearly identified. (70) Assessment items not collected by students, other than completed examination papers, may be destroyed in accordance with the University’s Records Management – Retention and Disposal Procedure and relevant Records Disposal Schedule.Higher Education Assessment Procedure
Section 1 - Introduction
Section 2 - Compliance
Top of PageSection 3 - Intent
Section 4 - Relevant Definitions
Top of Page
Section 5 - Procedures
Hurdle Assessment
Practice-Based Assessment
Referencing
Submission of Written Assessment
Feedback
Substantive Comments
Marking Schema or Rubric
Timely Submission
Grounds for an Extension
Applying for an Extension
Outcomes of an Application for Extension
Penalties for Late Submission
Review of a Result
Re-mark
Adjustment of Grades
Publication of Grades
Unfinalised Grades
Past Exam Papers in Library
Retention of Assessment
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This is not a current document. It has been repealed and is no longer in force.