Principles of Good Assessment - Guidelines for Teaching Staff

Intent

This document provides guidelines in relation to assessment practices for staff teaching undergraduate and postgraduate coursework subjects.

Scope

All staff teaching undergraduate and postgraduate coursework subjects.

Introduction

The key goal of James Cook University in learning and teaching is to provide an environment in which:

• students develop the skills, understandings and values generic to university education and specific to the disciplines and fields in which they elect to focus their studies, and

• staff find rewarding opportunities for personal and professional development as educators.

The responsibility for a good education is shared between students and staff. James Cook University learning and teaching policies and practices reflect that shared responsibility and are based on the premise that both staff and students benefit from a collaborative learning environment in which students are treated as adults and future professional colleagues. We regard teaching as a scholarly activity and our approach is based on the research, principles, and practice found in the substantial literatures of professional and adult education. We believe that university teachers have a professional responsibility to teach in ways to ensure that all students, regardless of their background or characteristics, have an equal opportunity to learn and to demonstrate that learning, in accordance with the aims of the subjects and courses.

James Cook University commits itself to establishing consistency between stated objectives and the content, teaching interactions and assessment tasks of all subjects. As part of this commitment, students will receive adequate and prompt feedback on their assessed work so that with support from teaching staff they can adjust their learning practices to achieve the stated objectives.

Purposes of Assessment

Assessment is an essential part of the teaching and learning process. Properly selected and designed assessment tasks signal the importance of developing the attributes of a James Cook University graduate through particular skills, understandings and values. They influence approaches to study and help students to allocate their time appropriately. Constructive and timely feedback on assessment helps students to gain a sense of achievement and progress, an appreciation of the performance and standards expected in a particular discipline or professional area, and to learn from their endeavours.

Staff need to consider the functions of each component of assessment, selecting methods and practices which ensure that these can be achieved. Information about these functions should be communicated to students. The functions are:

• to judge performance, by awarding marks which indicate whether and how well a particular student has attained the stated learning outcomes, and

• to determine whether a particular student is sufficiently well-prepared in a subject area to proceed to the next level of instruction;

• to provide feedback to students which indicates levels of attainment, and to indicate and diagnose misunderstandings and learning difficulties, and

• to provide feedback to teaching staff to indicate areas in which students are experiencing difficulties, and to identify and diagnose ineffective teaching; and

• to promote learning.

Good Practice in Assessment

• Assessment should promote learning and improve student performance.

• Assessment should be in a form which:

• allows the determination of how well each student has achieved, measured against the stated objectives and student outcomes of that subject and;

• provides appropriate feedback.

• Weightings for each assessment component, and deadlines for submission of material for assessment should take into consideration the stated student outcomes of the subject and the required function of the assessment.

• Assessment instruments should contain instructions and questions which are clear, concise, unambiguous and free from error.

• An independent check of an examiner’s clerical work on each paper is highly recommended.

• No subject should have fixed or pre-determined pass rates or grade distribution, but overall discipline grade distributions should be in accord with the Distribution of Grades Policy.

Determinations of Marks and Grades

Examiners should ensure that marks are awarded appropriately across the range.

Class Participation

Where marks are allotted for class participation, at each tutorial, staff should enter in a notebook their comments on the student's participation. This running commentary forms the basis of the student's final mark for participation and for reviewing the student's mark if requested.

Availability of Examination Papers

Subject coordinators are recommended to make past examination papers available to students through the Library.

Electronic Submission of Assignments

Where assignments must be submitted via email the University will ensure that:

• Staff establish procedures for receipting and recording submission, for downloading (if necessary) or for marking on screen.

• Schools set up the appropriate IT infrastructure for reception and marking of assignments to be determined at Faculty level or by the School.

Feedback on Assessment

Good teaching requires feedback which is systematic, directed, and clear to both students and staff. Students are entitled to feedback, however, on every piece of assessable work, including formal terminal examinations (usually only on request for the latter).

Because of the University's recognition of and commitment to the diversity of its student population, it commits itself to more intensive teaching and counselling, especially feedback on all assessment tasks (including examinations where students seek it). Tailoring feedback to the expected outcomes of particular subjects and to the different needs of particular students is an educational commitment to responsible university teaching. Learning outcomes of university education are now also more differentiated, partly because students and employers are expecting that a university education will inculcate in students a diverse range of ‘generic skills’ in addition to the skills, understandings and values associated with particular disciplines.

Larger classes mean that there is a need to share ideas about practices which are reasonably efficient as well as effective in meeting this responsibility.

Assessment performs two basic functions, one for education and one for accountability. Clearly it is necessary for both the teacher and learner to determine whether appropriate learning is occurring. This is integral to educational practice. The accountability aspect of assessment relates to documentary evidence that learning of a particular kind has been achieved and demonstrated. This is necessary for the learner as well as others. So the educational and accountability functions of assessment are intertwined and feedback is necessary for both.

Principles applicable to all forms of assessment feedback

Objectives of Assessment

The Assessment Practices Policy requires that students be given specified information about the assessment in each subject. This information should include a statement of the educational objectives which each assessment task is designed to test. For example, a problem assignment might be designed to test analytical skills, research skills, professional competencies, or a mixture. Wherever possible these should be stated explicitly to assist in formulating the criteria for assessment.

Stating the Criteria for Assessment

The general criteria for assessment should normally be stated in advance, so that students will have some idea of the knowledge and skills they are required to demonstrate. Criteria can be stated in many ways. These depend on the type of assessment task. Sometimes specific criteria for assessment cannot be stated in advance without defeating the purpose of the assessment (by informing the learner of what is to be tested). Even in these circumstances, the criteria should be made explicit after the work has been marked so that the student can review his or her performance. If an essay is intended to test a student's ability to organise an argument logically, this should be stated, and the weighting of the marks should go to this skill and not to the simple recall and reproduction of facts.

There are many ways of providing feedback as part of the learning process. The following outlines some possible ways.

Formal Examinations

The Assessment Practices Policy requires staff to be available for consultation and to discuss examination papers with students. Often students do not know why they achieved a particular result, because they are unaware of the objectives of the assessment, or the criteria for grading, or both. Posting a brief statement of the criteria, and/or the key points or a sample answer or answers which an examination question was designed to elicit, can overcome this problem for students. This should help to alleviate the need for staff to repeat explanations to large numbers of individual students. Obviously this is not always feasible, for example, where a bank of multiple choice or other examination questions is used over a period of years. It is still possible, however, to give a public and general indication of the criteria for assessment and examples of good and bad ways of answering the question.

Mid-session quizzes and tests

Often tests administered in mid-session have an explicit diagnostic function. If so, feedback to students should indicate clearly whether or not they are meeting the learning objectives and subject requirements. The methods of providing the feedback are similar to those available for formal examinations.

Written assignments, essays and practical reports

As a minimum, staff must indicate to students what the criteria for assessment may be, what was being done well and what was being done badly. Economical ways to do this include:

- Standard coversheets which set out the general criteria against which written work will be judged, and which provide for the marker to indicate in some standardised form the extent to which the specified criteria have been met by an individual student. Such coversheets also include space for specific comments by the marker;

- Marking sheets which allow the marker to tick a box (or mark a point on a scale) indicating the strength or weaknesses of the writer in meeting the objectives of the assessment (again with space for comments);

- Sheets that indicate the main points or issues which students were expected to discuss, consider or solve in the assignment, possibly indicating some techniques or methods that could have been applied;

- Model answers (for example, in quantitative subjects) with which students can compare their own efforts; and

- Various combinations of the above ,keeping in mind that comments on student texts themselves might refer specifically to the criteria indicated. Note that this list is not intended exhaustive and conversations with colleagues will provide many more ideas and variations

Other Feedback

Feedback is also provided in other ways. In laboratory and clinical classes, and in some other smaller classes, students receive feedback on several aspects of their work orally. Teaching staff will recognise that such interactions are powerful opportunities for giving students feedback, and by carefully studying their dialogue with students they can significantly improve the educational quality of these interactions.

Staff teaching on-line have a special advantage here! They will have a record of dialogue with students (and among students) through which to hone their comments.

Timing

The Assessment Practices Policy requires that students receive some feedback early in each session. In any event, if feedback is to have value in the learning process, it must be timely. For example, work submitted at weekly intervals should normally be returned within seven days of submission. This is one reason why it is important that students learn to observe deadlines, and staff learn to be sparing in granting extensions of time — not only is it unfair to students who complete work by the due date by giving other students additional time to do the work, it may also delay the feedback for prompt students.

Working in Teams

Rationale

The Academic Board of James Cook University has determined that all undergraduate degrees will teach several generic skills. This creates the obligation to assess these skills and this paper addresses one of the more difficult of the generic skills to teach and assess, that component of interpersonal understanding so important to graduates:

“the ability to lead, manage and contribute effectively to teams”.

The key consideration is that procedures for teaching and assessing working in teams should be transparent, equitable and contain proper processes of review.

Setting guidelines for working in teams

More than one model for teamwork is available and different groups in the one subject may opt for different models. For example, some groups might prefer to meet within a formal structure with agendas, resolutions and minutes, others may prefer an informal discussion group. Imposing one or other model may impede learning and prevent effective co-operation.

It is desirable that staff in consultation with students establish ground rules for working in teams about:

• the conduct of group meetings-frequency and timing,

• the responsibility of members to each other,

• group contact outside of scheduled class times.

• assessing the real contribution of each member to the group project, (for example, by using individual process diaries).

Many students work either part time or full time, and many are parents, often single parents and have other commitments which make it very difficult to attend the University outside of scheduled class hours.

Students may be consulted before rules for working in teams are finalised.

Assessment of work in teams should not unfairly penalise students with family and/or work commitments.

Practical constraints of groupwork

Working in teams, under proper conditions, encourages peer learning and peer support and many studies validate the efficacy of peer learning. Under less than ideal conditions, group work can become the vehicle for acrimony, conflict and freeloading. It may also impose a host of unexpected stresses on, for example, students with overcrowded schedules living long distances from the University.

Therefore it is the responsibility of staff:

• to establish explicit guidelines for group work to ensure that learning objectives are met and to ensure that they are compatible with University policies and guidelines.

• to manage the planning, development and implementation of processes and procedures for learning through group work.

Appendix: Administration of Assessment - Roles and Responsibilities

Institution

James Cook University values good teaching practice and commits itself to quality educational goals, experiences and outcomes and a learning environment which nurtures each of these. It does so through its relationships with the community and the professions, and though commitment to ethical policies, fair and open practices on assessment and supervision, rigorous procedures for the introduction and revision of subjects and courses, and open and systematic Course Reviews.

Pro-Vice-Chancellors are jointly responsible to Academic Board and to the Vice-Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for the observance of the Assessment Practices Policy in their Faculties.

Heads of Schools

Heads of Schools have general responsibility for the assessment process but will be advised by the Assessment Committee comprised of appropriate academic staff of the unit.

The Head, after receiving advice from the Assessment Committee, shall determine:

• the methods for assessing the performance of students, and

• the standard of achievement required for the approved grades of performance.

The Head of School will be responsible to the Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor for ensuring that grade distributions are in accord with Academic Board policy.

The Heads of Schools should ensure that:

• academic staff are familiar with relevant University policies, including these Principles and particularly the policy on plagiarism, and the learning resources available to avoid plagiarism;

• academic staff provide timely subject and course documentation which complies with University policy and provisions of these Principles; this will include a detailed and comprehensive statement of course aims which will be published in a course prospectus;

• assessment methods and practices comply with University policies and provisions of these Principles;

• academic staff carry out all assessment fairly, objectively and consistently for all students;

• group activities are assessed by means which will allow the real contribution of each member of the group to be determined;

• teaching staff (full-time, part-time and sessional) are available to students for consultation, and that times of availability are clearly displayed for students;

• the School keeps a copy of every subject outline distributed by staff in each subject, and that this file will be available to all students and staff;

• academic staff abide by Occupational Health & Safety regulations while conducting classes;

• unclaimed assessment items and examination papers should be retained for at least the minimum period specified in the Assessment Practices Policy.

The Role of the School Assessment Committee

The Assessment Committee for each School should advise the Head of School on assessment used in the School including all major components of assessment for each subject, particularly examination papers. It has responsibility for reviewing examination papers to determine whether the requirements set out in Section 2.8 below are satisfied and, if not, to collaborate with relevant examiners to ensure that appropriate amendments are made.

In advising the Head of School on the final mark for each student in a subject, the Assessment Committee exercises academic judgement by:

• reviewing the results of assessment of each student and the grade distribution for each subject with reference to Academic Board policy on the distribution of grades across the discipline;

• ensuring that any modification or scaling of marks has been applied fairly, systematically and consistently; and

• ensuring that the marks presented to the Faculty Executive Committee for authorisation properly reflect the levels of performance of individual students.

Academic Staff

Academic staff carry out their teaching responsibilities under the authority of the Head of School. Academic staff have a responsibility:

• to identify the objectives and student outcomes of the subject clearly and in terms which enable students to understand what skills and understandings they are expected to achieve, and what values and attitudes will be fostered by satisfactorily completing the subject; these student outcomes must be identified in the Subject Outline;

• to assess each student's work fairly, objectively and consistently and to provide adequate feedback on performance;

• to explain to students clearly why they are required to do certain assessment tasks to demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes of a subject or course;

• to prepare and present subject material at an appropriate standard within the resources available;

• to provide, wherever appropriate and possible, opportunities for students to participate in identifying their learning needs and planning their learning experiences and ways in which they will be assessed;

• to be available for specific student consultation times each week and to ensure that these times are prominently noted in subject outlines and within the department, for example on the staff member's door during the semester and examination periods, so that at reasonable times students may discuss aspects of the subject with staff, taking into account the needs of part-time students;

• to be available to students after marked material has been returned and after the final results have been released, so that students who seek information can be shown how each result was determined;

• to make ‘reasonable accommodation’ (see Disability Discrimination Act (1992)) within the established teaching environment for students with a disability;

• to notify the Head of School or Faculty Pro-Vice-Chancellor as appropriate, of potential or actual conflicts of interest:

• to observe in assessment practice the principles of confidentiality set out in the James Cook University Records Management Policy which in summary state that:

• Students are entitled to protection of their privacy, and the University restricts access to private information on a student's records to staff who may need the information in order to carry out their responsibilities in the student's interests. Such information is not disclosed to other students, to people outside the University (including relatives), or to other staff, without written permission.

• to attend meetings of the School or discipline Assessment Committee to advise the Head of School on marks, grades and final subject grades;

• to ensure that all assessment work and other teaching commitments have been completed and that marks, grades and final subject grades have been considered by the Assessment Committee before departing on any discretionary leave (another member of staff of the School must be briefed and available to answer any subsequent enquiries about the subject); and

• to exercise their responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety legislation and Discrimination legislation.

Related documents, legislation or JCU Statutes

Assessment Practices Policy

Subject Outline Policy

Review of Assessment and Student Access to Scripts and Materials

Approval Details

Modification History