Assessment Guideline for Undergraduate Programs at College of Health Sciences

Guideline Statements

This guideline specifies the assessment policy for undergraduate programs (including the Medical Doctor and Bachelor of Nursing) at the College of Health Sciences. Aside from adhering to the University’s course assessment policy, the following will provide more information on specific requirements. All specified requirements are intended to support quality improvement and programmatic accreditation.

1. Assessment Philosophy

The purpose of the assessment in the undergraduate programs is to;

• ensure that the learning outcomes of the program are achieved.
• facilitate student learning through support and remediation.

2. Types of Assessment

2a. Summative Assessment

Refers to the assessment to determine the progress of student in the course.

This comprises In-Semester Examination as well as the End-Semester Examination.

2b. Formative Assessment

The purpose of the Formative Assessment is to provide students with an opportunity:

• to practice where a new assessment tool is used
• to receive feedback and improve
• for self-assessment

2c. For any course with 3 or more credit points, formative assessment is compulsory to be provided to the students.

2d. Barrier Assessment

The Summative assessment that needs to be passed by the student to progress to next semester/year of the program.

3. Summative Assessment

3a. The End-Semester Exam cannot be less than 40% and more than 60%. The only exception is where a course is of 2 or less credits. An exemption from the relevant Program Committee or delegated authority is required in cases where it is not possible.

3b. All End-Semester Examinations are Barrier Assessments.

3c. No more than two summative assessments will be offered for a course up to 2 credit points.

3d. No more than three summative assessments will be offered for a course with 3 or more credit points in one semester. This excludes professionalism which is a Pass/Fail barrier assessment in all courses.

4. Assessment Tools

4a. Multi-choice questions shall not comprise more than 60% of summative assessment in any course.

4b. Where a Group Project is used, both process and product will be assessed.

4c. Professionalism will be a barrier assessment in all of the courses and will be on a Pass/Fail basis.

4d. Where small group learning is used, Professionalism will also be part of the small group learning.

4e. No bonus marks are to be awarded to students.

5. Attendance

5a. Attendance in lectures is not mandatory.

5b. All other sessions are mandatory to attend. These include.

• Workshops
• Small Groups
• Laboratory work
• Clinical Placements

5c. Where a student miss one of the practice sessions, an equitable assignment will be required to complete as determined by the course coordinator.

5d. Where a student misses 20% or more practice sessions, the Program Director will be informed for Non-Professional behavior and for further action.

6. Communication to the Students

6a. All students should be provided with a link to the assessment policy and guidelines through the Learning Management System.

6b. The assessment of each course should be made available to students one day before the course starts.

7. Role of the Course Instructor

7a. The instructor has responsibility to design relevant course assessment that is aligned with learning outcomes and that comply with principles and standards of the University.

7b. The instructor has responsibility to design test questions and assessment tasks except for the final exam.

7c. For the final exam, test questions will be selected from the pool of questions provided by the course instructor by a Pre-exam review committee according to the assessment blueprint.

8. Final Exam Format and Schedule

Final examinations could be a final assessment (multiple-choice questions or open questions) or a culminating experience alternative such as a presentation, an essay, coursework, final report, or a combination thereof.

9. Marking the Examinations

9a. In case of disagreements on the final grade between the two instructors, the final grade shall be considered as the arithmetic average of two grades. In instances of large disparities between markers i.e., more than 25%, a third instructor will be requested for review.

9b. Students who do not attend the final exam without a valid reason and a proper request for postponing the test, shall be considered as having sat the exam once and receive a zero (0) score in the main exam. These students, if permitted by the Board of Examiners or the delegated authority may retake the exam soon after that (if any).

9c. Students who are absent in the main final exam with a valid reason, with approval by the Program Director and the Registrar, may be allowed a make-up exam. The final exam grade shall be considered as the first-time exam grade.

9d. A student who is absent in the final exam without a valid reason if allowed to appear in a make-up examination, his/her final exam scores will be scaled back to 50% if the student passes the exam.

9e. If the student fails, the make-up exam he/she will repeat the course in the following semester/year when the course is offered.

In the absence of make-up final exam with a valid reason, these students will have to repeat in the following semester/year or sub-semesters (i.e., Summer Session). In which the course will be offered.

10. Special Consideration

10a.  A student who has faced extraordinary/unforeseen circumstances that could impact academic preparation/performance can request special consideration.

10b. Student applying for special consideration must write to the Program Director as soon as possible but no later than 3 University working days after the date on which the work for assessment was due or examination held. The Program Director will present the case to the Board of Examiners if a student is at risk of failing the course and the Board of Examiners will decide as to.

• Extension of assignments
• Withdrawal or changes to program
• Changes to the final grade in a course.
• Make up examination.

11. Using Learning Management System for Assessment

11a. All assignments and objective type examinations will be offered through the learning management system.

12.  Assignments

12a. All written assignments need to be submitted through the Learning Management System.

12b. The deadline of submission should be 9 a.m on a working day.

13.  Word Count

13a. A range of the word count to be provided for a written assignment.

13b. Any text beyond the exceeded word limit in the assignment will not be marked.

14.  Late Submission

14a. If an assignment is submitted after the deadline, it will be considered as a late submission. The following penalties will be applied in marking the assignment.

• Submitted within 24 hours: 10% of the total marks allocated to the assignment
• 2 – 3 days: 20% of the total marks allocated to the assignment
• After 3 days: An assignment will not be marked and the student receives a mark of zero. Where it is a barrier assessment, student fails the course.

15. Pass Score

15a. To pass a course, a student need to;

• Obtain a minimum of 50% in the course; and
• Pass all the barrier assessments in the course.

16.  Reporting the Results

16a. The results of the course need to be reported in seven working days to the Program Director.

17. Remediation

17a. All students who fail the final examination in a course will be offered the opportunity to meet the course instructor/teaching assistant and plan remediation within three working days of the results announced.

18.  Auxiliary Assessment

18a. To be offered within two weeks after the Final Examination in the course.

18b. A student appearing in the Auxiliary assessment will not be offered a retake if he/she does not pass the auxiliary assessment.

19.  Make-up/Retake Examination

19a. A make-up final exam will be arranged if a student has;

• more than two examinations in a 24-hour period
• earned an F grade in the final exam (if offered by the course instructor) provided the student has passed the other barrier assessments.

19b. A student who wishes to appear in a makeup exam to improve marks will only be allowed if a make-up examination is offered in that semester.

20. Blueprinting the Assessment

20a. All blueprints of the assessment need to be approved by the relevant year committee followed by the Curriculum Committee.

21.  Quality Assurance/Moderation of Assessment

Four steps are required for the quality assurance/moderation of the assessment process.

21a. Blueprint approved by the relevant year committee and MD/BN Curriculum Committee before the semester begins.

21b. Pre-exam review of each exam by a sub-committee formed by the relevant year committee to be held at least 3 weeks before the examination is scheduled.

21c. Post-exam review of each exam by the sub-committee within 2 days of the exam.

21d. A full report of the student performance in assessment to be tabled at the relevant year committee in the following semester.

22.  Progression Rules

22a. A student will repeat the course/s in the following year if he/she;

• does not complete all the requirements satisfactorily.
• fails the professionalism part of the course.

22b. A student who fails 50% or more courses offered in a semester will not be offered a retake Instead, the student will be repeating the semester.

23.  Archiving the Examination Scripts and Graded Material

23a.The Provost shall set out regulations on protection, marking procedures and storage of exam answer sheets.

23b. Written tests, essays, coursework, final reports and other graded material shall be stored for in accordance to the Vinuni policy from the date of submission.

24.  Implementation of the Assessment Policy and Guidelines

24a. The Assessment Policy and Guidelines may be revised to comply with any subsequent regulation from MOET.

24b. The Assessment Policy and Guidelines shall be applied to the undergraduate courses in the College of Health Sciences unless an exemption is received from the relevant curriculum committee or delegations.

Abbreviation and Definition