Assessment HE
Assessment is integral to good teaching and learning. Effective teaching and learning requires that assessment items be criterion referenced and designed using the following three principles:
The content principle
assignments should reflect the material that is most important for students to learn.
The learning principle
assignments should be congruent with course objectives or competencies, enhance learning and support effective instructional practice.
The equity principle
assignments should support every student's opportunity to learn, understand and use the course material. Assessment of students should be valid, fair, and effectively communicated to students.
Principles
- CDU's Assessment Rules aim to ensure that all processes for students’ assessment are flexible, fair and provide for University-wide quality and consistency in assessment.
- Assessing Learning in Australian Universities (Centre for the Study of Higher Education, 2002) highlights current issues and views on assessment. See especially the following sections:
- Good practice examples of criteria, standards and marking schemes
can be found at University of Queensland Teaching & Educational Development Institute
(TEDI).
This PDF contains information on the following:- criteria and standards for course learning goals
- criteria and standards for assessment tasks
- marking schemes and standards for assessment tasks
Practice
- Moderating is an
essential component of the fairness and equity
principle of assessment. This link provides a document which includes
discussion and guidelines for moderating assignments.
- Referencing Guidelines
These guidelines compiled by the CDU library cover a range of referencing styles. For university-wide consistency your students should be referred to this version. - Marking for sessional staff (updated 2012)
is a generic hints and tips guide for marking assistants and the Schools they work for within Charles Darwin University, it is compiled from a variety of excellent resources.
Good Practice Examples
Good practice assessment at CDU
Common Units:
Unit Information CUC107 Northern Perspectives
Unit Information CUC100 Academic Literacies (PDF)
Unit Information CUC106 Design & Innovation
Good practice at other universities
The bioassess website is the result of a national project by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (University of Melbourne), in partnership with leaders in teaching and learning in the biological sciences from The University of Sydney and The University of Melbourne. The site presents a discipline-focused synthesis of good practice in university assessment. Included are many specific examples written by academic staff from Australian universities, available in PDF format.
A
model assessment plan shows
the evolution of assessment from 1st year to 4th year engineering at
Deakin University, including the underpinning assessment principles,
methods and rationale.
Some
innovations in assessment in legal education presents outcomes of a
workshop undertaken as part of an ALTC-funded discipline-based
initiative in November 2008.
- Good practice directory
- The Assessing Learning in Australian Universities (Centre for the Study of Higher Education, 2002) a range of good practice examples from different discipline areas.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of the work of another without acknowledgement. Students may use information and ideas expressed by others but this use must be identified by appropriate referencing.
Material that is subject to plagiarism includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
- written work (such as essays, books, reports, theses, journal articles, computer programs) whether published or unpublished;
- research material such as data, results or conclusions; and
- non-word based material such as musical scores, mathematical formulae, audio-visual material, art and industrial plans; in short, any product of another person's mental labour.
The medium in which the work is presented does not affect the issue of whether plagiarism occurs. Any material copied and used as one's own, whether from the written word, audio, video or electronic media such as the Internet, is covered under the policy.
Advice to Staff
Collaboratively raising awareness on the importance of maintaining academic standards and integrity is an important approach for all staff and students. Staff will find it useful to:
- Engage with current CDU processes relating to plagiarism
- Explore the reasons why students plagiarise
- Identified strategies for detecting plagiarism
- Explored a variety of strategies for deterring plagiarism
Research by Doreen Rorrison (per comm.,2005) suggests that University student culture has changed and that the following list provides some contexts to account for an increased incidence in plagiarism today.
- Use of computers, memory sticks, CD’s, email (it is so easy to use another’s work)
- Shared computers
- Share housing
- University accommodation
- Close contact for long hours in computer labs
- Pressure of full or part time work
- Career change students
- Multiple pathways
- Equity programs
- Family connections, partnerships
- Greater incidence of group work may inadvertently encourage ‘sharing’ without attribution
- Appreciate different conventions in different faculties
The “Assessing Learning in Australian Universities” site has excellent information on minimising plagiarism.
University Policy on Academic and Scientific Misconduct is the overarching CDU policy on plagiarism. Academic and Scientific Misconduct Policy
University Student Management Plagiarism Process
What happens if an allegation of plagiarism is made? The University
relies on the experience and expertise of its teaching staff and their
knowledge of the literature within a discipline to manage plagiarism.
If you do suspect a student of plagiarising it is essential to follow
the correct process for dealing with plagiarism. The University Student
Management Plagiarism Process can be found here.
Student Plagiarism Management Process (SPMP)
The following useful websites have been provided by the Library
A comprehensive webliography on plagiarism from Sharon Stoerger is available here http://www.web-miner.com/plagiarism#students
This Web site also has other guides to ethics issues on topical areas that you might wish to share with colleagues with an interest in business, etc:
Anthropology
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/anthroethics.htm
Art
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/artethics.htm
Bioethics:
http://www.web-miner.com/bioethics.htm
Business
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/busethics.htm
Ethics
Case Studies: http://www.web-miner.com/ethicscases.htm
History
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/historyethics.htm
Journalism
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/journethics.htm
Research
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/researchethics.htm
Sociology
Ethics: http://www.web-miner.com/sociologyethics.htm
