End of Module: Knowledge Assessment and Grading at HSE
It’s the time of the year where both students and professors are concerned with knowledge assessment: the end of the first module at HSE is coming up in the last week of October. The HSE Look previously wrote about the design of course syllabus, electronic Learning Management Support System (LMS) and Teaching Assistants in the issue 5(12) from May 2014 and covered top-10 features of Teaching at HSE, including the module structure, in the issue 4 (04) from September, 2013. To supplement the existing information on the system of exams and grading at HSE, we present to you additional guidelines to help you navigate the knowledge assessment regulations at the university.
What’s in the grade?
Each course has its own requirements for what knowledge and skills students should master – and how this comprehension should be tested. When designing a course syllabus, a teacher has a lot of discretion, but once it is approved for the academic year, it is not possible to go beyond the outlined course requirements.
HSE regulations presuppose three types of assessment which correspond with types of grades:
· Routine assessment is conducted during the module through in-class or independent work and results in a cumulative grade. Students should be informed of the results of any routine assessment within 10 working days. Each form of routine assessment has it “weight” in the calculation of the cumulative grade, and is defined in the course syllabus. Students cannot be denied access to the exam based on low performance in the routine assessment; however, the weights of cumulative and exam grades affect the range of grades which the students can receive if they neglect the course work.
· Intermediate assessmentis held if a course lasts longer than one module – however, if the syllabus does not require such an assessment, it is not possible to hold an interim exam for the course. If in doubt about whether your course should be in the module’s exam session, consult with the Study Office of the programme at which you teach. Students should be informed about the format of the intermediate assessment at the start of the course and at least a week prior to the exam session. Midterm exams as well as final exams can be conducted in written or oral form, and each students’ examination time should not exceed 4 hours. If you have over 50 students in one course, Study Offices usually schedule at least two days in the session. The results of an oral exam are announced on the same day, and the grade for the written exams should be known within 5 days. Exam gradeweighs between 20% and 80% in the overall grade, typically being 20-40%, which favors students who work diligently during the whole course over those who focus their efforts only on the examination.
· Resulting (or overall) gradeis comprised of the cumulative gradeand the exam grade, according to their weight in the syllabus. If the course lasts more than a module and has an intermediate assessment, the syllabus formula specifies the weights for each of the modules as well.
Absences, fails, and repeat exams
Before the exam the Study Office issues an examination record sheetwhich lists the students taking the exam. Students from other programmes which are taking your course and students from other universities who are on an exchange semester at HSE may be listed on separate sheets. Ideally, the examiner should fill in the cumulative grades, follow them up with the midterm or final exam grade and calculate the resulting final mark. However, sometimes things do not go according to plan: for example, a student might not show up for the exam or ask for an absence due to health issues right at the exam. What is the right procedure to document it?
The examiner should mark in the record sheet that the student was absent and not put any mark for the exam. If the student is asking to excuse them from exam, they should do so before the task is handed out. When the examiner gives the record sheet back to the Study Office, they will follow up with the students as to whether their absence can be considered excused (e.g. upon provision of an authentic medical note) or if this exam attempt is considered failed.
In case of failure students are entitled to two more attempts to pass the examination; students who have excused absence also get two attempts in addition to their original first exam attempt. However, repeat exam sessions can be held only in the sessions after the 2nd and 4th modules, and cannot be held in the same exam session as the first attempt. It is important to remember that the second (and final) reexamination should be administered by a commission of at least three academic staff members, including the instructor who led the course. Only unsatisfactory marks (below 4 out of 10) can be the ground for retaking the exam – all other results cannot be improved and are final.
Plagiarism and cheating
Other cases which stand out of the normal assessment procedure are cheating and plagiarism. HSE students should adhere to the Code of Conduct (see http://istudents.hse.ru/en/safety ), which includes academic integrity. Disciplinary penalties range from a reprimand or an unsatisfactory mark to expulsion from the University, in extreme cases.
Plagiarism is considered the most common type of violation and usually comes in two varieties: a direct copy of another person’s writing or a paraphrase, with some words being replaced without changing the original content. Unless such reproduction is properly attributed to the original author, students’ work cannot be considered acceptable. In order to aid instructors in the process of checking the originality of written assignments, HSE uses the “TurnItIn” system. In case you feel the need to use it, contact the Study Office of your programme for the details.
If you observed cheating or plagiarism, and lowered the grade or took other action against it, please, do not forget to inform the Study Office about it, as they might require a written note about it.
What can students appeal against?
It is no news that students are not always satisfied with the grade they receive, but that alone does not entitle them to appeal against the exam results. Procedural violations are another matter, though, and can be used as the grounds for questioning the grade; appeal complaints can be submitted by students within three days of the grade announcement in the following cases:
· The exam scope was larger than the content and questions described in the course syllabus;
· Mistakes in the questions/tests, incorrect or vague tasks;
· Violation of the exam procedure by the instructor;
· Disregard for the grading rules stipulated by the syllabus;
· Other circumstances which prevent the examiner from grading in an objective and impartial way.
Within three working days the appeal is considered by the commission comprised of the examiner and at least two more faculty members – the department or school which offers the course determines who will be on the commission. The meeting is held in the student’s presence and the appeal can be rejected if the student does not join the meeting; it is not an additional examination, so the student cannot be asked additional questions on the content of the course, only about the facts of the appeal against the exam procedure. After hearing out the student, the commission makes its decision in a closed meeting and can change the grade, if it finds the grounds of appeal convincing – the decision is documented.
In order to make the examination process transparent and clear to students and to minimize the cases of potential appeal, it is vital to brush up on the course requirements as they were announced at the start of the course and stipulated by the syllabus.