Skip to content | Change text size
 

Written Assignments

Policy

Forms and purpose
Setting of assignments
Instructions to students
Extensions
Marking
Notes for examiners
Comments/Feedback
Second marking
Return of assignments

Forms and purposes

Assessable written assignments are written assignments that students are required to prepare outside of scheduled class hours. Written assignments can take a variety of forms, and the purposes for which they are set may be various. Written assignments may, for example, be an essential component of the assessment regime in a unit for reasons such as the following:

  • to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on and write about questions that they could not be expected to answer satisfactorily under time-limited, invigilated examination conditions

  • to implement a teaching/learning regime under which development of research/writing skills is a declared objective.

A cover sheet for assignments has been designed for the Faculty. (See Faculty cover sheet).

Setting of assignments

Although particular tasks may be delegated to lecturers, the chief examiner has responsibility for approving assignments. In the setting of assignments in units with large enrolments, lecturers should have regard to the demands likely to be made on the library by students undertaking a particular assignment. If students undertaking a particular assignment are likely to seek access to a book that may be borrowed by other students, it may be desirable to have that book placed on reserve. The following points should be born in mind when setting assignments.

  • If the assignments duplicate, or substantially duplicate, assignments set in a fairly recent teaching period, there is a risk that some students will be tempted to recycle the productions of students who submitted assignments in the prior teaching period, aided by the feedback provided to those students.

  • The risk of plagiarism may be minimised if students are offered a range of assignment topics and the number of students who are permitted to enrol for a particular topic is limited. Under such a system, all assignments on a particular topic should be assessed by one examiner.

Instructions to students

All instructions to students about the assignment component of an assessment regime should be in writing and should cover all or most of the issues they are likely to raise in relation to that component of the assessment regime.

The instructions to students should include:

  • a direction to follow in-house style guide recommended by the Faculty (e.g. the Q Manual);

  • a statement of maximum word limit and guidance on whether footnotes/endnotes and the bibliography (if any) are to be taken into account in calculating the word limit;

  • details about submission dates and applications for extensions of time;

  • late submissions may be united to penalty and the penalty must be specified;

  • where assignments are to be lodged and whether they should be attached to a cover sheet;

  • a statement that if difficulty is experienced in submitting an assignment in person by the due date, the student may send it by certified mail, provided that it is posted by the due date;

  • A warning on plagiarism and whether group work rather than individual work is permitted. (See Collusion, collaboration, plagiarism and cheating).

Extensions of time

Students seeking an extension of time for submitting an assignment must obtain permission from the chief examiner or delegated representative normally prior to the due date.

Marking of assignments

The responsibility for marking assignments falls on the staff involved in the teaching of the unit as determined by the lecturer in charge or chief examiner. Marking burdens should be allocated in an equitable fashion. Examiners are advised to keep a record of the number of assignments that have been marked.

Notes for examiners

The lecturer responsible for setting a particular assignment should supply notes to other staff who will be marking the assignment. The notes should indicate issues raised by the assignment and principal sources that students are expected to have consulted.

Comments on assignments

Work should be returned to students within the time stated in unit outlines.

Staff are required to provide feedback on all work submitted by the due date. (The requirement to provide feedback does not apply to final examinations although staff may choose to do this.)

Feedback should be provided in time for students to benefit when preparing the next task. It should be constructive and focused on assisting the students to improve the quality of their work. Where several students have undertaken the same assignment, it may be desirable to provide them with a handout that explains what was expected and draws attention to common errors and shortcomings.

Second marking

Assessment tasks receiving at least a pass grade will not normally be second marked. Immediately highlight in the unit outline document the practice of photocopying failed assignments or remarking them.

student cannot be failed in a unit except on the recommendation of at least two examiners. (see Examination Regulations 6.6) The Education Policy 3.1.10 states that the Faculty must have a process for verifying fail marks that contribute to a final fail result. Exceptions to this are pieces of work contributing no more than ten per cent of the final mark, unless the total of such pieces exceeds thirty per cent of the final mark. These items must be identified in advance.

This rule means that if a student's aggregate mark is below the pass grade, class tests, assignments and other assessable written work (if any) which received fail grades will need to be recalled and reviewed - unless, of course, the work has already been marked by two examiners.

Academic staff are nevertheless free to adopt a regime under which class test papers that are awarded a fail mark are automatically submitted to a second examiner for re-assessment. If that expedient is adopted, the fact of its adoption should be recorded in the information supplied to the chief examiner in the unit. All fails that contribute to a fail result must be remarked. It may be advisable to photocopy failed originals or remark immediately to avoid unauthorised alterations.

When a student's written work needs to be recalled for review, it should not be recalled until the examination period has concluded. (Some students who have received recall notices prior to the end of the examination period have said that receipt of such notices has occasioned them great distress and has affected their performance in subsequent examinations!)

Return of assignments

Normally assignments should be returned to students within four teaching weeks of their receipt. Before an assignment is returned the student should be asked to retain the assignment until after publication of the final results.

Supporting Information

Purpose and Rationale

To provide guidance to Faculty staff on the development of assessment tasks.

Scope

This policy applies to all teaching staff in the Faculty of Business and Economics.

Definitions

"Class Test" - examinations held during scheduled lecture or tutorial hours and invigilated by academic staff. Although particular tasks may be delegated to lecturers, the chief examiner has responsibility for approving class tests.

Related Documents

Governing Documents

Responsibilities for Implementation

Associate Dean (Education), Heads of Departments, Unit Coordinators.

Date Effective

Faculty Board 02/2001; Amended FB 04/2004.

Approval

Faculty Board

Review

By end December 2006

<< Return to policy search page