Assessment and Moderation Regulations

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1. ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

1.1

Carey Baptist College, “Carey”, uses a standards based assessment method. All assessments will be appropriate to the nature and level of the course and programme for which they are set.

1.2

Each course requires students to complete a number of assessments, requirements for which, including style and presentation requirements, will be detailed in the Course Outline.

1.3

All assessments for a course must be completed by the due dates specified in the Course Outline.

1.4

All assessments must be completed in sequence to pass a course.

1.5

When a course requires both an oral and written assessment, unless otherwise stated, a passing grade in both the oral and written assessment is required in order to pass the course. Similarly, when a course requires both a practical as well as written assessment, a passing grade in both is required in order to pass the course.

2. RESEARCH ETHICS

2.1

Any assessment or research project undertaken by a student involving, or directly affecting living persons must be conducted with due regard to ethical issues and comply with the requirements of the Research Ethics Policy.

3. SPECIAL ASSESSMENT CONDITIONS

3.1

A student with a temporary or permanent disability which affects their ability to undertake a course assessment under regular assessment conditions may apply to complete their assessment under conditions which take into account the particular nature of their impairment.

Please note that applications must be made in writing to the Academic Director prior to the due date of the assessment.

4. USE OF TE REO MĀORI IN ASSESSMENTS

4.1

Carey recognises Māori as an official language of New Zealand and as a tāonga for all New Zealanders protected under the articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Therefore, Carey upholds the right of students to use Te Reo Māori as the language of assessment in its academic programmes. If a student wishes to use Te Reo Māori in their assessment they must contact the Academic Director within two weeks of the commencement of the semester in which the assessment is due. Please note that a longer period of notice or a limitation on the use of Te Reo Māori may be necessary when oral work involves interaction with other students; see the Policy and Procedure for use of Te Reo Māori in Assessments for more information.

5. SUBMISSION AND RETURN OF ASSIGNMENTS

5.1

Course assessments are normally submitted and returned electronically through CareyOnline, which records the time and date of submission.

5.2

Hardcopy submissions are only permitted in special circumstances, for which approval must be granted from the Academic Director.

5.3

Carey aims to have all assessments marked and returned to students within three weeks of the assessment due date. However, when work is submitted late the assessment may be returned late.

5.4

When marking assessments, the marker will provide a grading comment explaining:

The extent to which the criteria of the assessment has been met.
The overall grade (0-100%) for the assessment.

6. REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS

6.1

Extensions are normally given only for reasons of ill-health or on compassionate grounds; work and life pressures that could be planned for are not valid grounds for extension.

6.2

If a student requires an extension on an assessment they can apply to the Academic Registrar on the prescribed form with full supporting evidence prior to the due date of the assessment.

6.3

Normally extensions will be given for no longer than two weeks. Extensions will not normally be granted beyond the final day of the semester.

6.4

Each application will be considered on its own merits.

7. PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSIONS

7.1

An assessment submitted up to one week (7 days) after the due date without a formal extension being granted will incur an academic penalty equivalent to a 10% reduction in marks, normally equivalent to two grade steps. An assessment submitted more than one week after the due date but no more than two weeks (14 days) after the due date will be marked, but will not be awarded a grade other than a “Pass” or “Fail”. The maximum mark the assignment will receive is 50% (Pass). An assignment submitted more than two weeks after the due date by default will receive a “Fail” grade unless an alternative submission date has been negotiated and approved by the Academic Registrar.

7.2

For semester length courses, no assessment submitted after the last day of the semester will be marked unless an extension has been previously approved. For full-year courses, no assessment item submitted after the last day of the second semester will be marked unless an extension has previously been approved.

8. GRADING CRITERIA

The following grading system is used for the recording of course grades where achievement-based assessment is used.

Grade

Mark

Descriptor

"A" Range (80-100%) = Excellent

A+

90-100%

Excellent in all criteria assessed, extra elements above what is expected

85-89%

Excellent in all criteria assessed

A-

80-84%

Excellent in most criteria assessed

"B" Range (65-79%) = Good

B+

75-79%

Very Good in all criteria assessed and excellent in some respects

70-74%

Good in most criteria addressed and very good in some respects

B-

65-69%

Good in most criteria assessed

"C" Range (50-64%) = Satisfactory

C+

60-64%

Satisfactory level attained in all criteria assessed and good in some respects

55-59%

Satisfactory level attained in all criteria assessed

C-

50-49%

Sufficient level in most criteria assessed, but some weaknesses

"D" Range (35-49%) = Unsatisfactory

D+

45-49%

Some aspects satisfactory but overall fails to meet criteria for a pass

40-44%

Fails to meet standard for a pass in most criteria assessed

D-

35-39%

Fails to attain acceptable standard in almost all criteria assessed

"E" Range (0-34%) = Fail

0-34%

Fails to attain acceptable standard in all criteria assessed

Ungraded "Pass"/"Fail"

Pass

Ungraded Pass

All criteria met

Fail

Ungraded Fail

All criteria not met

Additional Grades

DNC

Did Not Complete

Withdrawal

Where assessments for a course have a designated weighting, the value of the marks obtained for each assessment will be multiplied by that weighting, added together and then converted to a final course grade.

9. RESUBMISSION

A student enrolled in an undergraduate programme fails to achieve the standards for a pass grade required in a particular assessment by no less than 40% may apply to the lecturer to resubmit the assessment. If approved the students must resubmit the assessment within two weeks of being notified of their original grade, with the exception of assessments due on the final day of semester, which must be submitted by the Monday prior to the Marker’s meeting. The assessment will be marked on a Pass/Fail basis only. A student is permitted to resubmit any given assessment only once.

10. FINAL GRADES

10.1

At the end of a course, and after all assessments have been submitted, marked and reviewed, students will be awarded a final grade for the entire course.

11. APPEALS

11.1

If a student feels that any assessment process has been inadequate or unfair they have the right to appeal.

11.2

Similarly, if they believe that there was an irregularity in the material and/or conduct of an assessment they can make an appeal against their final grade.

11.3

Appeals should be made in writing to the Academic Director within five working days of receiving a mark or grade. The Academic Director will consider whether there are grounds for the appeal to be upheld in consultation with the teaching staff member and the Academic Registrar. The Academic Director’s decision is final and will be communicated to the student within five working days from the time of the application being received.

11.4

Further provisions are made for research and thesis work; please refer to the Thesis Regulations for more information.

12. REPEATING A COURSE

12.1

If a student fails a course they may apply to repeat the course.

12.2

If a course is repeated a student may wish to resubmit revised versions of previous assessments completed for the first attempt of the course, however this is only permitted with the approval of the lecturer.

12.3

If a student repeats a course and is awarded a passing grade the fail grade will still remain on the first transcript, this is so that a true record of the student’s progress is kept. However, this fail grade will not be counted towards the Grade Point Average.

12.4

A student who has twice enrolled in, but has failed to be credited with a pass in, a course is not entitled to enrol again in that course other than in exceptional circumstances approved by Academic Committee.

13. SPECIAL PASSES

13.1 AEGROTAT PASS

13.1.1

If a student was prevented by illness or injury from being present and/or completing a final assessment for a course but has completed at least 55% of the assessments for that course they may be eligible for an Aegrotat Pass.

13.1.2

Similarly, if a student believes that illness or injury has seriously affected their performance in a final assessment and they have completed at least 55% of the assessments for that course they may also be eligible for an Aegrotat Pass.

13.1.3

Applications for an Aegrotat Pass must be made to Academic Committee through the Academic Registrar within one week of the end of the semester in which the course was taken.

Please note that an Aegrotat Pass is granted on the following basis:

The application is supported by a medical certificate that states that in the medical practitioner’s opinion, illness or injury of the student either prevented that student from taking and/or completing a final assessment on time, or was likely to have seriously impaired the student’s performance in the final assessment.

If the Academic Committee approves the application the final grade may be decided in one of two ways.

If a student has completed at least 80% of the summative assessments for a course a final grade will be devised by mathematical extrapolation.
If a student has completed less than 80% of the assessments for a course a final grade will be estimated in two steps. Firstly, by identifying and comparing the grades achieved in completed assessments with other students who received similar grades in those assessments. Secondly, by observing the performance of those identified students and their grades in the final assessment. Please note that any estimated grade shall be conservative.

13.2 COMPASSIONATE PASS

13.2.1

If exceptional circumstances beyond a student’s control arose, other than illness or injury, which they believe seriously impaired their performance in a final assessment they may be eligible for a Compassionate Pass.

13.2.2

Applications for a Compassionate Pass must be made to Academic Committee through the Academic Registrar within one week of the end of the semester in which the course was taken.

Please note that a Compassionate Pass is granted on the following basis:

The application is supported by evidence, the specifics of which will be requested by the Academic Registrar prior to presentation to the Academic Committee.
An administration fee will apply to all Compassionate Pass applications; see the Fees Regulations for more information.

13.3 CONCEDED PASS

13.3.1

If a student, in their final year of a Diploma or Bachelor’s award, fails a major piece of assessment in one course only but has performed at a satisfactory level in that course and would otherwise have completed the Diploma or Bachelor’s programme then they may be eligible for a Conceded Pass.

Please note that only one Conceded Pass can be given during a student’s entire period of study at Carey.

14. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT AND PLAGIARISM

14.1

New students to Carey Baptist College are required to complete First Steps covering key academic literacy and academic integrity concepts and requirements.

14.2

Carey will not accept any form of cheating, or assisting others to cheat on assessments. Cheating in coursework or assessments is viewed as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student’s own work, reflecting their own learning, and be their own work (and words!). Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced.

14.3

Submitting work from an AI enabled chatbot (or similar large language model (LLM) processing tool / generative AI platform such as ChatGPT) verbatim (ie cut and paste) is not acceptable and will be treated as academic misconduct. You must not use AI output directly in your assessments. Contract writing is also viewed as academic misconduct. All submitted work must be the student’s own work. Generative AI chatbots and platforms are notoriously unreliable for use in academic assessments. They have programmed biases and can fabricate false information and references. We do not advise reliance on any current AI platform when writing academic assessments at Carey. Where AI has been used in helping prepare an academic assessment, this must be fully disclosed and attached as part of your assessment submission using the supplied template.

14.4

Plagiarism is a specific form of academic misconduct and is defined as copying another person’s work without acknowledging them as a source, or putting one’s own name on someone else’s work. (eg contract writing, or having a friend write a piece of work and putting your name on it). This includes sourcing and material from an online or digital source, and/or obtaining a piece of work from another person. Therefore, all words that are copied from another piece of writing, or recording, must be enclosed in quotation marks (“ ”) and the source referenced according to an accepted system of referencing. Where significant ideas are borrowed from other sources, these too must be acknowledged. Having someone help proof-read a piece of work for grammar, spelling or readability (but not substantially adding content to the writing) does not constitute plagiarism or academic misconduct.

14.5

Carey uses Turnitin, an online plagiarism detector, for all written assessments. Turnitin also uses an AI detection engine and your work will be scanned and assessed for AI generated work. Where AI use is detected and/or there is reason to believe AI has been used in an assessment submission, Carey will investigate and follow up directly with the student. This may involve some form of oral interview/discussion to clarify the understanding and source of the content. If inappropriate AI use is detected this may result in a fail grade for that assessment.

14.6

Carey regards any form of academic misconduct as a serious violation of academic integrity and therefore it is treated as a serious offence and disciplinary measures will be taken. The Academic Director will discuss cases of academic misconduct with the student concerned, student details will be placed on the Carey Plagiarism & Academic Misconduct Register and the Academic Committee will be notified. Additional disciplinary measures may include a reduction in their mark or grade, or a requirement to do a reassessment.

14.7

In the case of repeat offences or serious misuse, a student may receive a failing grade for their entire course and/or be excluded from their programme of study for a period of time. Repeat offences may also be considered grounds for dismissal from the programme.

14.8

All formally identified instances of academic misconduct covered in the sections above will be noted in Carey’s Academic Integrity/Plagiarism Register and be noted on the respective student file (managed by the Academic Director)

15. MODERATION

15.1

All Carey courses and assessments will be subject to both internal and external moderation. The moderation process aims to ensure that assessment methods are valid, fair, set at the correct level, and manageable. It also seeks to assure that assessment evidence is valid, authentic and sufficient; and that assessment outcomes and feedback are consistent, systematic and transparent.

15.2

All Carey courses and assessments will be subject to both internal and external moderation in line with Carey's Moderation Schedule. The moderation process aims to ensure that assessment methods are valid, fair, set at the correct level, and manageable. It also seeks to assure that assessment evidence is valid, authentic and sufficient; and that assessment outcomes and feedback are consistent, systematic and transparent. The Academic Committee will oversee the Moderation Schedule.

15.3

INTERNAL MODERATION
All course outlines will be internally moderated as per the Moderation Schedule. The Acedemic Director will oversee the external moderation schedule and communicate with teaching team members accordingly. Selected course outlines must undergo internal moderation prior to the semester start (as per schedule), and prior to those Course Outlines being made available to learners. The Academic Director will liaise with teaching team members if any issues are identified from internal moderation. Oversight of moderation of all course outlines will be mantained by the Academic Committee. The Academic Committee will monitor the overall consistency of course structure, learning outcomes, assessment tasks and weightings.

15.4

EXTERNAL MODERATION
All Carey courses will be subject to post-assessment external moderation at least once every three years for annually taught courses, and at least once every four years for bi-annually taught courses (as per the Moderation Schedule). Courses will typically also be externally moderated when there is a new teaching team member facilitating the course. The Academic Director will oversee the external moderation schedule and communicate with teaching team members accordingly. The external moderation will be conducted by an academic from another institution who has expertise and knowledge in the subject area. Copies of the Course Outline and samples of student work (covering low, mid and high grade range) will be submitted for moderation. Moderation reports will be received by the Academic Director and discussed with the staff members concerned. Any changes to the course that result from the external moderation report will be captured and tabled at Academic Committee for approval.

16. EVALUATION OF COURSES BY STUDENTS

16.1

Evaluation of courses is another important aspect of course quality assurance and evaluative questioning. All courses will offer students the opportunity to evaluate the course facilitation, the learning and teaching activities and resources, and the assessment tasks. Courses will be evaluated at least once every three years for annually taught courses, and at least once every four years for biannual courses. A course will be evaluated whenever a new teacher is taking the course, or if a course is delivered for the first time. In practice courses tend to be evaluated more frequently due to these factors. Course evaluations will typically be conducted online in week 12 or 13 of semester. Feedback will be provided to students in-class before the end of semester, with summaries of the feedback provided both online and verbally in class. At the end of each teaching year, a summary of key themes emerging from course evaluations will be posted online for students and staff to view.