Evaluation of Student Course Work

Assessment Techniques

Each academic unit will formally adopt the techniques for evaluating student performance which it considers appropriate for its courses and which allow instructors within the academic unit some options.

Assessment techniques may include but are not limited to: assignments; essays; oral or written tests, including midterms; participation in class discussions; seminar presentations; artistic performances; professional practica; laboratory examinations; “open book” or “take home” examinations; and examinations administered by the instructor or Registrar during formal examination periods. Students may not participate in the determination of their own or another graduate student’s grade, in whole or in part, in any course.

• Final examinations, other than language orals or laboratory examinations, will be administered during formal examination periods.
• Tests counting for more than 15% of the final grade may not be administered:
• in any regular 13-week term, during the last two weeks of classes or in the period between the last day of classes and the first day of examinations
• in any Summer Session course, during the three class days preceding the last day of the course.
• Neither the academic unit nor the instructor, even with the apparent consent of the class, may set aside this regulation.
• An instructor may not schedule any test that conflicts with the students’ other courses or any examination that conflicts with the students’ other examinations in the official examination timetable.
• An instructor may not schedule any test during the last two weeks of classes in a regular 13-week term unless students in the course have been given notice at least six weeks in advance.
• An instructor may not assign a weight of more than 60% of the overall course grade to a final examination without the consent of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Correction and Return of Student Work

Instructors will normally return all student work submitted that will count toward the final grade, except final examinations.

Instructors are expected to give corrective comments on all assigned work submitted and, if requested to do so by the student, on final examinations.

Where appropriate and practical, instructors should attempt to mark students’ work without first determining the student’s identity.

Course Outline Requirement

Instructors are responsible for providing the academic unit’s Chair and the students in the course with a written course outline at the beginning of the course. The outline must state the course content and/or objectives and the following information:

• a probable schedule with the due dates for important assignments and tests
• the techniques to be used to assess students’ performance in the course
• how assignments, tests and other course work will be evaluated and the weight assigned to each part of the course
• the relationship between the instructor’s grading method (letter, numerical) and the official University grading system

Instructors who use electronic media to publish their course outline should ensure that students who do not have access to the electronic outline are provided with a printed version. They must file printed versions of their outlines with their academic unit.

Instructors who plan to use a plagiarism detection software program to detect plagiarism in essays, term papers and other assignments should include a statement to that effect in the course outline provided to students.

Duplicate Essays and Assignments

A student may only submit the same essay or assignment for two courses when both instructors have been informed and have given their written permission to the student.

If a student submits an essay or assignment essentially the same in content for more than one course without prior written permission of the instructors, an instructor may withhold partial or total credit for the course work.

English Deficiency

Term essays and examination papers in any course will be refused a passing grade if they are deficient in English. When an instructor has reasonable grounds for believing a student lacks the necessary skills in written English, the instructor, in consultation with the English department’s Director of Writing, can require the student to write an English Deficiency Examination, administered by the English department, the results of which will be binding, regardless of any credit the student has accumulated at UVic or elsewhere.

Laboratory Work

In any science course which includes laboratory work, students will be required to achieve satisfactory standing in both parts of the course. Results for laboratory work will be announced by the academic unit prior to the final examinations. Students who have not obtained a grade of at least D will not be permitted to write the examination and will not receive any credit for the course. If a student obtains satisfactory standing in the laboratory work only and repeats the course, the student may be exempted from the laboratory work with the consent of the academic unit. The same rules may, at the discretion of the academic unit concerned, apply to non-science courses with laboratory work.

Term Assignments and Debarment from Examinations

In some courses students may be assigned a final grade of N or debarred from writing final examinations if the required term work has not been completed to the satisfaction of the academic unit concerned. Instructors in such courses must advise students of the standard required in term assignments and the circumstances under which they will be assigned a final grade of N or debarred from examinations.

Review of an Assigned Grade

Any student wishing clarification about, or who is dissatisfied with, an assigned grade should first discuss the matter with the instructor, who will review the work in question. This discussion should take place within 14 days of the grade being available. If the instructor agrees to change a grade before the final course grades have been submitted, a change of grade request should be made through the Chair to the Graduate Admissions and Records Office.

If the instructor confirms the original grade, then the student should appeal to the Chair/Director of the unit concerned, stating clearly the grounds on which the grade should be raised. The Chair should initiate a review of the grade, using the procedures adopted by the faculty in which the Chair’s academic unit resides. If the Chair does not agree to review the grade, then the student has the right to formally request a review of the grade through the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The grade determined by means of a review shall be recorded as the final official grade, irrespective of whether it is identical to, or higher or lower than, the original grade.