Policy No. 005 Unit of Origin QAC Date Effective 19/06/2013 Policy Owner HCT Approval Authorities CAB Policy Author(s) PMS Committee Contact PMS Chairperson: Samira Said Al Esry, Room CE109, Engineering Department, internal extension 5240, [email protected]This work is copyrighted. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned. Duplication of this work or parts of it is only permitted under the written permission of the Higher College of Technology. Violations fall under the Prosecution Act of the Oman Copyright Law. HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY QUALITY ASSURANCE COMMITTEE Assessment Policy
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Policy No. 005 Unit of Origin QAC Date Effective 19/06/2013 Policy Owner HCT Approval Authorities CAB Policy Author(s) PMS Committee Contact PMS Chairperson: Samira Said Al Esry, Room CE109, Engineering Department,
internal extension 5240, [email protected] This work is copyrighted. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned. Duplication of this work or parts of it is only permitted under the written permission of the Higher College of Technology. Violations fall under the Prosecution Act of the Oman Copyright Law.
HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY QUALITY ASSURANCE COMMITTEE
Assessment Policy
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Version Control Table
Version Author Date (dd/mm/yyyy)
Summary of Changes
0.1 QAC-PMS 13/07/2012 First draft 0.2 QAC-PMS 22/10/2012 Incorporated feedback received from
stakeholders: Moved the table of contents to a
separate page Revised some policy statements Revised the procedure for
change of examination date Inserted the procedures for
cheating and fair conduct of examinations and double-marking
0.3 QAC-PMS 10/12/2012 Indicated where policy statements /procedures are Non applicable to the English Language Centre
0.5 QAC - PMS 24/04/2013 Inserted procedures for invigilation, academic security, benchmarking and handling multiple courses.
0.6 QAC - PMS 19/06/2013 Final review by the College Academic Board
Approval Authorities Signature/Date: Disclaimer: In the case of discrepancies between the College Bylaws and this policy, the College Bylaws will be abided by and will supersede the conflicting policy statement.
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Table of Contents 1. Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
7.1. Plagiarism and Declaration of Originality .............................................................................. 11
7.2. Procedure for Examination Conduct and Invigilation (Not Applicable for ELC- Please refer to the appendix Procedure of examination conduct and invigilation) ......... 14
7.3. Procedure for Coordination of Programs and Examination Moderations: (Not applicable to ELC) ........................................................................................................................................ 11
7.4. Procedure for Examination Scheduling and Invigilation Duties ................................... 12
7.5. Procedure for Change of Examination dates (Not applicable to ELC-FP) .................. 15
7.5.2 ELC Post Foundation Program .................................................................................................... 16
7.6. Procedure for Cheating and Fair Conduct of Examinations ............................................ 16
7.7. Procedure for Double Marking (Not applicable to ELC- Please refer to the ELC procedure of double marking and moderation) .............................................................................. 17
7.8 Procedure for Benchmarking Assessment ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
7.9. Procedure for Academic Security: ............................................................................................. 18
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1. Purpose
The purpose of this Policy is to ensure
Coordinated, consistent assessment and examination practices to assess students
learning across all the Academic Departments and Centre.
Invigilation conduct, Academic security and integrity of all exams.
2. Scope
a. The Assessment Examination policy provides to address all examination and assessment related issues inclusive of plagiarism, schedules, invigilation, cheating and fair conduct of examinations, coordination of programs and moderation of exams, marking of exam papers, moderation of marks, and academic security within the college department for both students and staff.
b. Information concerning the grading of projects and all other matters related to end of
level projects is available in the Policy for Degree Specific Requirements.
c. For information regarding additional requirements for exit, graduation and awards refer to the policy for the Degree Specific Requirements.
d. Some of the sections of this policy are not applicable to ELC. These are rewritten to
cover the conditions of ELC and are separately appended in section III of QAM.
Note: e. The Assessment policy should not be used to appeal against decisions made by
examination boards. These should be dealt with through the Academic Appeals Policy.
f. Students who miss an examination are advised to refer to the “leave of absence for students” in the Student Affairs policy or the Academic Appeals Policy for make-up or Re-sit examinations.
3. Definitions
a. Acronyms: HOD – Head of Department AC – Assessment Committee HEP –Higher Education Provider ELC FP – English Language Center Foundation Program FESC – Final Examination Supervisory Committee PC – Program Coordinator
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b. The Assessment committee (AC) is a group of individuals tasked with managing,
moderating and controlling all examinations and assessments, including the setting and monitoring of standards for all types of assessments and invigilation procedures.
c. An examination is the evaluation of the skills or knowledge acquired by a student via a set of questions or exercises related to each courses. Final examinations are comprehensive, covering all topics covered in class.
d. Course work is defined as all forms of assessment for a particular course excluding final examinations. This includes, but is not limited to, class quizzes, online quizzes, essays, projects, assignments, mid-semester examination and student centered learning. All course work contributes to the final grade of a course, with weight specified by the departments’ delivery and Assessment/ evaluation plan for each course under a given program.
e. A mid-semester examination refer to the examination administered around the middle of a semester in the Academic Calendar, during regular class timings or mutually agreed slots within the mid-semester examination period (of two weeks) without interrupting the regular class schedule of the students.
f. Final Examinations refer to the examinations administered before the end of the academic teaching period in a semester according to the College’s official final examination period planned in the Academic calendar. However, ELC’s FP schedule will be finalized by the Director after referring to the College Examination Schedule. It is preferably scheduled 1-2 weeks before the College schedule of exams.
g. The Final examination period is scheduled by the College Board at the start of each
academic year. It is defined as the entire duration of scheduled examination starting from the date of the first exam and lasting until the date of the last examination (including weekends). (Not applicable to ELC- FP)
h. FESC consists of chosen staff from the department’s AC. The FESC is responsible for scheduling and monitoring the invigilation of final examinations for all staff as well as ensuring academic security when managing the collection and hand-over of examination papers in the examination control room. This committee will be supported by members of the Administration and Students Affairs Departments.
i. For ELC FP, the AC will be the only committee dealing with all examination and assessment related issues. The members of this committee are the Committee Head who is the HoS-Curriculum and Teaching Methods, Testing Coordinators (for each skill- 2 members) and Chief Testing Coordinator. Similarly, for ELC Post Foundation (PF), Examination and Assessment committee will be the only committee dealing with all examination and assessment related issues. The members of this committee are the Post Foundation Academic Coordinator, Post foundation Program Coordinator, Technical Communication Course Coordinator, Technical Writing I & II Course Coordinator, Pharmacy English Course Coordinator. PF Academic Coordinator is the
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Head of the Committee and one of the course coordinators nominated by the Head will be the Chief Testing coordinator.
4. Policy Statement Assessment, plagiarism and examination
a. The student’s grade in a course is based on theoretical and/or practical continuous assessment, research projects and the semester final examination in accordance with Article 60 of the College Bylaws. The final examination assesses the entire/most of the course content/learning outcomes in accordance with Article 61 of the College Bylaws.
b. Article 25 of the College Bylaws states that one of the duties and tasks of a lecturer is to conduct/administer examinations in compliance with college regulations and instructions
c. Continuous assessment is conducted and assessed by the respective course lecturers and/or technicians, who will keep record of all grades.
d. All assessed assignments and quizzes are to be fully prepared in an electronic format. Hand written assignments (assessment paper) will strictly be unaccepted by the department / center.
e. Course lecturers are required to provide their students with an approved course delivery plan which consists of the course details, objectives and outcomes, references and the tentative schedule for continuous assessments for the registered course.
f. Students and examiners/course coordinators should abide by the Plagiarism Policy
for course ‘declaration of originality’ forms and penalties for plagiarized cases.
g. Course Instructors are expected to return work assigned to the students with the corresponding marks no later than the last regular day of classes in courses for which there is a final examination. For particular assignments/assessment tools important for the students’ understanding of course (e.g. quizzes), which will be included in the final examination, the course instructor can withhold the student answer scripts but feedback should be provided to the students before the end of the teaching period. The students should be given a cumulative score of all the continuous assessments and Mid-semester examination before they appear for the final examination.
h. No other coursework, including laboratory work, will be due during the final examination period unless it is assigned in advance and in lieu of the course’s final examination. (Not applicable to ELC)
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i. All concerned are advised to adhere to the guidelines for final examination
preparation including front page format, question setting and mark distribution scheme. It is the duty of the Assessment Committee (AC) to share the guidelines with all, prior to the setting of papers. (Not applicable to ELC)
j. No final examinations shall be administered on a weekday after 5.30pm, or on a Friday.
k. Students should not take more than two final examinations per day.
l. Students are allowed to request a change in the examination (mid-semester and/or
final) dates fixed by the individual Department’s Timetable Coordinators subject to their fulfillment of their respective department’s criteria, which take into account the actual examination period and potential clashes with other courses.(Not applicable to ELC)
Moderation, double-marking and grade approval
m. Final examination papers are to be completed by the course lecturer at least two weeks prior to the scheduled start of the examination period, for moderation purposes. All question papers require the approval of the moderation committee which consists of the program coordinators, assessment committee coordinators and course experts. It is each individual staff’s responsibility to ensure total academic security of the examination paper prior to handing it over to those concerned in the examination control room.(Not applicable to ELC)
n. After the conduction and marking of the course examination papers, the lecturer is to approach the course expert/ Program Coordinator for double marking (10% of papers with a minimum of five papers). This process is recorded in a Double-Marking form signed by both parties. A separate procedure exists for the ELC.
o. The course lecturer is to forward a hard copy of the final results of his/her course (in the Course Grade Analysis form), together with a copy of the Double-marking form, to the AC within two days of the scheduled examination date. A separate procedure exists for the ELC.
p. The AC shall forward these results (Course Grade Analysis) to the Department Council for approval.
q. Final course grades, once approved by the Department Council, are uploaded on the Student Management System by their respective Course lecturers, who are not allowed to announce results before the scheduled Student Grade Announcement date. (Not applicable to ELC FP).
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r. A printed copy of the final grades entered in the system should be submitted to the PC for double checking for discrepancies and the Advising and Registration Committee (ARC) for filing.
Invigilation (not applicable to the ELC)
s. It is the duty of the Assessment Committee (AC) in collaboration with the timetable coordinator and registrar of each department to prepare the schedule of final examination, identify the venue of examination and assign two (2) invigilators for each examination room. The number of invigilators in a room should be increased if the number of examinees exceeds the ratio of invigilator to examinees which is 1:15.
t. The posting of the schedule of examination and other related information (i.e. venue) should be done at least three weeks before the schedule of final examination.
u. It is also the responsibility of the AC or HoD (for departments where the former is not applicable) of each department to assign standby invigilators and examination supervisors.
v. The AC must ensure that the distribution of duties related to the conduct of examination among staff is fair, balanced and approved by the head of the department.
w. The AC must inform the staff of any change in the schedule of final examination, supervision and invigilation.
x. In case a department needs additional invigilators and or standby invigilators from other departments after exhausting all possible means to maximize human resources in the department, a formal request must be submitted by the HoD to the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs (ADAA) at the earliest time possible. The request should include the following information:
Total Number of additional invigilators and or standby invigilators needed Schedule and venue of invigilation
y. The AC representatives of the different departments must furnish the ADAA the data of invigilation duties for final, practical and technique examinations, and final evaluation of course projects
z. The ADAA equally allocates the request to the different departments and requests the department ACs through their HoD to identify the staff who must respond to the request based on the schedule and availability of the staff. In case the invigilation duty is scheduled on weekends or holidays, consent of the concerned staff must be asked by the HoD through the AC.
aa. The AC of the department who requested for additional invigilators from other departments must ensure that one of the invigilators in the examination rooms where the additional invigilators (invigilators from the responding departments) are assigned should come from the requesting department.
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bb. Swapping of invigilation and supervisory duties should be discouraged. However, for valid reasons it may be allowed and must be approved by the HoS / HoD. Any plan for swapping has to be coordinated with the Department AC by the concerned staff member. Both parties involved in the swapping must signify their agreement.
cc. Invigilation duties performed during weekend and/or public holiday will be
compensated accordingly (numbers of days of invigilation will be equal to the number
of days to be compensated) and arranged within the department.
dd. No staff is to interfere with the invigilation process inside the examination halls. Any issues should be reported to the Final Examination Supervisory Committee (FESC), which will resolve the problem if needed.
ee. All examiners should be readily available to answer queries raised by students (during the first 30 minutes of the examination only). Their presence inside the examination hall is only after being requested by the invigilator.
ff. Students and invigilators are prohibited from using mobile phones inside the examination hall.
gg. No student will be allowed into the final examination hall after 30 minutes from the start of the examination. Students are not allowed to exit the hall within the first 30 minutes. Students reporting to the examination halls within the first 30 minutes must be allowed to take the examination and a record of their names and the time they were present is to be made and submitted to the AC. Late students are not to be allocated any additional time to complete the examination. (Not applicable to ELC. Please refer to ELC procedure for Conducting Written Final Examination and invigilation).
hh. If a cheating case is proven the student will automatically be referred to the Student Disciplinary Committee for action.
5. Responsibilities and Stakeholders
a. The AC is responsible for: Managing the examination moderation and control Setting and monitoring standards for all types of assessments (homework
assignments, quizzes, mid-semester exams, final exams, project-based assignments, etc.)
Setting standards and procedures for final-year projects Handling students’ appeals against grades (through the Academic Appeals
Committee) Managing make-up and re-sit examinations
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Ensuring the integrity of the invigilation procedures, including the fair distribution of duties, and publishing of examination timetables
Managing the invigilation of all examinations (through the FESC), including ensuring adequate resources and conducive examination environment, reporting late and/or cheating cases, and resolving any emerging issues during examinations
Ensuring that academic security is provided before, during and after the conduction of exam (through the FESC)
b. It is the student’s responsibility to familiarize him/her-self with policies and procedures concerning examinations and assessments by either referring to a circulated supplement, an academic advisor, or coordinator for policies and procedures.
c. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure they check their final examination dates for any clashes and notify the proper authorities within the set revision period. (Not applicable to ELC FP)
d. It is the responsibility of course lecturers to inform students of the course content which will be covered in all assessments and examinations of their taught subject well in advance.
e. Results of all the continuous assessments and Mid-semester examination should be made known to students by the course lecturer before they appear for the final examination.
f. It is the responsibility of all invigilators to refer and adhere to the set procedures for invigilation of examination.
6. Related Policies and References
a. College Bylaws b. Academic Appeals Policy c. Student Affairs Policy d. Plagiarism Policy e. Data acquisition, disclosure and control policy f. College Invigilation Guidelines g. ELC Guidelines for Plagiarism h. ELC Procedure of examination conduct and invigilation i. ELC procedure of coordination of program and examination moderation j. ELC students Code of conduct during exams k. ELC procedure of marking and moderation of Exam papers
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7. Supporting Procedures
7.1. Plagiarism and Declaration of Originality Academic Departments: please refer to the Plagiarism Policy For English Language Center:
a. Suspected cases of plagiarism should be reported to the Project & Presentations (P & P) coordinator /Course coordinator by course lecturers. P & P Coordinator / Course Coordinator should consider the case of plagiarism and act on it according to the ELC guidelines for Plagiarism. The P & P Coordinator/course Coordinator may consult HoS Curriculum and Teaching Method (CNTM) /PF Academic coordinator for further action. Please refer to the appendix: ELC Guidelines for Plagiarism for more details.
7.2. Procedure for Coordination of Programs and Examination Moderations: (Not applicable to ELC)
a. The department registrar and timetable coordinator are requested to forward
information (number of registered students, course timetable) regarding all courses to the respective Program /Academic Coordinator of those particular courses.
b. The Program /Academic Coordinator is responsible for approving the course delivery plan (CDP) and class activity prepared by the course lecturer. Lecturers are requested to obtain an approved and signed copy of the CDP before disseminating to students. The Program/Academic Coordinator is also responsible for liaising with visiting lecturers (part-timers) and to encourage them to follow department standards whilst delivering their taught courses. The CDP is the students’ schedule reference when it comes to examination and assessments.
c. Course lecturers are requested to forward a copy of the mid-semester examination and marking scheme to the respective Program /Academic Coordinator for moderation.
d. Course lecturers are requested to forward a copy of the final exam to their respective Program /Academic Coordinator and course experts to verify the outcomes covered and distribution of marks at least 2 weeks before the start date of the final exam examination (for departments having fewer courses to moderate this can be adjusted to one week). The Program /Academic Coordinator and course expert will advise the lecturer of any modifications to the exam paper prior to approval.
e. The lecturer then forwards the examination paper to the AC for final verification.
f. The lecturer should only print and distribute the exam papers after acquiring approval from the Program /Academic Coordinator, course experts and AC. This is
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achieved by obtaining a signed copy of the examination moderation form, available with the AC.
g. It is the responsibility of the lecturer to treat his/her exam paper as a highly confidential document until the date and time the exam is scheduled for. A copy of the examination answer sheet is then forwarded to the Program /Academic Coordinator after the exam has taken place.
h. The course lecturer is requested to confidentially forward a hard copy of the final results of his/her course (Course Grade Analysis) to the AC within two days of the scheduled examination date.
i. The AC shall forward these results (Course Grade Analysis) to the Department Council for approval. The lecturer should not enter grades in the Student Management System unless they have been approved.
j. A printed copy of the final grades entered in the system should be submitted to the PC for double checking and the Advising and Registration Committee (ARC) for filing.
7.3. Procedure for courses with multiple sections (not applicable to the ELC)
a. All lecturers teaching the course have to form a team and nominate a course
coordinator who will be in charge of ensuring ONE common examination paper is
created for the course.
b. All lecturers need to contribute to the ‘exam question bank’ after which the course
coordinator will draft the examination paper.
c. This examination paper has to be approved by all the lecturers concerned before
being sent for moderation.
d. The condition for moderation in this case is that a course expert other than the
lecturers teaching it should be consulted. In the case that there is no course expert
this task will be delegated to the Program coordinator or Head of Section.
7.4. Procedure for Examination Scheduling and Invigilation Duties allocation
a. The ADAA and all examination coordinators/Timetable coordinators will discuss and determine the number of examination days required by each department. For ELC Foundation Program the Examination and Assessment Committee (AC) will discuss with ELC Director and determine the number of examination days required for the Mid-Semester Exam & Level Exit Exam.
b. The Department Timetable coordinators will discuss and specify the probable dates
of examination for the common courses (from Information Technology, Department of Applied Sciences, English Language Centre, and Business Department). For ELC
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Foundation Program the Examination and Assessment Committee (AC) will decide the probable start of exam which will be fixed after taking into consideration the number of days needed for the exams as well as the days needed for the marking.
c. The AC of each Department/center determines the number of classes or groups
having exams and the resource requirement then prepares the examination schedule and forwards the information to the Department Timetable Coordinator to liaise with concerned offices/responsible people to provide the necessary resources.
d. The first draft of the tentative final examination will be prepared by the timetable
coordinators /testing coordinator by considering the following constraints; All theory examinations should be conducted during the allotted dates. No student should have more than two examinations on a day. Examinations are to be conducted in the available and suitable classrooms for
the section.
e. The first timetable draft is submitted to the ADAA and College Time Table Coordinator for verification. For ELC FP it is submitted to the Director for verification.
f. The first draft is submitted to the Department Timetable Coordinator who will then
liaise with concerned persons and departments to upload the schedule on the college website to disseminate the information and verify possible exam conflicts. If there are conflicts, the Department Timetable Coordinator will contact the concerned Timetable Coordinator to settle the problem at least 1 week before the Exam date. (Not Applicable for ELC FP)
g. The first draft of the tentative final examination will be posted on the department
notice board (maximum duration of three days). This is an opportunity for students to revise their examination schedule and notify the department of clashes in their exam schedule. (Not Applicable for ELC FP).
h. The timetable coordinator will resolve any clashes and the final draft of the
examination schedule will be resubmitted to the ADAA and College Time Table Coordinator for resource allocation. (Not Applicable for ELC FP).
i. The final version will be re-posted on the department notice board and the college
website and submitted to the Director/Head of the Departments after making the suggested changes for approval and dissemination to all concerned.
j. Once approved, the timetable coordinators will disseminate this information to all the
teachers and students at least 3 days prior to the examination period through approved mode of communication.
k. Timetable coordinators/AC members of all sections will discuss and decide
collectively the allocation of invigilation duties (including stand-by invigilators) based on the following criteria:
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Invigilation duties are to be distributed equitably amongst available staff.
No member of staff should be asked to invigilate two consecutive sessions on any particular day, unless it is necessary. In such cases, the venue of the two examination sessions needs to be close and the break between two exams shouldn’t exceed 1 ½ hour. If possible, no staff member will be given more than one duty per day. Special requests from individual staff members with valid reasons need to be considered favorably.
For departments/ units with more than one section, the examinations from one section will be invigilated by staff from the other sections, constraints allowing.
Some invigilators should be kept on standby invigilation duty for Exam location where the number of sections exceeds 30.
Two invigilators (proctors) should be assigned to each group if the number of students in a section exceeds 15.
The FESC will assign hall monitors / coordinators who will regularly patrol the corridors to ensure smooth examination conduction. These hall monitors will also deal with students who encounter difficulties once they started their examinations (e.g. falling sick, or need to use the bathroom).
l. On the time of examination of a particular course, an examiner is to be available for
clearing doubts of the students. m. After preparation of the invigilation schedule, it should be approved by the Head of
the Department/ Centre and disseminated to all the invigilators 3 days before the start of the Exams along with the invigilators’ guidelines.
n. The examiner/course coordinator should prepare the attendance lists with the
column provided for marking the student absent. This list should be ready at least 1 working day before the scheduled exams.
o. Once invigilation duties are assigned, they are not to be changed. In case of an
emergency, a written request may be made to the AC / FESC who will then arrange for a substitute invigilator.
7.5. Procedure for Examination Conduct and Departmental invigilation (separate procedure for ELC)
a. Students reporting to the examination halls within the first 30 minutes must be
allowed to take the examination and a record of their names and the time they entered is to be recorded and submitted to the FESC.
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b. Invigilators should be present at the assigned exams control room no less than 30 minutes prior to the start of the examination and must be present at the exam hall at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the examination.
c. Examiners should hand-over their examination scripts as per their respective department guidelines. Examiners are also requested to prepare two lists as follows:- One examination attendance list, with space for student and invigilator signatures One student room display list that includes details of the course and room location
of the examination, to be posted outside the examination room at least 30 minutes before the start of the examinations.
d. All invigilators should familiarize themselves with the invigilation guidelines
provided by the College.
e. All examiners should be readily available to answer questions during the first 30 minutes of the examination only.
f. The examiner has to be present in the examination control room no later than 5 minutes after the expected finish time of his/her examination, to collect the answer scripts.
7.6. Procedure for Change of Examination dates (separate procedure for ELC-FP)
7.6.1. Academic Departments a. The Timetable Coordinator will announce the tentative examination schedule and
clearly state the deadline for accepting change requests. Any requests submitted after this deadline will not be entertained.
b. Students should obtain a request form from the department and fill it up as required.
c. As per the criteria for examination changes, a sheet containing the signatures of all students registered for the course concerned should be attached with the request form (to signify full class consent of the proposed new examination date).
d. In the case of the mid-semester examination, consent from the lecturer (or instructor
or technician) concerned should also be indicated by his/her signature on the request form.
e. The request will then be submitted to the relevant Timetable Coordinator to make
necessary changes / arrangements subject to the constraints.
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7.6.2. ELC Post Foundation Program
a. The change of ELC Post Foundation Exam date is only possible if it is not in agreement with ELC Timetable and thus it would be impossible for the department to hold the exam.
b. The proposed change of exam date will be approved by the Head of Centre and then a request will be sent to the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs who heads the College Timetable Committee for approval.
c. Once the exam date is discussed and approved by the College Timetable Committee, it can never be moved as ELC Exams are common course exams unless the change is proposed by higher authorities.
d. If students report exam conflicts between ELC Common Exams and Exams from other departments, the PF Course lecturer must note details such as student’s course, department and lecturer’s name. This information will be forwarded to the Department Timetable Coordinator who will then contact the concerned department to settle the problem.
7.7. Procedure for Cheating and Fair Conduct of Examinations
a. If a student is found to be attempting to talk, whisper and/or signal, the invigilator in
the first instance will just give a discrete warning. If the behavior persists, this will be
treated as a use of unfair means (i.e., cheating) and the examination paper will
immediately be withdrawn from the student.
b. Invigilators who notice the use of unfair means (other than mentioned above) should
immediately take possession of the paper, material, ruler, calculator etc. that is being
used by the student to cheat. If the student wrote on his/her body or college
property, pictures are admissible as evidence.
c. The lecturer concerned/AC (for ELC) will be called to verify the evidence of unfair
conduct. If it is not relevant, the student will be allowed to continue with his/her
examination. If the material is found to be relevant, then the student will not be
allowed to continue the examination. The invigilator(s) should then attach a signed
paper with this evidence and submit to the FESC through the course lecturer in the
control room. In case the student is not at fault and is allowed to continue with the
examination, appropriate extra time should be allowed by the invigilator for that
student. However for ELC FP the student may be allowed to answer the other skills.
d. The paper should immediately be taken to the HOS/ HOD by the course lecturer with
a report from the FESC (after completing the other skills exams in the case of ELC). A
signed statement should be taken from the student regarding the issue.
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e. After the completion of the above actions, HOD or in the absence of the HOD, the
HOS/ Unit Registrar will submit a copy of the occurrence report to the Assistant
Dean for Students Affairs (or the Investigation Committee). A cheating case summary
sheet should be maintained by the Department concerned.
f. The student will be interviewed by the Investigation Committee (ELC management
in the case of ELC FP). The Committee must complete the proceedings in a continuous sitting until a decision is taken. The following actions will be taken:
The paper will not be marked and no credit (zero) will be given to the student. Depending on the nature of the case, the student may be given a chance to
appear for the Re-sit Test. A report of his/her behavior in the test will be put in the departmental file. Copies of the report will be forwarded to the Dean and/or Deputy Dean. The concerned department should be informed of this decision.
7.8. Procedure for Double Marking (Separate procedure for ELC)
a. The Assessment Committee, in consultation with Program Coordinators and Curriculum Committee, will assign selected members (hereafter called double-assessors) to double-mark the final course examinations offered by the individual departments prior to the final examination period of any particular semester. This schedule information is to then be circulated to the concerned staff (i.e., the Double Assessors (DA)).
b. Double-marking will be performed for 10% (and not less than five) of the total number of answer sheets of the selected courses. The answer sheets must be selected through random sampling.
c. The AC will inform the course lecturer when exactly he/she should submit his/her answer sheets (including answer key) to the committee. This should not be later than the allocated marking period, usually assigned as 72 hours after the examination conduction for courses with large student numbers.
d. The DA will then be called in to randomly select answer sheets for double-marking. He/she will report back to the AC within 1 working day through the Double-marking Form.
e. A 5% deviation in marks between those by the Double Assessor and the Course lecturer is acceptable.
f. The AC will notify the lecturer of detected errors, if any, and the required correction in the marking.
g. Lecturers may only upload final grades into the Student Management System after receiving approval from the Department Council.
h. The AC must present to the QAC a signed record of all DAs, their assigned courses, the total number of students, number of examinations assessed and any remarks.
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7.9. Procedure for Examination Security:
a. During the preparation of the examination paper up to the handing over to the AC, the course lecturer/coordinator is responsible for ensuring security. After the handover to the AC it is responsible for security.
b. The person responsible for printing should physically be present in the publishing /copying room and make sure that all the excess/waste copies of the examinations are collected.
c. All the examination paper envelopes should be sealed immediately after counting and organizing them into sections/groups. The examination attendance list should be included in the envelope.
d. The moving of examination papers from the photocopying room to the control room should be done by the examiner concerned. No students/other course teachers should be involved for this purpose.
e. The exams should be stored under lock and key in a place where no staff other than the Head of the Department or the AC members can reach them.
f. In the control room, exam papers should be handed over only during the time specified to the authorized staff/invigilator and a signature should be taken from the recipient.
g. No students should be allowed to enter the exam hall/room before the specified time. The exam halls/rooms should be kept locked before the exam (after arranging the chairs/desks and thorough checking for any written material).
h. The invigilators should be responsible for the security of the examination room/halls during the examination.
i. After the exam the invigilator is responsible for taking the answer scripts to the control room safely.
j. The FESC is responsible for the security of the exam answer scripts after the exam until handing over to the lecturer / internal assessor, who is responsible for security during the marking.
k. The final exam answer scripts should be stored safely for a minimum of one academic year after which they should be destroyed via approved procedures (please refer to the Data acquisition, disclosure and control policy).
