• Section 1 - Key Information
• Section 2 - Purpose
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Key Decisions
• Section 5 - Policy Statement
• Section 6 - Standards
• Part A - Overview
• Part B - Professional Accreditation Requirements
• Part C - Information to Students
• Part D - Designing for Learning and Feedback
• Part E - Timing and Weighting of Assessment
• Part F - Group Assessment Tasks
• Part G - Assessment of Attendance
• Part H - Hurdle Task Requirements
• Competency-Based Assessment Thresholds
• Part I - Submission of Assessment Tasks
• Part J - Recording and Reporting of Results
• Section 7 - Definitions
• Section 8 - Authority and Associated Information

Section 1 - Key Information

Section 2 - Purpose

(1) These Standards set out the expectations that the University holds for assessment in subjects and courses, and should be read in conjunction with the Assessment Policy and its associated procedures, and the Course Design Policy and Course Design Standards.

Section 3 - Scope

(2) Refer to the Assessment Policy.

Section 4 - Key Decisions

Section 5 - Policy Statement

(3) These Standards form part of the Assessment Policy suite which governs their application.

Section 6 - Standards

Part A - Overview

(4) Effective assessment provides coherence within subjects and at course level and supports student learning and progression as well as assurance of learning. Specifically, assessment determines whether students have achieved Subject Intended Learning Outcomes (SILOs) and Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs) and to what standard.

(5) Assessment criteria and weighting must be calibrated to guide and support learning.

(6) The principles outlined in the Assessment Policy apply to all assessments and are supported by the following rules. Exceptions to these rules may be allowed where supported by an academic justification (for example, professional accreditation requirements) and as approved through the processes outlined in the Course and Subject Management Procedure - Approvals.

Part B - Professional Accreditation Requirements

(7) Where the requirements of a professional accrediting body conflict with any aspect of these Standards course assessment should be conducted in alignment with the accrediting body’s requirements.

Part C - Information to Students

(8) Students are informed about the assessment for individual subjects through the University Handbook and the Subject Learning Guide. The University Handbook entries include the assessment tasks for each subject, including broad information about the types of assessment and their respective weightings.

(9) Full details of assessment are provided to students in the Subject Learning Guide a minimum of two weeks prior to the commencement of the teaching period, and wherever possible, discussed with students at the start of the subject. Such details include:

1. the type, weighting and timing of assessment, including any instructions for assessment preparation prior to final assessment;
2. any mandatory requirements (such as attendance requirements and hurdles). In the case of hurdles this must include:
   1. that a particular assessment is a hurdle;
   2. the reasons why this assessment is considered a hurdle requirement and the learning outcome/s or competency/ies being assessed; and
   3. options for students who are unable to meet, or fail, these requirements [see also Assessment Procedure - Adjustments to Assessment (incorporating Special Consideration)].
3. the criteria for assessment and the rubric, the relationship to learning outcomes, and the performance expectations on which marking is based.

(10) Changes to assessment must be made in accordance with the Course and Subject Management Procedure - Approvals. Changes not requiring approval under that Procedure (such as assignment instructions and due dates), may be made up to two (2) weeks prior to the commencement of the teaching period.

Part D - Designing for Learning and Feedback

(11) Feedback to students on assessment tasks (including Competency-Based Assessment tasks) is integral to learning and must be planned as a fundamental part of assessment design (see also Course Design Policy).

(12) Assessment tasks should be designed as coherent tasks that minimise unnecessary stacking and fragmentation and give consideration to student workload and appropriate volume of learning:

1. all assessment tasks should include a clearly defined overall weighting and a clearly identified final submission point; and
2. multi-part or portfolio based tasks, including repeated short tasks (e.g. weekly lab tasks, quizzes, portfolio entries, placement observations), are permitted where they are designed as a single coherent assessment (represented in one line in CourseLoop) with a clearly communicated structure, weighting and feedback plan.

(13) Supervised assessment is used within subjects and across courses to assure learning against Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), and forms part of the University’s assurance checkpoint framework as defined in the Course Design Standards. Each course must include at least one supervised assurance checkpoint, normally delivered as a supervised hurdle task within the designated capstone subject. Multiple supervised tasks may be used where required to assure all CILOs or meet accreditation requirements.

(14) The University makes Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools available to students and promotes their use in supporting skill development and learning while maintaining standards of academic integrity.

(15) Subject Coordinators may instruct students that AI tools may not be used in a supervised assessment task. Where AI tools may be used in an assessment task, Subject Coordinators must state this and provide instructions to students as follows:

1. in a supervised assessment task, Subject Coordinators must specify clearly how students may use AI tools for that task; and
2. in an unsupervised assessment task, clear guidelines and recommendations for AI use should be provided to students.

(16) When a task is submitted students are required to acknowledge how they have used AI tools in their submitted work. All submitted work is subject to academic integrity standards (see also Student Academic Misconduct Policy).

(17) Exemplars of relevant completed assessments are provided to students wherever appropriate for the discipline and task.

(18) Qualitative feedback is provided in time for students to apply it to subsequent relevant learning or assessment, normally within 15 business days of submission, or within a shorter time frame as appropriate for early assessment tasks or for subjects with a shorter teaching period. Feedback may be peer-based, whole of group or individual feedback, depending on the nature of the assessment.

(19) Students are provided with links to support or resources that facilitate further learning or skill development, such as Library support services or student advisors, wherever possible and appropriate.

Part E - Timing and Weighting of Assessment

(20) The assessment regime for subjects should be designed to take place periodically, rather than throughout the teaching period, and to align with the following rules:

1. all subjects should have a maximum of four (4) weighted assessment tasks. Each of the four assessment tasks must be captured in the course management system (CourseLoop) as a single line item (see Part D above for multi-part assessment tasks);
2. the timing and weighting of assessment must align with the following:
   1. each subject must include an early assessment task weighted between 10% and 30% of the total assessment with feedback provided prior to the Census Date of the relevant teaching period. Early assessment tasks are normally designed to be relatively small scale and to permit timely marking and feedback (e.g. short written tasks, quizzes or practical checks);
   2. no single assessment item can be weighted at more than 60% of the final grade for a subject unless the assessment includes a major portfolio, thesis, or equivalent portfolio of works;
   3. simple multiple-choice tests (see Definitions) should only be used where pedagogically relevant and can make up no more than 20% of the final grade in a subject; and
   4. zero percentage (0%) weighted tasks may be included as hurdles where practical competencies, safety requirements or other professional obligations must be met, including where these are prerequisites for later assessed (weighted) tasks. Only Pass or Fail grades may be granted for such tasks. Zero percentage tasks can be included outside the limit of four (4) weighted assessment tasks per subject.
3. the scheduling of assessment due dates takes into account the composition of assessment in subjects for a course. Wherever possible assessment due dates are not scheduled during the SWOTVAC period, especially where most subjects in a specific course have heavily weighted assessment taking place during the Final Assessment Period; and
4. if a subject includes an examination to be conducted during the Final Assessment Period, no other assessments for that subject, with the exception of clinical placements, theses and final submission of portfolios, may be due during this period.

Part F - Group Assessment Tasks

(21) Subjects should include a balance of individual and group assessment. Group assessment may comprise no more than 40% of the final grade in a subject.

(22) Where a single group assessment task is weighted at 40% of the final grade in a subject, Subject Coordinators must be able to demonstrate that students are provided with adequate opportunities to demonstrate their individual achievement of the learning outcomes.

(23) information about how group assessment tasks will be assessed and the extent to which students will receive individual marks or a shared group mark will be included in the Subject Learning Guide.

Part G - Assessment of Attendance

(24) Attendance in subjects is only mandatory where there is a necessary minimum attendance for practice, performance or external requirements, such as for accreditation, a placement or practice assessment.

(25) In subjects where attendance for specific activities is mandatory, students are advised through the Subject Learning Guide on the LMS, and verbally or in writing at the commencement of the particular activity of the following:

1. that specified minimum attendance at a particular activity or series of activities is required in addition to the standard subject information;
2. under what circumstances and with what documentation a student is permitted to miss a session. These requirements must align with University procedures as outlined in the Assessment Procedure - Adjustments to Assessment (incorporating Special Consideration); and
3. students’ options for completion if they fail to meet the attendance requirements, e.g. make-up sessions, alternative activities.

(26) Marks cannot be awarded for attendance in any subject. However, where a subject has mandatory attendance requirements records must be kept and students are given access to their own attendance records upon request.

Part H - Hurdle Task Requirements

(27) Within a subject, SILOs should normally be assessed using more than one assessment task. Where this is not feasible, and the learning outcome involves the demonstration of a critical competency or safety related skill that cannot be sufficiently assured through other assessment, that task may be designated as a hurdle.

(28) In capstone subjects, at least one hurdle task must be delivered as supervised assessment in accordance with the Course Design Standards. This supervised hurdle forms the minimum supervised assurance checkpoint for each course.

(29) Hurdle tasks must be designed to provide a high level of assurance that the required competency or learning outcome has been achieved. Wherever feasible and appropriate, hurdles should be conducted as supervised assessment tasks (see Part E of these Standards). In other cases (e.g. some project or thesis-based [or equivalent portfolio of work] contexts), alternative assurance measures must be specified.

(30) A student must pass hurdles in order to pass the subject. Provisions for supplementary assessments for failed hurdle tasks are outlined in the Assessment Procedure - Adjustments to Assessment (incorporating Special Consideration).

Competency-Based Assessment Thresholds

(31) In subjects with only Competency-Based Assessment, students need to pass all Competency-Based Assessment tasks to be awarded an Ungraded Pass (P) grade.

(32) In order for students to be awarded a Pass (P) grade for a subject with both graded assessment and Competency-Based Assessment tasks, students need to achieve:

1. a Competent (C) grade for all Competency-Based Assessment tasks;
2. a total mark of 50%, or whatever grade is deemed a pass in that subject, for all graded assessment tasks. 

Part I - Submission of Assessment Tasks

(33) All assignments must be submitted:

1. by the deadline of 11:59pm Melbourne time on the due date
2. within the LMS wherever possible. This does not include assessment tasks such as practical activities and oral assessments that cannot be submitted via the LMS.

(34) Where appropriate, essays, reports and similar written assessments are submitted through Turnitin or other text-matching software, and originality reports are reviewed by the assessor prior to grading.

Part J - Recording and Reporting of Results

(35) All results for assessments, including examination results, are recorded in Gradebook. Where a task is to be moderated, results are only released to students via the LMS following moderation.

Section 7 - Definitions

(36) For the purposes of these Standards:

1. artificial intelligence: a machine-based system or application that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment. (Source: OECD 2023) See the OECD Explanatory memorandum on the updated OECD definition of an AI system | OECD Artificial Intelligence Papers | OECD iLibrary (oecd-ilibrary.org) for explanatory material about the definition.
2. assurance checkpoints: a subset of supervised assessment tasks within designated subjects that are specifically designed to assure students meet relevant CILOs and, where appropriate MILOs.
3. Competency-Based Assessment: the assessment of a student’s ability to apply skills and knowledge to a designated learning outcome, or set of learning outcomes, at a designated standard of performance.
4. Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): brief statements defining the knowledge, skills and dispositions that a student should have attained and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a course of study.
5. examination: an assessment task that is time-limited, supervised, and conducted during the Final Assessment Period.
6. Major Intended Learning Outcomes (MILOs): brief statements defining the knowledge, skills and dispositions that a student should have attained and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a major.
7. rubric: a scoring tool that sets out criteria and performance levels used to judge the quality of a student’s work.
8. simple multiple-choice questions: those that test a student’s recall or replication of knowledge content covered in a subject. This contrasts with more complex multiple-choice questions that require interpretation or analysis. To be termed a simple multiple-choice test, all questions in the test or assessment task would be simple.
9. Subject Intended Learning Outcomes (SILOs): brief statements defining the knowledge, skills and dispositions that a student should have attained and can reliably demonstrate by the end of a subject.
10. supervised assessment: an evaluation of student learning where students complete tasks under direct supervision. These assessments are used for measuring learning outcomes that assure CILOs, via mapped SILOs/MILOs in designated subjects. They are designed to ensure integrity through the following measures:
    1. tasks are conducted in a controlled setting that incorporates direct observation;
    2. the identity of students is verified;
    3. access to external resources and unapproved technology and materials is restricted; and
    4. the use of AI is not permitted, except where AI use is being directly assessed.
11. SWOTVAC: Study Without Teaching Vacation is a study period free of classes before the Final Assessment Period.
12. unsupervised assessment: an evaluation of student learning where students complete tasks individually or in a group. These assessments support self-directed learning typically:
    1. in an uncontrolled setting; and
    2. with access to resources chosen by students.

Section 8 - Authority and Associated Information

(37) These Standards are made under the La Trobe University Act 2009.

(38) Associated information includes:

1. Course Design Policy
2. Course Design Standards
3. Guidelines Structured and Unstructured Teaching and Learning Hours
4. Guidelines and templates on the Assessment Policy intranet