Below are some definitions of commonly used words in University policy and procedures. Do not hesitate to get in touch with the LGoS Academic Adviser for clarification on any policy or procedure.

Accreditation: refers to the recognition by a professional or statutory body of a University award for the purpose of qualifying or partially qualifying a candidate for membership of the professional/statutory body concerned.

Assessment (defined in the QAA’s Code of Practice section on Assessment of Students): ‘A generic term for a set of processes that measure the outcomes of students’ learning in terms of knowledge acquired, understanding developed and skills gained. It serves many purposes. Assessment provides the means by which students are graded, passed or fail. It provides the basis for decisions on whether a student is ready to proceed, to qualify for an award or to demonstrate competence to practise. It enables students to obtain feedback on their learning and helps them improve their performance. It enables staff to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching.’

Diagnostic Assessment: which provides an indicator of a learner’s aptitude and preparedness for a programme of study and identifies possible learning problems.

Formative Assessment: designed to provide learners with feedback on progress and inform development.

Summative Assessment: which provides a measure of achievement or failure in respect of a learner’s performance in relation to the intended learning outcomes of the programme of study.

Assessment criteria: Descriptions of how an assessor will determine whether a student has demonstrated the achievement of the required learning outcomes. All students should have access to these and should be able to identify how and why they were marked in a certain way for their work.

Assessment methods: The various different means by which students’ learning can be assessed e.g. examinations, coursework, oral presentations etc. In your module descriptor you should be able to find out how you will be assessed on your course prior to choosing your module.

Assessment strategy: The plan adopted for assessing learning and enabling students to demonstrate the achievement of learning outcomes; this might be at module, programme or departmental level. An assessment strategy should set out the aims and objectives of assessment, the means or methods of assessment and the timing.

Assessment task: An individual exercise performed by a student (e.g. a written examination, essay or practical) for the purpose of measuring the outcomes of their learning. Assessment should be balanced throughout the course.

Collusion: occurs when, unless with official approval (e.g. in the case of group projects), two or more students consciously collaborate in the preparation and production of work which is ultimately submitted by each in an identical, or substantially similar, form and/or is represented by each to be the product of his or her individual efforts. Collusion also occurs where there is unauthorised co-operation between a student and another person in the preparation and production of work which is presented as the student’s own.

Credit: A quantitative measure of learning effort. Credit is normally awarded for the achievement of a set of specified learning outcomes and is related to the amount of learning needed to achieve the learning outcomes.

Degree classification: A means of distinguishing between the levels of achievement by different students of the outcomes of a degree programme. For example a 1^st, 2.1, 2.2 etc.

Examination: An assessment task (usually written but sometimes practical or oral) formally scheduled and supervised by the University which takes place over a specified period, in a specified location and at a specified time.

Fabricated data: is defined as any data presented as part of a formal assessment and which has not been obtained by legitimate means of experimentation or enquiry and/or there is insufficient evidence to support its validity. Fabricated data also includes any instance where existing data has been falsified.

Feedback: Comments (whether written or oral) given by assessors to students on their performance in an assessment task.

Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: A set of reference points drawn up by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education to determine whether the intended learning outcomes for a programme of study and actual student achievement are appropriate to the level of the qualification being awarded. The Framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland distinguishes five levels in higher education and sets out descriptors exemplifying the outcomes of the main qualification at each level.

Learning outcomes: The knowledge, skills and attributes which a student can be expected to have gained on successful completion of a programme or element of a programme of study. (Note: the terms ‘aims’ and ‘objectives’ are commonly used in defining the purposes of a programme of study, particularly in the context of subject reviews carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency. Although these terms are not used in this Code of Practice, the following are QAA definitions of them: Aims: an expression of the provider’s broad educational purposes in providing the programme(s) of study. Objectives: the intended learning outcomes that demonstrate successful completion of the programme(s) of study and the learning experiences provided to ensure that those outcomes can be achieved.)

Level: An indicator of the relative demand, complexity and depth of the learning required of a learner in relation to particular modules or elements of study.

Marking criteria: See ‘Assessment criteria’.

Marking scheme: A detailed framework for the allocation of marks in relation to what is expected to be demonstrated in an individual assessment task.

Mark scale: The correlation of marks with degree classifications and with qualitative marking descriptors.

Marks scaling: The systematic adjustment of a set of marks for an assessment in order to ensure that they properly reflect the achievements of the students concerned as defined by the marking descriptors.

Model answer: An example or template of what is expected to be demonstrated in an individual assessment task.

Moderation of marks: The examination of a selection of pieces of work from an assessment task by an individual to verify or otherwise the level and consistency of the marks allocated by the marker(s), particularly at the borderlines.

Moderator: A person responsible for examining a selection of pieces of work from an assessment task to verify or otherwise the level and consistency of marks allocated by the marker(s), particularly at the borderlines.

Module: A discrete component of a programme of study having stated learning outcomes, teaching and learning opportunities to achieve those outcomes and assessment tasks to enable students to demonstrate achievement of the outcomes. Modules are normally allocated credit values and have a defined level.

Plagiarism: occurs when a student misrepresents as his/her own work the work, written or otherwise, of any other person (including another student) or of any institution. Examples of forms of plagiarism include:

·         the verbatim copying of another’s work without acknowledgement;

·         the close paraphrasing of another’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation, without acknowledgement;

·         unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another’s work;

·         the deliberate and detailed presentation of another’s concept as one’s own.

Minor Plagiarism: this is defined as a small amount of paraphrasing, quotation or use of diagrams, charts etc. without adequate citation. Minor plagiarism may result from poor scholarship (i.e. when a student, through inexperience or carelessness, fails to reference appropriately or adequately identify the source of the material which they use).

Major Plagiarism – this is defined as:

·      extensive paraphrasing or quoting without proper citation of the source;

·      lifting directly from a text or other academic source without reference;

     (Where material is taken directly from a text or other source the cited material should be demarcated with quotation marks or in some other accepted way and the source should be cited.)

·      the use of essays (or parts thereof) from essay banks, either downloaded from the internet or obtained from other sources;

·      presenting another’s designs or concepts as one’s own;

·      continued instances of what was initially regarded as minor plagiarism despite warnings having been given to the student concerned.

Programme of study: Structured teaching and learning provision leading to one or more awards.

Programme specification: A concise description (required by the Quality Assurance Agency for each programme of study) of the intended learning outcomes of a programme of study and the means by which those outcomes are achieved and demonstrated.

Quality Assurance Agency: Sets the standards for Higher Education across the UK.

Qualitative marking descriptors: Verbal descriptions of what a given range of marks or grades represents in terms of students’ achievement of learning outcomes.

Subject benchmark statements: A means of describing the nature and characteristics of programmes of study in a specific subject. Subject benchmark statements represent general expectations about the standards for the award of qualifications at a given level and articulate attributes and capabilities that those possessing such qualifications should be able to demonstrate. Most of the subject benchmark statements produced to date at the request of the Quality Assurance Agency by the relevant subject communities refer to bachelors degrees with honours.

Transcript: A summary record of a student’s academic achievements on a particular programme of study.

Viva Voce: An examination by oral communication