Why The Need To Assess Students?

The main purpose of assessment is to evaluate and improve student learning. There are two basic types of student assessments: formative (or continuous) assessment and summative (or final) assessment. 

• Continuous assessments are any form of assessment that tracks a student's progress throughout the course. They are usually ongoing, consistent, and provide critical feedback to learners. 

• Final assessments are used to measure what the student has learned after completing a course. In other words, they evaluate how well the course contents support the overall learning goals. 

Obviously, assessments are not only about grades. They prepare students for success by challenging them to reflect, interact, and apply their knowledge in answering questions, solving problems, and communicating information. All of my grading rubrics give weightage not only to contents but to creativity and presentation as well. So every student has the chance to do their best in what they are good at and be rewarded accordingly. 

Student assessment is particularly challenging during online learning. As instructors, we strive our best to be fair in assessing our students as we understand the challenges that come with online learning. Many of us opt for alternative forms of assessments in place of, or in addition to, the traditional exam-based assessments. While we may be more lenient and understanding during this time, the importance of academic honesty and academic integrity in doing your assessments must not be forgotten and must still be upheld. It is fine to get inspiration or ideas by looking at other people's work, but in the end, your assignments must be your own work. University is not only a place to gain knowledge but to shape your attitudes, personalities and behaviour as well. There are so many unscrupulous people out there in the workplace. Please do not be one of them. 

What Constitutes Cheating? 

With online learning, comes a new opportunity for unethical people to make money... and the victims are often desperate students. Posting all, or any part, of your assignment questions for help on any "online learning service" website is considered cheating. There are so many of these services out there, the most popular being Chegg, where students actually pay to get their assignments done. 

I have given my assignment questions to all my students months in advance. There is really no need to resort to paying someone else to do your assignments for you. Their answers may not even be correct and you will end up wasting your money. Please attempt the assignments on your own. 

You are also reminded that all written assignments will be checked in Turnitin for similarity reports. Any scores >25% (the minimum acceptable level of similarity) will be returned and you will need to resubmit your work. A deduction of marks will be made for the late submission. If no resubmission is made, you will get a zero. 

Warning Against Posting My Assignment Questions on Course Hero, Chegg and Similar Sites

It is unfortunate that some students post my assignment questions on Course Hero to get access to other "study resources" for free. This is WRONG because:

• I do not consent to anyone sharing or posting my assignment questions online (this includes tests, problem sets, progress report, and documentary video). Whatever you see on our class website is simply for YOUR consumption as my current student. 

• Personally, I do not consider asking for help from these online tutoring services as "learning" or even ethical, but if you really want to share study materials for the sake of knowledge, make your own study notes. Not something that I painstakingly took hours or weeks to do.

I hope this is clear and none of you will resort to doing these activities this semester (at least not for my classes). 

Thank you.

Ways To Avoid Plagiarism

(Sources are written on the posters)