TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMUNIQUÉ: RESUMPTION OF ASSESSMENTS
Dear Staff and Students
This is a follow-up communication after the temporary suspension of summative assessments which held until the end of June. A revised programme of assessments can now resume. Teaching teams are therefore encouraged to communicate the revised assessment schedules to students. To ensure that assessments promote learning while evaluating the achievement of learning outcomes, it is highly recommended that there should be a balance between formative and summative assessments. It is also recommended that there should be a balance between student engagement with learning materials, including performance of learning tasks, and assessment frequency. Too many assessments can lead to student and staff assessment fatigue, while too few assessments can lead to inadequate engagement of students with learning materials and therefore inadequate performance of learning tasks. Assessment plans should avoid surprises to students, whenever possible, especially in the context of the flipped classroom blended learning pedagogy.
The purpose of this communique is also to provide a reminder of the guidelines for assessment for the Online Learning plan. Please refer to the published plan, principles and guidelines for more details. Together, these provide a reference framework that can be used for constructing an effective assessment schedule and structure for modules during this time. The revised module templates will be approved by the College Academic Affairs Boards. The UKZN internal and external moderation system as described in the handbooks will be adapted to the online learning mode.
The published plan provides for formative and summative assessments; final summative examinations will only be written in exit level modules for which statutory professional associations and accreditation councils insist on such examinations. It is therefore imperative that programme coordinators ascertain this in consultation with the relevant statutory professional associations and accreditation councils.
The main recommendation of this communique is that formative and summative assessments should be used to create the balance between the assessments for directing engagement of students with learning materials as they perform their learning tasks, and the evaluation of the achievement of learning outcomes of the module.
Issued by
Professor Sandile Phinda Songca
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning
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Notice Details
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Category
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Announcements
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Posted
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06 July 2020
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By
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Corlia Olivia Ogle
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Tel
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From
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UKZN
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Audience
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Howard College Staff
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Howard College Students
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Edgewood Staff
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EdgWood Students
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Medical School Staff
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Medical School Students
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PMB Staff
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PMB Students
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Westville Staff
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Westville Students
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