Additional course guide information for CSIT courses
Unless otherwise specified in a course guide, the following information applies to all School of Computer Science and Information Technology courses.
- Attendance
- Assessment requirements
- Assessment hurdles
- Assessment review
- Assessment criteria and gradings available
- Pass by compensation
- Applications for extensions
- Penalties for late submission
- Changes to submission dates
- Changes to form of assessment
- Variations to assessment
- Special consideration
- Course evaluation and feedback
- Students complaints policy
1. Attendance
While a minimum attendance standard is not compulsory, non-attendance may seriously jeopardise the chances of success in a course. Clearly, non-attendance at an assessment will result in failure of that assessment. Where visa conditions apply, attendance is compulsory.
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2. Assessment requirements
All code or other material that is not original must be fully credited. That is, any material that is copied or derived from another source must be clearly identified as such and the original author must be identified. Sometimes students assist each other with an assignment, but end up working together too closely, so that the students' separate solutions have significant parts in common; unless the solutions were developed independently, they are regarded as plagiarised. The minimum penalty for plagiarism is loss of marks for that assignment. If this means that a hurdle requirement is not met, the student fails the course.
For more information on plagiarism, see our rules and policies on academic integrity and our guide to avoiding plagiarism for code.
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3. Assessment hurdles
If there is a hurdle requirement for a course (as specified in the course guide), to attain a pass in the course students are required to pass both practical and final examination components. Each component should therefore be viewed as a hurdle. In the case that a student has an aggregate mark of at least 50, but fails one or more hurdles, the final grade is NH (hurdle failure). No numeric mark is assigned with NH grade.
A common example is provided below:
Two components, both hurdles
Assignment component: 40% (hurdle)
Examination component: 60% (hurdle)
|
Assignment component: 30/40 |
Assignment component: 18/40 |
|
Assignment component: 10/40 |
Assignment component: 30/40 |
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4. Assessment review
If a final assessment report is required, students must apply, in writing, to the Head of the School within two weeks of official notification of the result. The form of the report will be a written report on your performance on each segment of the assessment programme.
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5. Assessment criteria and gradings available
The following table lists the possible grades for the course, and the corresponding percentages that apply, as appropriate.
HD - (80 - 100) High Distinction
DI - (70 - 79) Distinction
CR - (60 - 69) Credit
PA - (50 - 59) Pass
NN - (00 - 49) Fail
NH - Hurdle Failure
RNF - Result Not Finalised (see lecturer for reasons)
SP – Supplementary Pass
Some courses (such as a thesis or project) may be graded solely on a pass (PX) or Fail (NN) basis. Such cases will be clearly indicated in the course guide. Students who fail to submit a thesis/project that is examinable will receive a NN.
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6. Pass by compensation
A Pass by Compensation may, in certain circumstances, be awarded to undergraduate students. This is a special grade that is sometimes awarded where a generally satisfactory student barely fails a course and the results she/he has obtained in other courses of the program so far, compensate for this fail-grade.
More information on Adjustments to assessment
Note: Passes by Compensation are not available to postgraduate students.
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7. Applications for extensions
Applications for extensions for submission of assignment work must be made in writing (electronic mail is acceptable) to the lecturer no less than 24 hours before an assignment is due. Unless reasonable extenuating circumstances are claimed, and backed up by documentary evidence, extensions are not granted without penalty.
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8. Penalties for late submission
Late submission of assignments will be penalised as follows:
- For assignments 1 to 5 days late, a penalty of 10% (of total available marks) per day.
- For assignments more than 5 days late, a penalty of 100% will apply.
- Weekend days (Saturday and Sunday) are considered when counting late days for electronic submissions but not for hardcopy submissions.
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9. Changes to submission dates
Submission dates may be altered by agreement between the lecturer and a majority of the students enrolled in the course. Any alterations to submission dates will be notified to all students concerned in lectures/classes and, where applicable, the course web page or student webforum or news group. Students should always read the course news group or webforum for announcements.
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10. Changes to form of assessment
Changes to the form of assessment may only be made after consultation with students, the approval of 70% of students enrolled in the course, and the approval of the Head of School. Details of the changes will be publicised via the course newsgroup or forum and in writing to all students.
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11. Variations to assessment
Negotiations to vary assessment methods may be made in special circumstances for students with disabilities. This is subject to the discretion of the lecturer after consideration of the learner's request and is done on a needs basis.
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12. Special consideration
View the RMIT policy on special consideration.
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13. Course evaluation and feedback
Students have the opportunity to provide feedback through the SSCC (Staff Student Consultative Committee), student representatives and via questionnaires. Relevant student representatives, outcomes and minutes of the SSCCs will be published on the Computer Science website.
Agendas and minutes for postgraduate SSCC meetings can be viewed via:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/PgSSCC/index.shtml (access restricted to CSIT students)
Agendas and minutes for undergraduate SSCC meetings can be viewed via:
https://inside.cs.rmit.edu.au/students/UgSSCC/index.shtml (access restricted to CSIT students)
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14. Student complaints policy
For information on the Student Complaints Policy and/or how to make a complaint, please consult the School Office.
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