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Assessment in the Medicine program
Students in the Medicine program undertake a variety of assessment tasks and types of assessment, both in face-to-face and online environments. A variety of in-course assessments take place each semester, both formative and summative, and the University of Tasmania’s Code of Conduct for Teaching and Learning stipulates that all assessment of students should:
- Be consistent with the published information; students should know what is being asked of them and have it made readily available for their information in the Unit Outline.
- Have opportunity for fair and helpful feedback on their assessment. Where necessary this should include counselling and/or referral to academic support services.
- Have their feedback in a timely manner and also have the opportunity to discuss this feedback with their lecturers.
In all years of the Medicine program the individual Unit Outlines each semester contain the specific details of assessment for the Unit and what it takes to pass each of these. Always consult the Unit Outline for your unit as soon as it becomes available on in MyLO and if you are unsure about anything consult your Unit Coordinator.
What are the types of assessment in the Medicine program?
The types of assessment across the course include:
Formative assessments
The purpose of formative assessments is to provide guidance and feedback to students and staff regarding academic progress. Formative assessments do not carry any weighting towards the final grade in a unit, but may be compulsory. Where formative assessments identify students who are at academic risk, the Unit Coordinator will wherever possible, meet with the student and discuss additional measures in an attempt to address areas where the student can improve.
Summative assessments
There are many different formats for summative assessment used throughout the program including written examinations and assignments, oral presentations and clinical skills examinations. Students will be provided with formative opportunities (formative assessments) that will include each of the different formats used. Summative assessment results are the building blocks of the grades students receive in their overall results for the program.
During the examination period students are expected to remain on campus at least until the end of the formal University examination period. Deferred Ordinary and Supplementary examinations (DOs and Supps) are usually held after the end of the main examination period. Students are expected to attend any Deferred Ordinary and Supplementary examinations on campus.
A handbook to Assessment in the Medicine Program is now available for consultation. It sets out the aims, philosophy, principles and practices related to assessment, and gives an overview of the types of assessment and their implementation.
Student results
The Medicine program structure has units that are weighted at 50 credit points and delivered as one unit per semester. Results for individual pieces of assessment are given to students after these have been marked. The overall grade for each unit of the program is released at the end of each year.
Where students may not have reached expected levels of performance in their results, a process called Academic Progress Review (APR) may be initiated by the Tasmanian School of Medicine. This is governed by University of Tasmania Student Participation and Attainment Ordinance and students can consult Managing Your Academic Progress, a webpage with a full description of the process, what it means to your studies, and how APR is intended to support students. This page has frequently asked questions available for students to read, as these often answer many of the broader questions related to APR. For more specific APR queries, consult with your Unit Coordinator.
Quality Improvement and Evaluation
Enhancing the quality of learning and teaching is a continual process at the Tasmanian School of Medicine and the Medicine program is subject to both internal and external review. The program is reviewed through a variety of approaches, many of which rely on student input and feedback to reflect a commitment to regular and achievable improvement in overall teaching and student experience.
Some of the University of Tasmania cyclic evaluations and surveys are:
- Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT surveys)
- eVALUate
- University Student Experience Survey (USES)
Student evaluations of learning and teaching
These are conducted each semester and are administered centrally by the Student Surveys area of the University’s Curriculum and Quality section. The learning and teaching surveys are called eVALUate and contain opportunities for students to both rate their experience and provide comments on their experience in a particular unit. Students may also be asked at times to fill out specific teaching quality surveys to provide feedback to the Tasmanian School of Medicine.
Contribute
Medicine students can help to improve the experience of the program for all students by becoming a member of one of our program committees. Each year these committees look for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from students who might wish to become members of a Year or Domain Committee. If you feel you would like to contribute to discussions, reviews and quality enhancement in the Medicine program, contact the Director, Medicine Program, to ask about lodging an EOI.
