Method of Assessment

Evaluation and Assessment of Student Academic Performance

The process of learning includes reflective participation and action that is dialogical and cooperative. Mutual learning must occur between facilitator and learner, thus enabling learners to believe in themselves. Ultimately, education must be a process of authentic humanization. It is in recognition of this that MLCU has sought to provide a university education that caters to the unique aspects of students in the region.

Learning is a continuous process and it is influenced by what is taught and how teaching and learning is delivered. The university focuses on enhancing learning rather than measuring learning. Continuous Formative Evaluation (CFE) shifts the focus from testing to learning. It also caters to the different multiple intelligence, learning styles, and personalities of students. Tasks such as field trips, project work, group work, assignments and others reveal the capacity of learners better and give them better opportunities of understanding and improving themselves. Teachers can then plan improvements accordingly based on the formative results.

In its sixteen years of existence, MLCU has evolved an academic model that has drawn from international and national conventions of the discipline of education and, to these, the University has added its own experience and research. In this manner, not a mosaic or a jigsaw, but a seamless integrative pluralism of learning is being accomplished.

Continuous Formative Evaluation (CFE)

CFE refers to any form of frequent assessment, such as test, essays, projects, interviews, presentations during the course in which the goal is to give students early and continuous feedback about their performance, to help the student correct gaps in knowledge and to improve during their semester.

The university subscribes to the concept of ‘teacher-led’ evaluation. Accordingly, the teacher(s) of each subject/module shall be responsible for the evaluation and grading of the students.  However, for courses subjected to the jurisdiction of a statutory council, the prescribed method of evaluation of that council shall be followed.

Methods of assessment

Assessment is carried out by frequent tests wherein the test papers are returned in the following class and the performance of the students is discussed and reviewed. Other methods of assessment include assignments, presentations, individual and group projects, field work, study tours, peer evaluations, self-evaluations, journal reviews, internship reports and many more.

Guidelines for CFE

The following guidelines are to be followed for students securing low marks in any assessment:

1. A student who secures marks lower than the pass mark or is absent in the assessment of a unit/module will have to sit for formative classes and assessments. Only if a student secures the pass mark after the formative assessment can the pass mark be added to the total marks.
2. Formative classes and assessments will be taken as per the concerned department’s schedule.
3. A counsel letter will be issued by the Head of the Department (HoD) to students who fail to appear for formative classes and assessments. Up to two such letters can be issued. 
4. In the case of back subjects, a student is given an opportunity for improvement. However, the objective is not merely to enable the student to pass the subject but to ensure that the competencies required by the specific back subject has been attained.
5. If a student fails to secure pass marks in all the formative evaluations of a subject, the student will be declared as having failed that subject.
6. If a student fails to appear for formative classes and assessment of a subject even after the counsel letter from the HoD, the student will be declared as having failed that subject.
7. For students who fail to appear for back subject assessments or fail in a back subject, fresh application and fresh payment for assessments of the back subject will have to be made by the students with the approval of the concerned Head of Department.
8. Students should clear all F (Failed) grades before their internships.
9. Students in the final semester will have to clear all the F or U (Unsatisfactory) grade subjects to be eligible for the awarding of the degree.
10. Incomplete: INC (Incomplete) is stated in the transcript of the student who has not completed all the requirements for passing a subject due to medical or any other genuine reason. In such cases, a student will be allowed to complete any outstanding work within a grace period of one month from the prior due date.  INC is not treated as fail, hence, no extra payment will be charged from the student.  If, however, the student is unable to complete the requirements within the grace period, the student will be declared as having failed in that subject.

Grading system

As per the recommendations of the UGC, MLCU has adopted the credit-based, Grade Point Average (GPA) system of grading where the overall performance of the students is specified in terms of grades, grade point average, and cumulative grade point average.  The calculation of GPA is done in the following manner:-

1. A grade point per credit is a point assigned for a particular grade as follows:

   Grade	Grade points per credit
   A	4
   B	3
   C	2
   F	0

2. In assigning grades for the score of a student, statistically valid methods are used in that only letter grades, and not marks, are awarded. The university does not indicate marks ranges equivalent to grades as grades are awarded on a cluster basis taking the overall class performance into consideration. No arbitrary ranges are used.
3. The total grade points are calculated as follows:

   Grade	Grade Points	Credits	Total Grade Points
   A	4	4	16
   B	3	4	12
   C	2	4	08
   F	0	4	00

4. When required, the following formula is used for translating GPA into percentage:Percentage = CGPA/4 x 100
   For instance, the CGPA is 2.19/4.00.  This can be shown as 2.19 x 100/4.00 = 54.75%.