Implementing the TQA’s new standard

for providers' responsibility for the authenticity

and academic integrity of student work

submitted for assessment

WORKSHOP

CONTENTS:

  • The Standard
  • General Discussion - the Standard & its Requirements
  • Unpacking the Requirements
  • Cultures & Consequences

July 2011

The Standard

Where TQA level 3 courses have an assessment component that includes folio or other project work, the provider is responsible for:

  • ensuring the authenticity and academic integrity of work submitted for assessment - whether internal or external

and

  • having procedures that allow the provider to assure the TQA that it can with confidence accept that, except where otherwise acknowledged, work submitted for external assessment is the work of the student submitting it and that all sources have been properly acknowledged.

The documented procedure must be retained by the provider and be available for scrutiny by the TQA upon request.

This standard is set under Section 33 of the TQA Act, which gives the Authority the power to set or adopt standards for provision or assessment of accredited senior secondary courses and to require that course providers comply with these standards.

For the Authority's decision on this standard see Item 2.1 of the December 2010 meeting at: http://www.tqa.tas.gov.au/4375

Scope of the standard

This standard relates to provider's responsibilities for the authenticity and academic integrity of folio or other project work submitted for assessment for TQA level 3 courses.

Objective

To ensure that there are documented and effective practices in place in schools and colleges that provide the Authority with grounds for the level of confidence required in the authenticity and academic integrity of folios or other project work used in the assessment of student achievement for awards in TQA level 3 courses.

Definitions

Assessment is judging evidence of a student's attainment of knowledge and skills against standards.

Internal assessment is assessment of student achievement by a senior secondary provider (school/college).

External assessment is assessment of student achievement by the TQA.

Authenticity - that the work purported to be that of a student is actually the work of that student and no other person. Any material assistance or other substantial contribution from another person must be identified. This requires teachers to:

  • help students to do their personal best while ensuring that this help means that the work reflects the student's rather than the teacher's knowledge and skills in the area
  • develop sufficient knowledge of each of their student's work, knowledge and skills that they have a sound basis for assurances that a folio or other project work satisfies the requirements for authenticity.

Academic integrity - see the definitions, descriptions and guidelines in the TQA's Academic Integrity: A Guide (including authenticity, plagiarism & referencing).

Student declaration - this is a document signed by the student, countersigned by a teacher on behalf of the provider and attached to a folio or other project work submitted to the TQA for external assessment. The work is not accepted for assessment without this declaration. In signing the declaration, the student is promising that the work, except where explicitly acknowledged, is the student's own work. In signing the declaration, the teacher on behalf of the provider is promising that the work was submitted by the required date, that the provider's documented processes for authenticity and academic integrity have been followed and that there are good grounds for the Authority to have confidence in the authenticity and academic integrity of the work.

Responsibilities

The school/college principal is responsible for ensuring there is an effective and documented procedure that is implemented and reviewed.

Processes and practices

The processes used to assure authenticity and academic integrity in folios or other project work are developed by the provider. They may vary from one provider to another to take account of factors such as the number of assessors for each course, the assessment practices in place, the nature of courses.

The processes are recorded as a documented procedure that is made available to relevant staff in the school/college.

The procedure will include:

  • how and when students learn about the requirements for authenticity and academic integrity and submission by due dates
  • procedure for students to submit work on time and to have this submission formally acknowledged
  • how teachers will develop sufficient knowledge of each of their student's work, knowledge and skills that they have a sound basis for assurances that a folio or other project work satisfies the requirements for authenticity
  • additional assessment techniques (such as oral assessment or comparisons with work done under supervised test conditions) that will be used in situations where there is a question about authenticity
  • how the provider will handle the situation when a teacher who was responsible for a student's work is no longer available.

Student requests for review

The procedure must include a method by which a student can request a review of a decision not to endorse the student declaration. These review processes must be documented and transparent and include:

  • how students are made aware of the right to seek a review
  • what the process is for a student to seek a review
  • how an independent assessment is made of the authenticity and academic integrity of the student's work
  • who makes the final decision and how this is communicated to the student
  • how long the process is likely to take
  • what records of the process are maintained and for how long.

Records

The provider retains records of processes and outcomes sufficient to show what practices have been undertaken and the effectiveness of those practices in giving confidence in the authenticity and academic integrity of student work. Records need to show not only that actions have taken place and decisions made but also the evidence on which these actions and decisions were made. Providers will decide how records are retained and for how long (within any requirements set by or under legislation such as the State Archives Act). Records will include:

  • the documented procedure
  • records of relevant meetings
  • records of student requests for reviews and the actions of those reviews
  • continuous improvements made to practices.

Monitoring that it is working

The procedure will include steps for monitoring both the processes and the outcomes of those processes. This will include checks of the effectiveness of processes intended to ensure that students are aware of and implement the requirements for authenticity and academic integrity.

GENERAL DISCUSSION - THE STANDARD ITS REQUIREMENTS

Note: the lined and ‘How will my school/college do this?’ sections in the part of the document are intended for your use for rough notes/capturing ideas as the issues might relate to your school/college.

General Issues to Consider

Assessment:

  • which TQA level 3 courses does my school/college provide that have externally assessed folios/IPs?
  • which/what internally assessed TQA level 3 work will fall under the procedure? Formative and summative? Only summative? Only major pieces? How are these defined?

Timelines:

  • the new standard is to be implemented in 2011 (ie providers develop and trial the procedure in 2011)
  • the new standard is required from 2012 (ie providers registering to deliver these kinds of courses in 2012 must have the procedure in place).

Where are we currently? What do we need to do to meet these deadlines?

The Three P’s

Policy A documented statement of a defined course of action that is to be adopted and implemented.

Procedure A documented method or set of instructions that describes how a process is carried out.

Process The systematic actions, people and resources required to achieve an outcome.

(Source: AQTF Audit Handbook 2010, p.50)

Policy – by annually signing the TQA Senior Secondary Registration Form the provider (Principal/CEO) agrees to comply with TQA requirements, including the standard for the authenticity and academic integrity of student work submitted for assessment. As such, the provider’s policy is, “we will comply with the standard”.

Procedure – as a document this needs to be articulated in some formal manner that can be accessed by the learning community (ie it cannot just be verbal). A procedure might be expressed as:

  • a written document or documents with a series of steps/actions (eg. ‘Step 1…’ ‘If… then do…’)
  • a flowchart
  • other…

A documented procedure should reflect current practice and processes. This noted, the introduction of this new standard may mean that new practices are required in your school/college. Thus, to some extent, documented procedure may drive practice in the short term during the initial implementation phase. In the medium- to long-term the procedure will need to undergo review in a systematic manner. See the ‘Monitoring that it is working’ element on pages 18-19.

The procedure is likely to change over time as it is continuously improved.


The Continuous Improvement Cycle / Continuous Improvement:
… is a systematic, on-going process. It involves the review of policies, procedures and processes to improve outcomes and to meet changing needs.

Version control is important: users of a procedure need to be able to identify if it is the current one. How will this be managed?

  • how will version control be noted (eg header or footer with Version # and/or date?)
  • who will have write privileges to the document?
  • who will authorise a new version?
  • how will people be informed when a new version becomes available?
  • how will people access it?
  • where / how is the ‘master’ stored?

Developing a procedure to meet the requirements of the standard will require:

  • reflection on your current procedures and processes that relate to the new standard. Do they align with the formal requirements? Do modifications need to be made? Are there gaps between your current systems and the requirements?
  • consideration of ‘pros and cons’ of possible processes to meet the new requirements. What are the options? Which are best for your learning community?
  • drafting of procedural documentation
  • adoption of procedure
  • use of procedure
  • systematic review of procedure.

The objective of the new standard is to ensure that there are effective practices in place in schools and colleges that provide the Authority with grounds for the level of confidence required in the authenticity and academic integrity of folios or other project work used in the assessment of student achievement for awards in TQA level 3 courses, and that these effective practicesare documented

How will your school/college ensure that the documented procedure reflects effective practice?

Which is the Right Procedure?

The right procedure is one that meets the requirements and achieves the objective of the standard.No one single procedure will be the ‘right one’: they may vary from one provider to another to take account of factors such as the number of assessors for each course, the assessment practices in place, the nature of courses.

Structuring the Procedure

There are four sections/parts of the requirement addressing:

  • Processes and practices
  • Student requests for review
  • Records
  • Monitoring that it is working.

Will your institution develop specific procedures for each of these or have a single, overarching procedure? What are the pros/cons of the chosen method?

Will inter-relationships between different sections/parts be noted? How?

SupportingResources

Providers are likely to need resources to support the procedure documentation such as:

  • templates for newsletters/website to explain aspects that students (and parents?) need to know
  • forms (eg student review application)
  • templates for meetings/interviews
  • checklists
  • timelines.

What support materials do you anticipate are needed? Do you have any already?

What method will be used to develop these:

  • whole-of-provider approach (common materials school wide)?
  • learning area approach?
  • course/individual teacher?

Who will be responsible for the development, distribution and revision of such documentation?

How will the relationship between any support materials and the steps/actions in the procedural documentation be noted?

Tools

  • TQA’s Academic Integrity: A Guide (including authenticity, plagiarism & referencing)
  • NSW’s All My Own Work program. “The HSC: All My Own Work program is designed to help Higher School Certificate students to follow the principles and practices of good scholarship. This includes understanding and valuing ethical practices when locating and using information as part of their HSC studies.” http://amow.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/
  • Turnitin -
  • Search engines (eg Google – type in a suspected phrase or sentence and search)
  • TQA folio Guidelines / due dates documents
  • Other…

Implementing the ‘authenticity and academic integrity’ standardp.1 of 24

UNPACKING THE REQUIREMENTS

ELEMENT / ISSUES/QUESTIONS / HOW WILL MY SCHOOL/COLLEGE DO THIS?
Who needs to know about the standard and its requirements? How will this be communicated?
Who will be involved in developing the procedure?
How?
How will the documented procedure be communicated? To whom? When?
how and when students learn about the requirements for authenticity and academic integrity … / Which students will be involved in learning about authenticity and academic integrity?
  • all students doing level 3 courses?
  • all students?
When will they do this?
  • as part of normal class time (could do it several times if more than one course has internal/external projects/IPs – does this matter?)
  • as a special study at start of year?
  • other?
How will this be done?
  • use of TQA’s Academic Integrity: A Guide? How are students (and staff?):
  • informed of its existence?
  • informed of its significance?
  • given direction/instruction on how to use and interpret the document?
  • NSW’s All My Own Work (http://amow.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/) program?
  • school-developed resources?
  • other
Who will do this?
  • management / leadership?
  • teachers of TQA 3 courses only?
  • all teachers?
  • is PD needed? How best identified/managed?

how and when students learn about the requirements for … submission by due dates / a)how will the provider let students know about due dates (newsletters, formal letter, verbal announcement, reminders on display boards…)?
b)when will this happen?
c)use same or different methods for communicating ‘internal’ and TQA external assessment due dates?
d)method of approach to this issue:
-whole-of-provider approach (common approach)?
-learning area approach?
-course/individual teacher approach?
procedure for students to submit work on time …
and to have this submission formally acknowledged / How do students currently submit major assessment tasks (directly to teacher/ front office/ via email/ other…)? Is there a common/standard system or is it left up to individual learning areas or teachers? Can the current system handle a situation such as, ‘I gave my work to my friend to hand in so it is not my fault if they didn’t’ or ‘I did put it on the teacher’s desk at the end of the lesson and he lost it’?
How will submission of work be formally acknowledged? (tick in log or record book when handed in/ ‘receipt’ / other?)
Are there currently penalties imposed on students who miss/are late for internal work due dates? What are they? How are they managed/imposed? Do these systems need to be reviewed?
how teachers will develop sufficient knowledge of each of their student's work, knowledge and skills that they have a sound basis for assurances that a folio or other project work satisfies the requirements for authenticity / The standard requires an articulated process that will help ensure that a teacher/assessor receiving a major assessment task can have confidence that it is the student’s own work.
In part this might be addressed by having formalised processes for the sighting of drafts and the recording of information gathered when drafts are sighted.
TQA assessed folios/IPs commonly have Guidelines specifying the minimum number of times students consult with teachers (regarding planning and drafts). How does your school/college currently manage and document such consultations? Do these systems need to be reviewed?
How many times must students formally discuss drafts etc with teachers for internally assessed projects etc? Is this common or specific to a course/teacher? What information is recorded? Is this adequate in light of the new requirements? How is it recorded? Do teachers need to collect and keep copies of the drafts? Would doing so be desirable? Why/why not?
What processes are there for students who fail to meet such requirements (eg away from school when drafts are to be sighted/discussed)? How does the timing of discussion of drafts / any processes for students not meeting the required deadlines relate to the due date (ie is there time to detect/correct any plagiarism etc)?
additional assessment techniques (such as oral assessment or comparisons with work done under supervised test conditions) that will be used in situations where there is a question about authenticity / What will happen if a teacher receives a final piece of work and suspects it is not the student’s own work (eg there is a sudden change in the standard of the work between last sighted draft and final piece)?
Who will be responsible for such actions? How will they be recorded?
How/when are students made aware that there may be additional requirements in such cases?
how the provider will handle the situation when a teacher who was responsible for a student's work is no longer available / The procedure will need to be robust enough to handle both planned and unplanned absences.
What evidence/records are kept that would allow a judgement regarding authenticity to be made independent of the specific teacher’s presence?
How/where are such records kept?
Who is responsible for creating/storing them?
Who knows where they are?