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How do University and College Assessments Work?

Assessments form a major part of university and college life. Anyone who wishes or is about to go to such institutions needs to know about the types of these assessments. This is because they will spend a great deal of time studying for tests that come in many forms. And moreover, passing these assessments is what makes one to progress from one year to another. The number and types of assessments may differ from one university or college to another and also from program to program within the same institution. In general, a student will have continuous assessments (CA) and an end of year or end of semester assessment (final examination) in every course he/she takes.

Before we gone on discussing assessments, let us first of all clarify the meanings of program and course. A program is a combination of courses that you do leading to a degree or diploma. Courses can be thought of as the subjects or classes that you take whilst pursuing your degree/diploma (program). An example of a program is Civil engineering. Hydraulics, engineering mathematics and fluid mechanics, are examples of courses (subjects) that you take whilst studying for a civil engineering degree.

The CAs are tests that are given to the students throughout the year i.e. they will be given during each term or semester. In most institutions, CAs contribute 40% to the final mark. The CA is made by adding all the marks scored from all the assessments given to a student through out the academic year or semester excluding the final exam. All these marks earned are then compiled so that they account for 40% of the final mark. Institutions that have an academic calendar split into terms administer the final exam at the end of the academic year whereas those with semesters have a final exam at the end of each semester. The final exam contributes 60% of the final mark, if the CA contributed 40%. One should therefore know that the final mark is a sum of the continuous assessment and the final examination with the percentage contribution of each adding up to 100%.

The following list includes some of the forms in which assessments come in universities and colleges.

1. Written tests which include multiple choice questions (MCQs), short answer questions, extended matching questions (EMQs) and essays. There are also small tests called quizzes which can be given just after a lesson or would have been planned for in the future.
2. Oral examinations which are also called viva voce or simply vivas are exactly like tests but instead of writing a student has to respond by word of mouth to a lecturer upon being asked a question. They are usually done at the end of the term or at the end of the year.
3. Practical work depends on the program being done and the course. For example, those doing nursing may need to do some medical procedure and those in electrical engineering may need to make a specific circuit connection. These can be done individually or as a group depending on the instructions given.
4. Assignments are usually written as long essays either done individually or as a group. These require a student to write about a topic using formal writing formats without plagiarising and as such one needs to have referenced work in their essay. Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own without their consent. Students, mostly do this unknowingly when they use someone else’s text in an assignment without fully acknowledging the author. Referencing means acknowledging the original source or sources. Plagiarism is a serious offence in academia and can have serious consequences including being failed in a particular course.
5. Oral presentations are presentations that a student has to make in front of an audience that may include his/her classmates, lecturers or invited guests. Most of the times one has to make a PowerPoint presentation to be submitted to the lecturer. 
6. Field reports are done when students have an experience outside the classroom and are required to write about their experiences. So, for a public health student this may include a report about a trip to a local clinic regarding their vaccination program or students of general agriculture may write a report about their visit to a farm about dairy production.
7. Dissertations or theses, research and research proposals are usually done in the final years of the program. A dissertation/thesis can be defined as a formal writing that a student writes in order to complete the requirements of a degree. This thesis can be in the form of a research paper. Research proposals are written to summarise the question or problem one wants to research on and the plan they have to carry out that research. The proposals are marked by lecturers and taken for ethical approval by the students. After that a research can be done and its results published.
8. Projects are similar to dissertations as they are done in the final years. The major difference is that they are in most cases practical. Therefore, a student in the school of the built environment may choose to make a model of a building with a proposed plumbing system while another student in the civil engineering program may make a computer model of football stadium.

It is worth noting that these assessments are either formative or summative. Formative assessments are those that do not add to your final mark while summative assessments are those that add to the final mark. Either way a student has to be serious in all assessments as a test that in the first place was formative may be added to the final mark when a lecturer sees it fit.

Costs are another thing that come with assessments. There are costs incurred for completing typed work such as essays, field reports, dissertations and research proposals. These costs include printing, photocopying, binding and in some cases laminating. Projects and research work in the final years cost a lot and for students this can be very financially stressful. Although, for students in some institutions under government sponsorship or any other sponsorship may receive some allowances for this cause.

After the all the assessments for the academic year or semester are completed and compiled, they are then graded usually A through to F. Grading systems differ from institution to institution and so do the pass marks. In some institutions the pass mark is set at 40% whereas in others it maybe be as high as 70%. At UNZA, the pass mark for most programs is at 40% and at CBU it is 50%.

Check out our list of 108 tertiary education courses offered in Zambia and where you can study them: zeyuni.com/blog/