Grading in finnish HEIs

1. Grading in finnishHEIs Tommi HaapaniemiSilja Kostia

3. Universities Act • “A student has the right to obtain information about the application of assessment criteria to his/her study attainment. He/she shall be given an opportunity to see the assessed written or otherwise recorded study attainment. Written and otherwise recorded study attainments must be retained for a minimum of six months from the publication of the results”

4. Appealprocedure • A student dissatisfied with the grading of a doctoral dissertation, a licentiate thesis or a corresponding study attainment may apply for a rectification of the grading from an administrative body designated by the university within 14 days of receiving the notification of the decision • A student dissatisfied with the grading of a study attainment …or with the recognition of studies completed elsewhere or of prior knowledge demonstrated in some other manner may apply for a rectification of the grading orally or in writing from the teacher who made the grading decision as regards grading and from the person who made the decision on recognition as regards recognition of prior studies. • The rectification request must be made within 14 days of the date on which the information about the grades and the application of the assessment criteria to his/her study attainment was accessible to the student. The rectification request concerning recognition of prior learning must be made within 14 days of the receipt of the notification of the decision. A student dissatisfied with the decision regarding the rectification request may apply for rectification from a degree board or other organ designated for the purpose within 14 days of receiving the notification of the decision

5. University of Eastern Finland - Degreeregulations: • Study attainments shall include examinations, exercises, essays, learning diaries, proficiency tests or other course completion methods or combinations thereof defined in the curriculum (study attainments also refer to theses) • Written or otherwise recorded examinations and the corresponding study attainments shall be stored for at least six months after the results are published • Written and other corresponding examinations shall be organised in a way which allows students sufficient preparation time • The results of an exam shall be published no later than three (3) weeks after the exam, in the university’s electronic student and study register. Any deviations from the deadline shall be notified to the students within three (3) weeks of the exam • If an exam has been evaluated by several teachers and they have not done so collaboratively, the name of the teacher assessing each individual task shall be indicated

6. Gradingpractice - University of Eastern Finland • Grades for individualpassedcourses and modules: • 5/5 Excellent, 4/5 Verygood, 3/5 Good, 2/5 Satisfactory, 1/5 Sufficient • Pass (coursecompletedsuccesfully) • Approvedcourses in the Second Domestic Language (SwedishorFinnish) aregradedwiththescale: • Satisfactory (1-3 = T), Good (4-5=H) • Theadditionalpossiblegradingscales for thesis and dissertation : • L, ECL, MCL, CL, NSA, LA, A • ApprD, Appr • K/E Excellent, H Good, T Satisfactory, V Sufficient • Thesescalesarewidelyused in FinnishUniversities. • University uses a programme that detects plagiarism; plagiarism results in sanctions, based on guidelines against academic dishonesty: • http://www.uef.fi/en/web/guest/studies/academic-dishonesty • If priorlearning is demonstrated in a testorotherevaluation on learning, it canbeassessedusingallgrades. Otherwise it shallbegradedusingpass-fail – scale. • UEF Guidelines for recognition of priorlearning: http://www2.uef.fi/documents/16531/153445/Instructions+on+the+practices+and+procedures+for+recognising+prior+learning+_eng.pdf/d9ada0f4-a078-4b53-b8b9-c955a4fe523d=

7. Studentgrading at Lahti University of AppliedSciences (Lahti UAS) 5.5 Assessment (DegreeRegulations) • Learning achievements are assessed on the basis of oral and written examinations, assignments, activity demonstrations and other reliable assessment methods. Assessment is evidence-based and has a developmental purpose. Students have the right to receive information on how assessment criteria have been applied to their studies. Students must be given the opportunity to examine a graded record of their performance. A record (in hard copy or other format) of each performance must be retained for a minimum period of six months after the publication of the results. • The lecturer in charge of the course is responsible for related assessment (including the thesis). Self-assessment, peer assessment and, if applicable, clients' assessments can be used as additional forms of assessment. Lahti University of Applied Sciences uses a programme that detects plagiarism; plagiarism results in sanctions.

8. Studentgrading at Lahti UAS • The lecturer in charge of the course ensures that the grades are recorded in the credit record database within 30 days of the completion date.Students are graded individually. The course completion date is the date by which the student has successfully completed all of the components required for the course in question. This is the date entered in the database. The assessment date is the date on which the grade is entered in the database by the lecturer. • Approved studies are graded as Excellent (5), Very good (4), Good (3), Satisfactory (2) or Sufficient (1). A rejected course results in a Fail (0). Courses can also be assessed as a Pass/Fail. A Pass grade requires demonstration of good knowledge. Theses are graded on the samebasis as courses.

9. Studentgrading at Lahti UAS 5.6 Appeals (DegreeRegulation) • Students who are dissatisfied with an assessment result can request, verbally or in writing, reassessment of the results from the lecturer who carried out the assessment.Appeals regarding decisions on credit transfers for studies completed at another institution are submitted to the lecturer or the principal lecturer. The reassessment request must be made within 14 days from the date the student had the opportunity to obtain the assessment results and the information on the application of assessment criteria. The lecturer or principal lecturer must reply in writing to the student requesting reassessment. Students who are dissatisfied with the appeal decision referred to above may appeal to the Board of Examiners of Lahti University of Applied Sciences within 14 days of receipt of notificationof thedecision.

10. Studentgrading at Lahti UAS • In Lahti University of Applied Sciences assessmentframeworksareprepared for Bachelor’s and Master’sdegree as well as Bachelor’s and Master’sthesis for 5 (excellent), 3 (good) and 1 (sufficient) • In Bachelor’sdegreeassessmentframeworksarebothinitial and graduationstage • Assessment frameworks are in accordance with competence-based curricula which are in turn based on the requirements of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) • Assessment frameworks are prepared to help to set learning outcomes and in grading for a course of for a module • One example: Learning outcomes of modules A and B in a degree programme are different → they are compared to different competences in the framework • Another example: Learning outcomes of modules C and D in two different degree programmes are about same → they are compared to same competences in the framework • At degree level frameworks work in a general level • Assessment frameworks are part of the Lahti UAS quality management system

11. ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR BACHELOR'S DEGREES Competence at the initiation level Lahti UAS

12. ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR BACHELOR'S DEGREES Competence at graduation • Lahti UAS