INTRODUCTION

Since Douglas College first opened, the evaluation of
students has been based on a policy of continuous assessment.
This policy has been expressed as "The Five Factor Rule". At its
simplest this means that any course approved in the College must
identify five components in the evaluation section of the course
information. This system met with apparent wide approval in
1970, or at least it did not meet widespread opposition. Many
changes have occurred during the past 17 years which have created
a need for review of Evaluation Policies.

MANDATE

The Student Evaluation Committee is requested to research
the literature on evaluation and to prepare a discussion paper on
that topic. After having received responses from the College
community, the Committee is requested to:

Bs Draft policy for the consideration of members of the
governance system.

2. Examine the current grading scheme in light of the
proposed policy, and

3. Recommend changes for the approval of the governance
system.

STUDENT EVALUATION

 

Evaluation is an integral and important aspect of
educational practice. It strongly affects what students attend
to, how hard they work, how they manage their study time and to a
large extent what they learn.

But what exactly is evaluation? How does it relate to
measurement, testing, examining or grading, and to education in
general?

WHAT IS EVALUATION?

 

Evaluation is a broad concept and in ordinary language has
many different meanings. In the literature on evaluation a
variety of definitions have been given.

To be beneficial, evaluation must serve the purpose of
providing information for which there is a need, and on which
there is a possibility and willingness to act.

Evaluation should be a systematic procedure that allows
teachers to determine the extent to which instructional
objectives are being met and which gives insight into the nature
of difficulties being experienced by the students.

Evaluation is the process of systematically collecting and
analyzing information and communicating that information for the
guidance of educational decision making.

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