Student assessment in tertiary initial training, specialising further training, and in higher vocational training
In
accordance with the Act LXX of 1993 on Higher Education the students’
academic performance and examination requirements must be stated by the
institution of tertiary education in its own regulations. Creating the
relevant regulation (which also includes the main aspects of assessing
students) is also the exclusive competency of the institution. The law
only requires that assessing knowledge should be usually along a scale
of three or five grades, but the institution may employ a different
system to assess academic performance.
The main forms of
controlling advancement in a subject include: workshop marks, oral
tests, examination (simple oral, or complex), work experience,
attendance list.
Institutions usually use the five-way scale of
evaluation for studies and examinations. However, the credit based
system has resulted in new forms of assessment. The government decree
on the credit based system allows credit points to be given only for
subjects that conclude in some kind of mark. An issue related to the
mobility of Hungarian students to foreign institutions, and foreign
students coming to Hungarian institutions is that the institutions have
to convert the mark received in Hungary to the six-way assessment
system of ECTS, and the reverse has to be done to the six-grade ECTS
marks of Hungarian students returning home.
The financial
support from the European Structural Funds provides help to the
transformation of the education and training system, and to content
improvement. Institutional consortia were formed in the particular
educational and training fields in order to develop the competence
based outcome requirements as well as to elaborate the institutional
infrustrucural improvements. The National Development Plan 2004-2007
provides HUF 6, 78 billion support to content and structural
improvements and HUF 13 billion to infrastructural improvements of
institutions that can be applied for. An additional HUF 1 billion
support is available for regional programmes.
In the credit
based system the teaching of a subject is usually concluded with a
mid-term or examination mark. The interim mark is usually based on
on-going assessment during the term. The statement of the examination
mark follows an oral or written examination passed in the examination
period. Earlier that meant primarily single summery assessment, while
today on-going and single summery assessments are increasingly applied
together.
Elaborating the requirements of the individual
subjects, selecting the various ways of assessment is at the discretion
of the department in charge of that particular subject. The only effect
of central regulation on the department running a particular course of
a particular institution is that the Regulation of studies and
examinations establishes the maximum number of examinations to be
passed in one examination period by a student advancing along the model
schedule.
Departments must work out all the requirements
associated to a particular subject, number and date of inter-term
assessments, and whether the assessment is oral or written (perhaps
some combination of the two) for each of their subjects and make it
known to the students prior to the beginning of the term (on the notice
board, or taking advantage of a recent, and spreading development,
through the electronic student registration system).
If a
subject includes theoretical presentations, seminars, practical
sessions, the curriculum will establish whether the assessment should
consist of separate marks or separate inter-term marks for the
theoretical part and seminars/practical part, or whether the student’s
performance should be reflected in one single mark.
Even though
assessment at the oral examination is less objective than at a written
examination, in subjects where the knowledge acquired cannot be
described as a simple challenge of memory, but it requires
understanding, and seeing how a set of information may be applied, oral
examinations are given priority. The number of students per teacher has
approximately tripled up over the last 10 years, and so many times the
teaching staff is forced to stage written examinations when normally
oral ones would be better suited for the purpose.
It is typical
of assessment that it is not done along a relative scale (ensuring in
each grade that students given excellent (5), good (4), medium (3),
acceptable (2), and unacceptable (1) marks should be at roughly equal
proportions year on year), but the standard is usually the same every
year, thus assessment reflects performance with regard to an absolute
scale.
Studies are concluded by a complex final examination
taken in front of a committee. Legislation prescribes that a commission
must be set up with a chair and at least further two members, one of
whom is a professional not from the given institution.
Advancement
of students in the credit based system is indicated by a parameter of
both quantity and quality. The quantitative parameter may be generated
on the basis of the credit point linked to the various subject.
Students must collect a specific number of credit points in order to
obtain entitlement to their degree, thus their quantitative progress is
measured by the number of credit points accumulated through their
studies.
The quality parameter comes in by the marks obtained,
from which an average may be computed weighted by the credit points.
The credit index serves to measure the students’ academic performance
in any term from both a qualitative and a quantitative point of view.
When computing the credit index, the number of credits multiplied by
the marks obtained is divided by 30 credit points, which is the average
progress in a term.
Students’ assessment in doctoral training
In doctoral trainingthe doctoral student regularly studies, conducts research, and reports their progress.
The regulations of doctoral schools specify university (
egyetem)
training, individual preparation, the academic obligations of the
doctoral student, the way in which performance is assessed, the number
of credit points recognised in doctoral training, conditions of
concluding studies, and the conditions of obtaining the doctoral grade.
Doctoral education and training uniformly lasts 36
months that can be divided into reporting periods. The accepted
candidate is in student status. When enrolling, the student receives an
index book, which is an official document that contains data on the
students educational performance and accomplishments.
Doctoral
education and training is a research and reporting activity
accomplished individually or in small groups in accordance with the
specific features of the certain disciplines.
Doctoral students
are engaged in a research activity with the lead of the
consultant/supervisor. The student must report publicly on a regular
basis that is prescribed by the regulations of the doctoral school
about the advancement of the research activity. This public reporting
happens generally in front of the consultant, the educators and
students of the doctoral school, and other interested lecturers and
researchers of the discipline. Within the debate that follows the
report the performance of the doctoral student is evaluated. Although
there is now numerical assessment in this part, the verbal evaluation
provides guidance to the further progression of the research. In case
of an unsuccessful reporting the doctoral school examines the
responsibility of the consultant and the doctoral student as well. It
may result in recommendations for appointment of a new
consultant/thesis supervisor.
In the first two years of doctoral
education and training besides the scientific research, the doctoral
student has to take exams on the completion of compulsory and elective
courses. The assessment of the examination may be:
1. on a five-way scale: excellent (5), good (4), medium (3), acceptable (2), unacceptable (1)
2. on a three-way scale: pass with Excellency (5), pass (3), fail (1)
3.
the institution of tertiary education may use any other evaluation
method that must be included and described in details in its
regulations of the doctoral school. The evaluation method must fulfil
the condition of providing comparability.
Having completed
doctoral school the doctoral degree may be obtained by a separate
procedure. In this procedure a doctoral candidate may be someone who
has accomplished doctoral schooling and also someone who prepared
individually. The doctoral candidate status is established by applying
for the procedure. The conditions of obtaining a doctorate must be
fulfilled within this procedure:
1. Fulfilling the prescribed obligations, and successfully passing the complex doctoral examination;
2.
Proving the knowledge of two foreign languages (as prescribed in
regulations) that are necessary for academic and scientific work;
3.
Presenting the individual scientific work with articles, studies, or in
case of a DLA degree the result of a creative/constructive activity
according to the field of art;
4. Solving a scientific or art task
individually meeting the requirements of the doctoral degree,
presenting and defending the scientific thesis, work of art, results in
a public debate.
The complex doctoral examination is taken in
front of a committee. The committee set up by the Doctoral Council must
consist of three members, who all must hold a doctoral/scientific
degree, and one of them is an outside expert that is not employed by
the institution of the particular tertiary education. The evaluation
and assessment of the complex doctoral examination is the same as in
doctoral exams.
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