Final examinations by its assessment are divided into:

• – final examination is the form of assessment which checks the collected knowledge, skills and competences by the end of the course;
• – continuous assessment (current or home based assignments) is the form of assessment which checks the collected knowledge, skills and competences gained for a determined period.

Final examinations by its access to materials are divided into:

• – open book examinations are intended to measure, to a greater extent, the level of skills and competences acquired by students in a particular course and, to a lesser extent, the level of acquired knowledge. During the examination students are allowed to use learning materials specified by the examiner in advance;
• – closed book examinations are intended to measure, to a greater extent, the level of skills and competences acquired by students in a particular course and, to a lesser extent, the level of acquired knowledge. During the examination students are not allowed to use learning and other additional materials.

Final examinations by its form of conduct are divided into:

• – oral examinations are intended to measure the level of knowledge, skills and competences acquired by students in particular courses. It is a procedure in which students are to answer theoretical and/ or practical situational questions in the examination orally;
• – written examinations are intended to measure the level of knowledge, skills and competences acquired by students in a particular course and is carried out by giving students examination paper consisting usually of practical situational tasks for them to solve it and answer in a written form without using any lecture materials, textbooks, manuals and other sources. Written examinations is a basic approach to examinations in Maqsut Narikbayev University;
• – written examinations in form of an essay include 1-2 theoretical questions given as problem theses in which students are to comment based on knowledge, skills and social competences they have acquired within a particular course.

Forms of examinations and assignments may be combined to achieve the required outcomes.

All examinations and continuous assessment assignments are divided by its methodological approach but not limited:

• – case reports is a form of examination where students are expected to answer the case questions given during the exam in a written form. Depending on the learning outcomes pursued a case study may be distributed either in advance or during the examination;
• – case presentation is a form of examination where students are asked to make an oral presentation of their answers to the case questions either orally or individually;
• – project report and presentation is a form of examination that is designed to measure integrative learning outcomes of a certain course;
• – a complex language test combines four different types of core language skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. These tests include the questions which verify their grammatical and lexical knowledge.

The State Exit Exam (SEE) could be conducted in a written and oral form. The examination content shall be approved by the Academic Quality Committee. The SEE shall measure the programme learning outcomes.

Written examinations or continuous assessment assignment shall be submitted through the plagiarism detection software (e.g. Turnitin) and the grading shall correspond to the Handbook on Ensuring Academic Integrity.

Oral examinations or continuous assessment assignment shall be recorded using audio or audio-visual software (e.g. Zoom) or should be requested by the instructor to the School to ensure the Academic Integrity principles.

Grades

Learning outcomes for all types of academic assignments and tasks are graded by the score-rating alphabetic system of knowledge assessment, and converted to the traditional scale of assessments in accordance with Table 1.

Table 1. Score-rating alphabetic system of evaluation of students’ educational achievements converted to a traditional rating scale

The structure of the Table 1 is based on the Grading Scale recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science.

The following shall be considered as a general guide to assessing the examinations. As the university is gradually and incrementally introducing the ECTS Grading system the guide below shall be followed.

Methods and assessment criteria for the educational component shall be relevant and coherent with the learning outcomes expected; and learning activities that took place shall be described by the instructor in the course syllabus.

Assessment criteria is a description of what the student shall be able to do and at what level to demonstrate the achievement of learning outcomes. Assessment methods – a full range of written, oral and practical quizzes, exams, case studies, projects, open-book exams, presentations and portfolios that are used to evaluate student progress and achievement of learning outcomes as confirmed by the educational component (unit/module).

ECTS credits are awarded when a proper assessment shows that certain learning outcomes have been achieved at the relevant level.

If a student has not reached the learning outcomes, credits are not awarded. The number of credits awarded to students who demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes is the same as the number of credits assigned to the component.

The University uses Canvas LMS as a system where current and final grades for assignments and exams are posted. Grades for the assignments and exams are posted by the instructor. Final grade is calculated in Canvas LMS and after the course is concluded converted to transcript in AIS Platonus.

The instructor bears responsibility for the accuracy of grade posting in Canvas LMS, by filling-in grade fields in system and the examination sheet. If the instructor posted the wrong grade, s(he) can change it by providing appropriate reasons for the change, and attaching all the supporting documents, if necessary. The Academic Quality Committee must approve and sign the application for the assessment change.

GPA is the average score of all grades, measured according to the number of ECTS credits received for each course for which the grade was obtained.

To compute GPA, the numerical value of the grade is multiplied by the number of credits assigned to the discipline. The results of all disciplines are summarized. To determine the cumulative GPA, the amount of credit hours is divided by the total number of credits obtained by the student.

The transcript shows the student’s GPA for the academic period, academic year and the entire period of study.

Some courses are not included in the list of academic disciplines, and the number of credits received for them will not be counted. However, their study is mandatory, as they belong to the category of preparatory courses. These subjects include physical education and “Creativity, Service, Intelligence”.

Duties and Rules of the Proctor

Office Registrar is responsible for conducting the examination scheduling, financial access control and documentary support.

School is responsible for conducting the examination procedure.

Each examination room shall be under the direction of a faculty member such to be called a Proctor.

Proctors shall be appointed by the Higher School Dean or a vice Dean.

In case of continuous assessment course instructor plays a role of Proctor for each assignment.

No persons other than those officially involved with the examination may enter the examination room.

The Proctor shall appear to the examination venue at least 20 minutes earlier before the exam (in accordance with the approved schedule of observation and examination schedule).

The Proctor must inspect the Examination Venues.

All staff and gadgets not allowed by the Examiner must be deposited to the designated place.

The Proctor shall check the seat arrangements and the number of students according to the examination list.

The Proctor has the right to demand the ID cards or passport upon entrance to the examination room. If the student does not have an ID, she/he can be admitted to pass the exam only with the registrar’s office permission.

The Proctor shall explain the rules of conduct to students and monitors the students during the exam. The rules of conduct are distributed to the students.

After the students take assigned places prior to the registration, the Proctor hands out the sealed envelopes with the examination papers which are signed by the School Dean.

The Proctor announces and writes down on the blackboard the starting and ending time of the exam.

The examination Proctor may not let the students leave the examination room for any reasons during the first and last 15 minutes of the exam.

The Proctor shall subject to a disciplinary action or penalties if the students assist others.

The Proctor shall fill the examination report form out, if the students violate the examination regulation rules.Students may not borrow anything from other students.

Talking to anyone in the examination room is not permitted.

Students must stop by the end of given time. It is considered cheating if a student continues to work on the exam paper after the designated time.

Examinations may be carried out in online form using electronic proctoring system.

In case of continuous assessment each assignment session shall be recorded.

Online examinations are conducted in Canvas LMS, which may be integrated to proctoring app Proctorio LTI or another proctoring system.

Proctorio LTI is a software designed for automated remoted observation of student’s behavior during the exam.

Proctoring system shall observe the student’s behavior, actions on screen and environment around him/her depending on the settings, configured by instructor or designated faculty member. It may use the internet connection, web-camera and/or microphone.

Monitoring is carried out by the artificial intelligence system, which assign suspicion level depending on settings configured by the instructor or faculty member. All recorded video materials are stored and may be checked by the examiner.

Suspicion level is the percentage indicator of a frame, which is considered as a suspicious, abnormal or violating behavior based on the machine learning analysis.

The Examiner may send the report to corresponding Committee to consider the violation of Academic Integrity principles.

During online examinations students are prohibited to:

• – leave the recorded screen area or room;
• – interact with another person in a verbal, nonverbal or electronic communication;
• – send examination materials by any means;
• – use different software or apps except those permitted by the exam requirements;
• – open additional browser tabs;
• – use searching systems and go to websites, except those links attached to the examination assignment;
• – download or send examination tasks or materials by any means with the exception of prescribed exam rules;
• – copy and paste text fragments from examination materials or other sources;
• – use materials, except those attached to examination task, and devices of information and data transfer except the one on which the examination is carried out;
• – interrupt visual recording and examination in general.

During the exam students are not recommended to turn away from recording area for a longer duration, allow excessive and unreasonable mimic activity. Provider of proctoring system is responsible for personal data and video records privacy.

Only Examiner and assigned faculty members are allowed to have access to video recordings. Distribution of videos and personal data by any means is prohibited.

Examination results shall be announced to students no later than five days after conducting the examination through Canvas LMS. The announcement period may be prolonged for the examiner who has to check 50 or more students’ works in a course group but cannot exceed more than 10 working days.

In case the student doesn’t agree with the examination result he/she may appeal formally. The same rule is valid for any assignment in case of continuous assessment.

A student must submit an application for an appeal addressed to the corresponding Dean (director) of the higher school no later than the next working day after the grades are announced in Canvas LMS.

The appeal must be reasoned. If the student disagrees with the grade without specifying the necessary arguments, the appeal is returned to the applicant without consideration.

A properly filed appeal is reviewed within five working days.

The appeal could not be reviewed by the same examiner and should be reviewed by at least two independent experts.