Summary
The method improves the simplicity, consistency and reliability of assessment.
We define a small set of assessment criteria. Markers award a grade , not a mark, for each criterion, and supply a comment to justify the grade. The final mark is computed by the system by mapping each grade to a mark and computing a weighted-sum of the individual criterion marks. The process of assessing reports is intended to be analogous to the process of reviewing papers for journals/conferences (but, of course, the criteria/standards are different since we're dealing with 4th-year theses).
Deliverables and Assessment
An overview of the
assessment items are described below.
-
Thesis Seminar Presentation
(during Week
7) (30%): Make a 30 minute presentation about the Thesis A topic and the plan
-
Thesis A Written Report
(Week 12) (70%)
-
Thesis Seminar Attendance Sheet
(during
Week 7): Students must attend 4 (four) seminar presentations of other Thesis A
students. When presented, please sign the attendance sheet for the students who attended
your student's presentation session. There is no mark attached to this item, but it is a requirement for passing Thesis A.
Thesis A is marked out of 10 and
contributes 10% towards the final mark for Thesis Part B.
Thesis Part B
-
Thesis Demonstration/Presentation
(During Week 11) (20%): Make a 30 minute presentation
about the final outcome of the thesis. This could be a demonstration of the
system built, or a presentation of theoretical work.
-
Final Thesis Report
(Week 13) (80%)
-
Thesis Summary/Abstract
(Week 13): Along
with the report, students are required to submit 150-word summary of the
thesis. This summary is going to be
published in the CSE Thesis Digital Archive.
Note: The final Thesis Report is often
called simply "The Thesis"
The mark for Thesis Part B is determined by
taking an average of the marks awarded by the supervisor and the assessor for
the demo and report components. It is worth 90% of the final mark (Part A is
worth 10%).
The following grades apply to all of the criteria mentioned below. The descriptions of the levels of achievment may need to be adapated for some criteria.
A+
|
-
absolutely top-quality work, best I've seen
-
publishable in good conference with little change
-
corresponds to a very high HD (>95%)
-
would be awarded rarely (maybe once per year)
|
A
|
-
excellent work, does everything required
-
results are good, could be published with some re-working
-
corresponds to a solid HD
|
B
|
-
good quality work, but with some minor deficiencies
-
would need substantially more work to be publishable
-
corresponds to a Distinction (DN)
|
C
|
-
adequate
-
the topic could have been treated much better
-
corresponds to a Credit (CR)
|
D
|
-
just satisfactory, minimal standard for a CSE thesis
-
corresponds to a bare Pass (PS)
|
E
|
-
not up to standard required of a CSE thesis
-
corresponds to a FL grade (around 40%)
|
F
|
-
very much below the standard required of a CSE thesis
-
corrsponds to a low fail (around 20%)
|
Thesis A Seminar
What's required to mark a Thesis A Seminar:
-
attend the seminar
-
assign a single overall grade for the talk
-
when determining the grade, consider the technical quality and presentation.
-
Thesis A seminar mark contributes 30% towards the final Thesis A mark
Thesis A Report
What's required to mark a Thesis A Report:
-
read it
-
assign a single overall grade
-
Thesis A report mark contributes 70% towards the final Thesis A mark
Please consider the following criteria and provide a single grade in the CSE Thesis marking system.
-
Thesis A Report
-
reviewing of other work/literature review
-
articulating a research question, plan and thesis outline
-
document presentation
-
Thesis A Seminar/Presentation
-
technical quality of the talk including motivation, literature survey, analysis of solutions considered, justification for choices, quality of the work-plan
-
structure of the talk, content/layout of slides, ability to communicate, clarity of description, competence in handling questions
Thesis B Demo
What's required to mark a Thesis B Demo:
-
attend the demo
-
assign a single overall grade
-
Thesis B demo mark contributes 20% towards the final Thesis B mark
-
Detailed criteria will be published soon.
-
This demo mark will be used to determine the candidates for CSE Thesis Showcase.
Thesis B Report
What's required to mark a Thesis B Report:
-
read it
-
assign four grades and write a brief comment/justification for each criteria
-
a comment can be as little as just a couple of words or a single sentence
-
Thesis B report mark contributes 80% towards the final Thesis B mark
-
Detailed criteria will be published soon.