At AOU assessments are formative and summative and are conducted through the continuous course assessment and course final exam assessment. For every course, there are two types of assessments
1. Continuous assessment consisting of an MTA & TMA
- The Midterm assessment (MTA) is a standardized and centralized test approved by the Deanship in consultation with the External Examiners. The MTA is a test formatted and designed to test the knowledge of students similar to that of the final exam. It comprises 30% of the students' continuous assessment grades.
- The TMA or tutor marked assignments are an important learning and assessment tool in the Open Learning System and are take home assignments. TMAs test and help build students skills in academic writing, critical thinking, and problem solving, analyzing, and researching. TMAs vary in format depending on the nature of the course. TMAs like MTAs are centralized and standardized and are designed at the Deanship level with due approval of the External examiner. TMAs also have an explicit and clear marking guideline that is used to assess students fairly and objectively. The TMAs compromise of 20% of the total continuous assessment grades.
- The assignments have a prescheduled date and time, which is announced to students through the formal means of communication used at AOU. At the time of admission, a student is well informed about the commitment required towards studying and assessment processes.
Assignment Marking, Grading and feedback : Fairness and transparency in marking is essential. Each Course/module Tutor is required to provide detailed written feedback for each assignment showing where marks were awarded and lost. The main purpose of such feedback is to enable the student to make effective use the assignment process in their learning and in preparation for their final exam.The Course Coordinator monitors and reviews the assignment grades and feedback for quality control purposes. Assignments and examination papers are made available to external examiners and to relevant examination committees to review where or as requested, and to ensure the transparency of the assessment process. Results and feedback from assessed work are posted as soon as is practicable on the LMS which student can access by using their student identity numbers.
2. Final Exam (unified across AOU branches) count up to 50 % of the course grade.
The below refers to the bachelor's courses grade breakdown. The master's course distribution depends on the course nature.