Assessment

All subjects on the Masters curriculum require assessment, both as an ongoing process during the course (e.g. through tests, seminars, workshops, fieldwork studies, essays, literature review, internships etc) and at the end of each course by a written and/or oral exam, or by submission of an assignment. The description for each course specifies the nature of assessments and their contribution to the overall grade for the course.

Course assessments are primarily undertaken by the lecturers of each course, with assistance from Fauna & Flora International and the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Students must attend at least 90% of all classes in each course to be eligible to take an exam. Absence over 10% or incapacity to take exams for valid and approved reasons will be taken into consideration in grading.

All course assessments are designed to facilitate evaluation of the students acquired competencies and capacity for critical thinking rather than mnemonic effort. Grading reflects the actual control by the student of the concepts, techniques and arguments presented during each course. Additional criteria for grading may include:

1. Effort applied to improve knowledge of the subject
2. Personal study beyond that required by the course
3. Additional use of recommended materials
4. Personal library work on the course topic
5. Originality and clarity of arguments presented

Research theses are independently assessed and graded by a minimum of three examiners, including at least one external to the University. Programme coordinators are responsible for collating the average grade from these, formulating a statement on the thesis (using written reports provided by each examiner) and submitting these for ratification and onwards transmission to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.