The Hub Orientation

Assessments are the way your tutor(s) confirms you have achieved the learning outcomes for the module. Successfully demonstrating the learning outcomes results in passing the module, and the programme, and ultimately leading to graduating with the qualification.

Refer to the Programme Outline for details on what assessments are in your programme.

The Programme Guide provided by your tutor in the 1st week of your studies will have all the assessment due dates.

In your programme, there will be assessment tasks; maybe an essay, a report, or an infographic; whatever the task is, you will receive information on what to do for each assessment. A formative (developmental/progress) assessment supports your understanding of the content and allows you to practice the skills and receive feedback before the summative (graded/marked) assessment.

An assessment brief will contain all the information you need to successfully complete an assessment.

An assessment brief could contain key information on:

• The name of the assessment ie: Assessment 1: Written Report TTM5 1.1
• Instructions for completing the assessment.
• Assessment overview: what is this assessment all about and what do you need to do: the tasks and the credit value.
• A PDF attachment of the assessment paper for you to view.
• The Assessment due date: when it needs to be turned in for marking. 

To start

All assessment briefs may be written differently but they all can be tackled in the same process:

Step One: Very carefully read all information in the assessment brief.

Step Two: Read over all information in the assessment brief again, this time noting or highlighting any keywords. Look for words that tell you the purpose, goals and particularly take note of any word count requirements and layout: Refer to the Glossary in the Academic Writing module,  to better understand some of the terminology. Add the due date to your calendar.

Once you have a thorough understanding of what the brief is requiring, you can start on your assessment document.

If you are not sure about any aspect of the assessment brief, check with your tutor before you start.

During an assessment

As you work on the assessment, refer back to the assessment brief to check that you are on track and aligned with the requirements of the assessment brief.

Check the assessment marking guide as you work to ensure you are completing each task that is required. (See more info in the 'Understanding an assessment marking guide” section below.)

Before you hand in an assessment

Once you are ready to hand in the final version, check your work again against the requirements of the assessment brief and the assessment marking guide. Ensure you are handing in everything that is required, in the correct format, with the correct naming, to the correct place.

Don’t forget to check your spelling: either do a spellcheck or ask a friend to read over it, as it is hard to spot your own mistakes.

When you have a new assessment brief, you will also be able to view an assessment marking guide.

It could look like this:

This assessment marking guide shows what evidence you need to include for each task and what the judgement criteria is. Have you met the brief?

When you have finished your assessment and you are ready to submit it online, refer to this assessment marking guide to double-check you have included each task required in your submission.

The New Zealand School of Tourism is just one of many education providers currently using Turnitin to enhance the educational experience we provide to our students.

Turnitin is a 'text-matching' software that matches the text within an assignment by comparing a student's submission against an archive of internet documents, internet data, a repository of previously submitted papers, and a subscription repository of periodicals, journals, and publications.

Turnitin is also used to provide the New Zealand School of Tourism with confidence in the academic integrity of students' work. Turnitin then creates an 'Originality Report' which can be viewed by both Tutors and students, which identifies where the text within a student submission has matched another source.

Turnitin has a database that stores all the work that has ever passed through it. Therefore, it can detect old papers as they are safely stored in its database. Any document used more than once will be detected as plagiarised work including even the work that the same person has uploaded twice

While Turnitin keeps a copy of submitted assignments, it does not reproduce these assignments or disclose them to third parties. This means that while a copy of your assignment is stored, it is never shown to a third party and you, the student retains ownership of the assignment.

The New Zealand School of Tourism allows a similarity of 30-35 % and below to meet our assessment requirements. For more information on how to interpret the report click the link. Your Online trainer will also cover this in our Day 5 Live Session. 

For each summative assessment, there will be a submission section, clearly marked for you to upload your assessment. Label your files in full – Student name, Student ID, and Assessment name. On your working document, save your drafts as a draft, and when you are ready to submit, save the document as FINAL as a way to indicate which file to upload. There is nothing worse than uploading a draft document.

Our Online assessors have 15 working days ( 3 weeks ) from the due date of the submission to mark all assessments. You can expect to receive a result and feedback within this time frame. If you submit your assessment before the due date, the assessor will still follow the above process: 15 working days from the due date.

Assessment due date: Sunday 2nd July 11:59 pm

Results and feedback: No later than 23rd July 11:59 pm

Follow the procedures to ensure you correctly submit your assessment for marking.

• Your submission must be in Final submission status to be marked
• Once submitted as Final, it cannot be changed
• Remember to submit whatever you have on the due date as no submission counts as a submission. You have three (3) attempts at each submission, so if it is not ready, submit it anyway.

If you have submitted your assessment correctly, you will receive a notification like this.

If your assessment comes back, Not Yet Competent (NYC), you have the opportunity to improve on or fix up areas of work. Feedback will help you understand what you can learn from this experience – is it something specific within the assessment, something within your understanding of the task, or is it just learning better time-management skills? See the 'Resubmissions of assessments' section below.

Important Information

• If, you are not finished on time and there are no extenuating circumstances for an extension, please submit what you have done so far. Apply the feedback from your tutor to your next attempt should you need to (carry on working on the assessment but do not submit it until you receive this tutor's feedback).
• It is important to be aware that if you do not submit any material within the deadline, this ‘No submission’ is considered as your first submission.
• If, you then submit your assessment late, this late submission is therefore considered as your second submission.
• This means that if you are Not Yet Competent (NYC), on this late submission, you only have one resubmission left.
• If you know you will be late to submit and you have a valid reason, apply for an extension following the process found in the Student Handbook.
• If, you are Not yet Competent on all 3 submission attempts, you can apply for an additional submission through the Board of Studies. This will only be considered if you have extenuating circumstances that hindered you from performing well in your assessment. You can follow the Special Consideration form and Guide (see below section ) to complete the request. All requests should be supported by evidence.
• All FORMS and GUIDES can be found on the Student Academic Hub.

Sometimes things happen that are out of our control that can affect our studies. You may apply for an extension to the assessment when extenuating circumstances beyond your control seriously affect your ability to

• attempt an assessment or
• prepare normally for an assessment or
• perform successfully during an assessment or
• complete an assessment on or by the due date.

The Extension request guide and form are found in the Student Hub. 

REMEMBER: If you know you will be late to submit and you have a valid reason, apply for an extension TWO WORKING days before the due date.

Please note:

• Include all details in your email request
• Providing suitable evidence at the time of application will reduce the need for your tutor to follow up requesting this.
• Approval can be given retrospectively for unanticipated circumstances. However, for situations that arise before the due date, apply early. Communication is important at this point.
• Repeated requests for extensions will be viewed as the student requiring more learning support. Your application may result in a chat about what learning strategies can be implemented to support your learning journey.
• If there is more than one assessment affected, please clarify this in the application.

Part of learning is failing, so don't panic or give up. For each summative assessment, all NZST Online students have the opportunity for TWO resubmissions. This means that should you not achieve competency on your first submission, you will receive feedback that will help you understand what you can learn from this experience. 

Where possible you will be asked to resubmit the aspects that are incomplete, or you are not competent on yet.

You will be told of the new due date for the resubmission and the areas needing to be addressed You will have 2 weeks from the date your paper was marked and returned to you. Feedback from the original submission will guide you to understand what needs to be done. Make sure each resubmission document is clearly named.

Where you need clarification on a point or two, please contact your  Online Tutor for guidance. We want to support you to do your very best so that you can achieve your goals.

After THREE attempts (initial submission and two resubmissions), you can follow the SPECIAL CONSIDERATION process. The guide and the form are found in the Student Hub.

If a student is not satisfied with their grade for an assessment, they may make an Academic Appeal on this decision by following the process found in the Student Hub.

Internships - New Zealand School of Tourism

Students enrolled in Online Diploma programmes, will have the opportunity to include a domestic internship as part of their programme. This will be for a minimum of three months or 300 hours and on successful completion of the internship requirements you will gain 30 credits towards our qualification. The first 90 credits of the Diploma are completed prior to the internship Online. In order to be endorsed for the internship opportunities students must be competent in all assessments for the Diploma programme and meet the professional guidelines. Additional criteria may apply to each individual internship provider, and these are detailed below. If you are currently employed in a Travel and Tourism role, speak to your employer about completing your internship while you work. More information will be provided by your Online tutor later in the programme.