Grading

It is always a good idea to prepare your exam area and test your equipment prior to your scheduled exam.

To prepare for your final exam, review the following information: Exam Day: What to Expect.  

  Before Logging In To Take Your Exam:

• Have a government-issued I.D. (or other form of ID allowed by your institution or testing organization) ready and be located in a private, well-lit room with no one else around you.
• Clear your workspace from all materials except those allowed by your instructor or testing organization.
• Close all third-party programs and unplug any secondary monitors.
• Remove any non-religious head coverings.
• Download the Guardian Secure Browser: The exams require the use of a secure delivery browser.
• Test equipment before your session. (This can be done through your ProctorU dashboard)

It is important to review the specific guidelines for each exam, as there may be course-specific variations to these rules. Additionally, please note that your highest score will always be recorded and counted toward your final grade.

The first exam or quiz can be taken once every 24 hours with unlimited attempts. Subsequent exams and quizzes allow three attempts, which can be taken in 15-minute intervals. Your highest score will be applied to your final grade. The final exam is limited to one attempt.

All qualitative assignments (e.g., essays, videos, lab work, or any other assignment that is not a multiple-choice quiz or exam) are submitted through Turnitin. Be sure to follow the formatting instructions mentioned in your assignment, or if provided, use the instructions in the “Upload Document” section to ensure your submission is in a readable format. Your file should be a .docx or .pdf to prevent grading delays. You have two attempts on each written assignment. These assignments are graded individually in the order they are received. Grades, along with any specific feedback, will be posted to your assignment through Turnitin.

Content: All qualitative assignments are submitted through Turnitin. These are assignments outside of quizzes or exams, including, but not limited to, essays, videos, lab work, and presentations. Because of this variation, you must review each assignment prompt for its specific requirements. As a general rule, unless otherwise noted:

• Your assignments should be submitted as .docx or .pdf attachments.
• You have two attempts on each assignment.
• Assignments are graded individually in the order they are received.
• Faculty will provide comprehensive feedback and post grades to your assignment through Turnitin.

To submit your assignment for grading, follow these steps:

1. Locate the assignment in your course by clicking on the Assignment Title.
2. Click on the “My Submissions” tab.
3. Follow the instructions to upload your assignment.

StraighterLine works diligently to verify student identity, ensuring that the individual who registers is the same student who completes the course, requests a transcript, and receives credit for their work. This identity verification process also demonstrates that our academic policies align with the practices of higher education, lending legitimacy and authenticity to our courses and the credits earned. This is important information for both our current and potential partners, as well as for institutions receiving a StraighterLine transcript.

Please understand that identity verification is not intended to hinder your academic progress. Rather, it is in place to provide our partners—and your future college—with confidence that you are a capable and trustworthy student who has completed the coursework.

Identity verification includes but is not limited to, processes such as out-of-band methods (like calling or texting a number to verify student information), embedded question verification (answering questions based on publicly available details about the student), biometric verification, passive activity monitoring, analysis of voluntarily-provided electronic device data, and account comparison against publicly available networks (like social networks) within StraighterLine’s authentication system or proctoring services.

Honesty and integrity are as highly valued at StraighterLine as they are at all of StraighterLine’s partner colleges. Academic integrity violations include all forms of academic dishonesty, including, but not limited to:

• Cheating - Giving or receiving unauthorized assistance, attempting to give or receive such assistance, or using unauthorized materials in connection with the performance of any academic work. This includes providing your login to another individual to access content and complete work on your behalf.
• Plagiarism - Use of another person’s work or ideas without proper acknowledgment of the source.
• Fabrication - Falsification or invention of any information, citation, data, images, or documentation.
• Collusion - Helping or allowing another student to commit any act of academic dishonesty.

Plagiarism, cheating, or other types of academic integrity and policy violations may constitute immediate failure of the assignment in question. Deliberate or sustained violations will result in automatic failure of the course and could result in a student being removed from all current enrollments and services without refund. StraighterLine reserves the right to audit any and all student work for potential cheating, as well as require additional proctoring/ monitoring of students whose accounts have been flagged for suspicious behavior.

Students must submit all required assignments in order for a course to be considered “complete”.  As we are a self-paced, self-driven platform, there is no official beginning and end to courses. Thus, finishing all required assignments lets us know when you are done with a course. As well, it is the completion of all required coursework that triggers transcript availability.  For more information on our Course Completion Policy please see the Student Handbook

As a general rule, grading varies by course, but typically includes a mixture of different kinds of assessments. It's also common for courses to include a series of ungraded, formative and/or reflective assignments. Some assessments are graded "by-hand" and require Faculty graders. While some assessments have only one attempt, others may have more than one. For more information on our Grading Policy please see the Student Handbook.