“… Here’s what interests me more than any other facet: ‘For some they see this course as a competition. Is it? Should it be?’ Competition is healthy as well as harmful. I see third level education as an opportunity for students to discover complementary talent. For that kind of group dynamic to evolve, people need to appreciate diverse skill sets …” (more)
[Bernie Goldbach, Inside View, 28 December]
“First, to my posts on grading and marking, I must add a wonderful post by not that kind of doctor applying the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross model of five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance – to the process of grading papers! …” (more)
[Eoin O’Dell, Cearta, 29 October]
“While few things in life are fair or easy, students have come to expect that a grade, at the very least, reflects the quality of work put into a course. Not seemingly so with grade quotas – a policy where only a certain percentage of students can get an A, and the remainder are boxed into the B and C category. These numbers are determined by professors prior to reading or grading any students’ work …” (more)
[Rebecca Horwitz, UCSD Guardian, 11 October]
“A University isn’t a business, but it operates subject to the same laws of supply and demand, in the same ecosystem, even if its objectives aren’t profit. So long what it produces is valued by society, and no competition exists, Universities will survive, regardless of what torments their governments or administrators put them through …” (more)
[Robert Cosgrave, Tertiary 21, 23 September]
“Interesting review from Tom Jacobs of a paper which suggests that ‘New research suggests the use of red ink by teachers to correct students’ work may result in harsher evaluations’ …” (more)
[Shane O’Mara, Irishscience, 17 May]
“Universities are to face a reform of their marking systems after accusations that some are awarding too many first-class degrees. Vice-chancellors announced yesterday at their annual conference in Edinburgh that they had decided to review their marking to ensure consistency. It comes a month after MPs attacked universities for having wildly different degree standards …” (more)
[Nicola Woolcock, Times, 11 Septmber]
“Having been a professor for quite some time, I have seen various gambits played by students in the hopes of passing a class or getting a better grade. One common gambit is what I call the appeal to dire consequences. The idea is this: a student who does not have the grade he wants will contact the professor and assert that he should either be given that grade or be granted special treatment that will enable him to get that grade. As a reason for this assertion, he will point out the dire consequences he will suffer should he not get the grade. For example, I had a student copy a paper word for word from the web, thus resulting in a zero on the paper. My policy is that the zero is non-negotiable …” (more)
[Michael LaBossiere, A Philosopher’s Blog, 17 April]
“Concern is building that US students have developed an unhealthy sense of ‘entitlement’ to higher education. When Times Higher Education columnist John H Summers described his experiences as a lecturer at Harvard University, saying that students sometimes viewed him as in their pay and duty-bound to award top grades, the account caused fierce online debate. Now the issue has raised its head again in The New York Times, which reported a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. It found that a third of students expect a B grade just for attending lectures and completing the required reading. The newspaper quotes Marshall Grossman, professor of English at the University of Maryland, who said that he now expects complaints whenever he reveals grades to his students. ‘Many … come in with the conviction that they’ve worked hard and deserve a higher mark. Some assert that they have never got a grade as low as this before,’ he said …” (more)
[John Gill, Times Higher Education, 26 February]
Ninth Level Ireland 