Gerard
I also agree with your reasoning, until the last logical step you take in
deciding 50% extra time (which you do state is a minimum). For me, logic
dictates that the essential difference between producing text yourself
(writing or typing) and using an amanuensis is a mechanical one: the former
happens close to simultaneously (you write as you are thinking) whereas the
latter is a doubled up experience (someone thinks, then says, then the
hearer hears, then writes): so the extra time should be 100%. This can make
exams interminable, but both candidate and scribe should be able to calmly
complete the task, which is the point in the first place.
As you say, the guiding principle is that any extra time can (should)
achieve only one thing: to break the tyranny that the task is being
time-limited at all (which is what all other candidates have: a one hour
exam should imply a one hour task, and the assessment criteria should not
be, for example, that the person who has written the most 'wins').
Given this, I'm intrigued (dismayed?) by the idea in the original posting
that the use of an amanuensis could be timed differentially (for, say,
dyslexic and blind students). Is one 'type' of student expected to speak
faster than another?
(This discussion may need to be widened to scribing principles: what needs
to be stated, how dictation is done etc.)
Cheers
Iain
Iain Hood
Senior Student Adviser, Learning Support
Student Support Services
APU
East Road
Cambridge
CB1 1PT
01223 363271 ex 2316
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Edwards Robert (CeLL)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 3:11 PM
Subject: Re: Extra Time and Amanuensis
Gerard,
I congratulate you on making an excellent point about exam times. I
often say, in my presentations on dyslexia in higher education, that if
I had my way I would allow anyone sitting an exam to have as much time
as they liked, and that I don't think it would affect the results
significantly at all in most cases. It would be interesting if your
message could be spread more widely. It would be so much healthier and
sensible than the petty discussion about whether 5 minutes per hour or
10 minutes per hour extra is correct!
The argument that dyslexic students are more able to relax if they know
they can have extra time, whether or not they actually use it, carries
some intuitive sense for me, although I don't know whether it is backed
up by any evidence.
(By the way, your e-mail doesn't say where you work, but a Google search
on your name produced your photograph at the top of its list!)
Robert Edwards
Disability and Dyslexia Service
University of Glamorgan
01443 482981
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support
> staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gerard Conroy
> Sent: 09 September 2005 14:36
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Extra Time and Amanuensis
>
> The issue of extra time if one is using an amanuensis
> distracts one from the main issue of why there is a time
> limit for examinations. Unless there is a good academic
> reason why an examination is time limited there is no reason
> why extra time should not be appropriate for anyone who needs
> it for any reason.
>
> As someone who has set examinations at many different levels
> I can honestly say that if anyone could perform better in my
> examinations by having extra time then I have failed as an
> examiner. Students should be able to demonstrate their
> ability in the time allocated, no amount of extra time should
> make a difference, either the student could answer the
> question or they could not. If that is the case then why
> worry about extra time, the result should be the same no
> matter how much time is taken. If a student for whatever
> reason needs extra time then that student should be given it.
>
> There could be situations in which time limits are necessary
> but they certainly do not apply for most situations.
>
> I would hope that Disability Advisors challenge their own
> institutions on this issue. The only reason I have been given
> for all examinations to be time limited is that one can
> thereby schedule two examinations in the same room on one day
> - NOT a valid academic reason. Solid academic reasons should
> govern the situation, not administrative ones.
>
> To answer the specific question of extra time when using an
> amanuensis I can say that as an assessor (for DSA support) I
> always recommend 50% extra time for such situations. As
> someone who has been an amanuensis I have had to interrupt
> the examinee in full flow to check what I have taken down,
> this makes the examinee try to remember what they intended to
> say, interrupts their train of thought and the examinee can
> even forget what they were in the middle of. The Director of
> a student medical centre told me that there is a large amount
> of strain placed on both sides of the amanuensis/examinee
> relationship, and the interruption of thoughts to check what
> has been written is very disruptive for the student. 50%
> extra can only go some way to address this and is a very minimum.
>
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