It is of course important that an amanuensis knows what
they are doing in an exam. As an aside, I would note that
as with a note taker in lectures it also wise for them to
be familiar with the jargon of the subject area.
As well as training for the scribe I would also suggest
that the student concerned also requires some degree of
training, or practice at least, when it comes to dictating
their exams papers.
If one is a bright, confident and well revised student an
exam can be a breeze, possibly. But consider those times,
that I am sure has happened to us all at some point, when
we have looked at a question and wondered, wide eyed, how
the hell we are going to answer that. What we may do is
write a lot of flannel in the hope that something may come
out that we can be given a mark for. Consider then also
having to look someone in the eye - who may themselves be
in expert in the field - and give them a load of guff when
you are starting to quietly panic. It can take practice to
become confident doing this. The student also needs to know
what the ground rules are, e.g. that they could make rough
notes themselves, instruct the note taker to cross
everything out and start again, etc. It is not wise to give
a student this facility without them being well briefed and
practiced.
Bryan Jones
Equal Opps Adviser
London Guildhall University
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Bryan Jones
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