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I have so long objected to this, for school students and uni students – so it is great to have it contested on a wider stage.
There is no sense of humour involved in mocking people behind their backs, anonymous or otherwise. It is no different from laughing at people when they fall
over a hidden obstacle put there for that express purpose. It cheapens and degrades those who do the mocking – so that’s OK!!
Ali
Ali Cooper | PFHEA, MA, MEd, PGCE |
Educational Development Adviser | Organisation & Educational Development |
[log in to unmask] | 01524 510632 | HR Building
| Lancaster University | LA1 4YW
From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lea, John ([log in to unmask])
Sent: 14 September 2015 16:45
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: exam howlers
Thanks Helen. I'm glad this has come up and at the risk of sounding like someone without a sense of humour, I've always felt a little uneasy about this yearly tradition, because who wouldn't make mistakes when being asked to write very
fast for 3 hrs while sitting in a sports hall in May? Yes, some of them are very funny, but perhaps the biggest joke is on the people who think that the person who wins the exam game is the most intelligent one in the class...
John
John Lea
Sent from my iPhone
On 14 Sep 2015, at 10:30, Helen Webster <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I just stumbled across an initiative on twitter regarding the annual practice of publishing exam howlers by students in the national press, in particular the Times Higher's competition inviting academics to submit their students' funniest mistakes. There's a letter being drafted to Universities UK, stating that not only does this 'shaming' of students conflict with the values of teaching, but may also breach universities' own policies around confidentiality and intellectual property in assessment. It seems to me that this is an issue on which educational developers might also have much to say, and thought I would pass it on via this list.
The letter is currently in draft, and comments are invited:
comments and signatures can be offered to Sjoerd Levelt via [log in to unmask], or @slevelt on twitter.
best wishes,
Helen