Dear all,
Ed and I were talking about the problems of assessing students from two
positions. Firstly, with the head of a lecturer who has been frustrated
with the ‘is it marked?’, ‘will it count towards the final degree?’ kind
of question (and the visible sigh of relief when you say no, followed by a
lack of engagement with the task).
Secondly, with a parents head on, seeing the children going through the
school process of being continually tested by SATS; each block of tests
being preceded by months of preparation. I was recently told by a teacher
that ‘Year Nine was a wasted year as it is spent on preparation for
SATS’.
This led to the question about testing first year undergraduates. This
seems to be the first year (in perhaps the previous five years?) that
their ‘final scores’ do not count towards anything; that many students
have increasingly less experience of learning without assessment. After
years of being tested and scores recorded, is what we are seeing in the
first year a reaction by some students to this freedom and the
responsibility that comes with it?
Is a possible solution to have the marks for the end of the first year
count towards the final degree? Perhaps 20%? Do any institutions assess
the first year in this way? Your thoughts on this would be much
appreciated.
Sarah
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