G.P.A. assessment changed again.

The_Minister

The situation with the GPA has changed again - just got a text from Brian Doyle. I think the new arrangement is much better for students.
Did everyone get the text, or just class reps? Do I need to explain the new system?

EDIT: ~Will explain.
It is now 50/50 or 33/66 depending on which works out better for the student. The 33% is from the best 6 modules of second year.

emeraldstar

YAY!! i like the sound of that....seems a lot fairer

singingstranger

Far better arrangement. Excellent stuff.

Waltons

I support this change! It's definitely a lot fairer

Scraggs

Whats the change? I can't see it...

singingstranger

Scraggs wrote:

Whats the change? I can't see it...

Basically what was written was that the College had backed down and said that the balance between Second and Third Year of the degree would either be the current 50/50 or a 33/67 balance, depending on which favoured the student more.

Obviously though Steve reckons something needs clarifying and doesn't want to give people false hope 'til he's sure...

The_Minister

Clarified, should be grand.

Scraggs

YAY!!! Delira!! Hope this is the case now The_Minister or I'll be having words with you for giving me a false sense of hope:p

The_Minister

Scraggs wrote:

YAY!!! Delira!! Hope this is the case now The_Minister or I'll be having words with you for giving me a false sense of hope:p

APRIL FOOLS!!! Ha Ha ~BURNED~









j/k

Jonny Arson

Well, I'm not too pleased about this decision.

From reading the college rags last week calls for a change (dropping of Semester 1 GPA AFAIK) was brought about due to 2nd year students not being appropriately notified about the 50/50 scenario for their degree

Apparently this was unfair on poor 2nd year students because they would have worked/studied/gone to lectures otherwise if they had known (for the record i knew about this at week 1)

I can tell you for a fact since the notification of the new GPA weighting in week 7 by letter and email, in my lectures, attendance has fallen

One subject went from about 70% attendance to no more than 50% on average
the other subject from about 50% to no more than 25% on average

I attended a lecture today (in Week 11) with 2 people in it, me and another person out of a module of 20 students, this lecture has never been atteneded by less than 6 students

By logical reasoning it should be the other way round since ''this is your degree now!!'' and all that

I had a big debate about this with a couple of friends last week who said the new weighting and lack of notification was unfair, they havent been to a lecture since

Poor second years? My hole.

The college messed up sure, but the this whole ''unfair'' argument is a pile of crap as far as I'm concerned. These are 2nd year students, treating 2nd years like poor babies is laughable. Notification or zero notification, it would have made no difference to most 2nd year students attitudes. I feel this change is playing into the hands of the slackers and is putting people like myself who has worked my ass off so far this year at a disadvantage.

Wrong call, it should have remained 50/50 from my perspective, if you do well from this then good for you but I feel I'm gaining nothing from this change.

Chakar

I can tell you for a fact since the notification of the new GPA weighting in week 7 by letter and email, in my lectures, attendance has fallen

One subject went from about 70% attendance to no more than 50% on average
the other subject from about 50% to no more than 25% on average

Yeah they're studying in the library aren't they :rolleyes:

Jonny Arson

Chakar wrote:

Yeah they're studying in the library aren't they :rolleyes:

Yes exactly, lets go to library to study for something I've never gone to a lecture for!!!!

:rolleyes:

dajaffa

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Wrong call, it should have remained 50/50 from my perspective, if you do well from this then good for you but I feel I'm gaining nothing from this change.

Well just to be clear it's 50:50 overall or 33% based on your best 6 modules this year, whichever works out to be higher at the end of 3rd year.

Blush_01

Sounds like a big bowl of sour grapes from Zane.

Look, they're not being treated like babies, the people who don't turn up don't matter to you in the slightest. The way in which the thing has been amended isn't going to help them that much at the end of the day, if they never turn up. Be it 50% or 67%, if it's a percentage of nothing it's still nothing. Worry about yourself, let them take care of themselves, nothing more to worry about.

passive

By logical reasoning it should be the other way round since ''this is your degree now!!'' and all that

I had a big debate about this with a couple of friends last week who said the new weighting and lack of notification was unfair, they havent been to a lecture since

Poor second years? My hole.

umm... go screw yourself?

Personally my attendance had dropped in a couple of classes because i found out that the essays i had due in 2/3/4 days were worth a tangible percent of my degree, so i had to panickedly improve and put all the time i could into them, rather than just submitting a "pretty good" essay. Maybe other people gave up. Who knows!?
Either way it made a clear difference to people's attitudes. Everyone was annoyed and scared, overshadowed with a sense of doom or pressure to excel that should slowly build up towards the concluding years and months of your college years, rather than being spread evenly throughout the entire thing.

33%... i can live with it. Though i'd like that same weighting placed on the semesters of this year, given the lack of notification.

Also; yay!

Scraggs

I have to post again I'm so delighted! This has really eased a huge weight off my shoulders and I'm literally bounding around Roebuck with happinness.


Does anybody know if all the 2nd and final year modules we do go on our final degree transcript yokey or is it just the ones that account for our final GPA?

gubbie

None of ye are being clear on this-who does it affect? Is it just another "oh no somethings happening in the biggest faculty thats also happening in the other facultys... but this one is bigger"?
The papers were already misleading enough

BKtje

Apparently this was unfair on poor 2nd year students because they would have worked/studied/gone to lectures otherwise if they had known (for the record i knew about this at week 1)

I found out about this 2 weeks ago. As far as i know my head hasnt been stuck in the sand for the last couple months. Would dropping an email have been too much to do?

Im still a little confused btw, if 2nd years worth 33%(or 50%) and 3rds years worth the rest. Whats 4th year good for?
I really dont get this much as im sure you can tell and the more i read in the papers the more confused i got (like gubbie). In the papers they mentioned comp sci students but then also mentioned 3rd year as the final year?

Waltons

I don't think it applies to 4 year courses, BK!
Can't say for certain though

pretty*monster

Now, now, I'm sure students in four year degree courses will be informed of degree weighting, oh, about 1/4 though their 3rd year.

boneless

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Well, I'm not too pleased about this decision.

From reading the college rags last week calls for a change (dropping of Semester 1 GPA AFAIK) was brought about due to 2nd year students not being appropriately notified about the 50/50 scenario for their degree

Apparently this was unfair on poor 2nd year students because they would have worked/studied/gone to lectures otherwise if they had known (for the record i knew about this at week 1)

I can tell you for a fact since the notification of the new GPA weighting in week 7 by letter and email, in my lectures, attendance has fallen

One subject went from about 70% attendance to no more than 50% on average
the other subject from about 50% to no more than 25% on average

I attended a lecture today (in Week 11) with 2 people in it, me and another person out of a module of 20 students, this lecture has never been atteneded by less than 6 students

By logical reasoning it should be the other way round since ''this is your degree now!!'' and all that

I had a big debate about this with a couple of friends last week who said the new weighting and lack of notification was unfair, they havent been to a lecture since

Poor second years? My hole.

The college messed up sure, but the this whole ''unfair'' argument is a pile of crap as far as I'm concerned. These are 2nd year students, treating 2nd years like poor babies is laughable. Notification or zero notification, it would have made no difference to most 2nd year students attitudes. I feel this change is playing into the hands of the slackers and is putting people like myself who has worked my ass off so far this year at a disadvantage.

Wrong call, it should have remained 50/50 from my perspective, if you do well from this then good for you but I feel I'm gaining nothing from this change.

I am being serious here... take legal advice. There has to be certain criterean applied to measure a persons knowledge against courses... if they(college authorities) keep shifting the criteria how can you study the course? Hugh Brady.... camp outside his gaff .... you may get answers between baton charges.

Jonny Arson

Blush_01 wrote:

Sounds like a big bowl of sour grapes from Zane.

Look, they're not being treated like babies, the people who don't turn up don't matter to you in the slightest. The way in which the thing has been amended isn't going to help them that much at the end of the day, if they never turn up. Be it 50% or 67%, if it's a percentage of nothing it's still nothing. Worry about yourself, let them take care of themselves, nothing more to worry about.

You've kinda missed my point. Ok it may sound like i'm losing sleep over this, (i'm not! ) I don't care what other students do or don't do but in the instance where some students (i.e. the ones who've done nothing so far) are gaining an advantage I've got a reason to have a gripe. If everything was fair and square then surely some students would have a similar option to choose 66% from 2nd year and 33% from 3rd year? The rules were bent here for a grey pseudo argument which bothers me more than anything.

passive wrote:

umm... go screw yourself?

Nah..

Stabshauptmann

If zane bothered to be informed, and worked hard all year, its NOT fair that he should be reduced to only 33% for this year.

But if I am reading this correctly, he can still get 50%, its going to be an option thing.

Blush_01

He's not being reduced to 50%. What about the people who ARE going to class, who ARE making a conscious effort to do their coursework and who WEREN'T aware of the lie of the land, the way Zane appears to have been since the beginning of term? Those people deserve a fair chance, regardless of what the rest of the year have been doing. I'd be pretty stressed out if I found out my work was worth more of my degree than I had been told previously at this point of the year, if I was a 2nd year. That stress would probably effect the work I was doing now, at the most important part of the semester. Just because some people are idiots doesn't mean that hypothetical Úna should be punished for their stupidity, does it?

Jonny Arson

Email, probably sent to all affected students...

Dear Student

Please note that following discussion at the BA programme board, honours
in the BA, BSocSci, BA (Computer Science) and related BA programmes will
be calculated based on the best 6 modules from Stage 2, and ALL modules
from Stage 3, with the modules equally weighted. This one-off
arrangement applies to students currently in Stage 2 ONLY.

Yours faithfully

Danielle Clarke
Bairbre Redmond

Vice-Principals
College of Arts and Celtic Studies/College of Human Sciences
University College Dublin
Dublin 4

No sign of a 50/50 GPA calculation as was originally stated.

I'll have to take up Boneless' advice now

:mad: :mad: :mad:

emeraldstar

so...we DON'T have the 50/50 option also? ...it has to be 33/67.......hmmmm......

Scraggs

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

No sign of a 50/50 GPA calculation as was originally stated.

I'll have to take up Boneless' advice now

:mad: :mad: :mad:

Sorry if I'm being totally thick here but is this arrangement still not a good thing for you Zane if you have been working your arse off? Like if you do well in this semesters 6 modules then you have less pressure in semester 2... Or if you do badly [unlikely of course] then you have the chance to catch up in semester 2.

Jonny Arson

Scraggs wrote:

Sorry if I'm being totally thick here but is this arrangement still not a good thing for you Zane if you have been working your arse off? Like if you do well in this semesters 6 modules then you have less pressure in semester 2... Or if you do badly [unlikely of course] then you have the chance to catch up in semester 2.

It really depends on who you are Scraggs. TBH I hated the whole 50/50 GPA when i first heard about it but i've come to the conclusion that it suits me individual strengths better (i.e. I'm better at coursework than I am at exams and I can't take a tonne of pressure at once) Fact is there's a bigger load of pressure on you in 3rd year with it being 67%, the even spacing out over 2 years spreads out the stress and the loads. I've got a few rotten looking modules in 3rd year and with this new arrangment there's going to be modules I do this semester that will count for nothing, some of these i've been in the frame of mind that they're counting towards my overall degree, that's unfair no matter which way you look at it

I've got my Geography Stage 2 Course guide infront of me which we all got on day 1 and it categorically states on the front page that ''it is important to give equal time and attention to your courses this year, because (a) Stage 2 results are used by some as a criterion for graduate admission and (b) because your Stage 2 grades will now contribute to 50% of your final GPA'':that's 270 students who knew about the 50/50 GPA arrangement on day 1 accounted for.

to take the 50/50 option away is truly unfair on students who have worked and knew about it, I've replied to the email and i can only hope they've made another fcuk up

princess-sprkle

i'm not happy about this either, i preferred it 50/50 since i crack up at exam time and do quite badly. i know a good few people who preferred it 50/50.
i worked hard so far this term & now only half it will count for the degree! whats the point in doing the other 6 exams then??
i got the email too, and it doesn't mention that theres the option of 50/50 at all.:mad:

Waltons

Hmmm, that email mentions nothing about BA Comp Sci 4th year. For god's sake :rolleyes:
Taking away the 50/50 option at this stage would be absolutely ludicrous. In fact, during an economics lecture today Paul Lynham came in and informed us that the 50/50 calculation had been switched to either 33/66, or 50/50 depending on which is better. I can only hope that there's been a mistake in the email

Umaro

2nd Year only counts for 19% of my final GPA.. but then again I'm a special case.

The_Minister

**** sakes ****ing dickheads ******* loolu****s!!!!!!!!
****

Check your e-mail.

Scraggs

email wrote:

Dear Student,

It has come to our attention that incorrect information regarding the calculation of GPA has been given to students via announcements at lectures.

Following consultation and agreement, the definitive statement regarding this issue was sent to you in an email from the Registrar on the 21/11/06 which stated that:

"Honours in the BA, BSocSci, BA (Computer Science) and related BA programmes will be calculated based on the best 6 modules from Stage 2, and ALL Modules from Stage 3, with the modules equally weighted. This one-off arrangement applies to students currently in Stage 2 ONLY."

It is important to note that the 6 best grades at Stage 2 and all 12 grades at stage 3 will be weighted equally. Also, please note that this arrangement applies to students currently in Stage Two for this year only. It will not apply for students next year.

We hope that this addresses any confusion on this issue.

Kind regards

Danielle Clarke
Bairbre Redmond

Vice-Principals
College of Arts and Celtic Studies/College of Human Sciences
University College Dublin

.

The_Minister

I think its sorted.

singingstranger

So that's clear that it's no longer a possible 50/50 then?

Jonny Arson

singingstranger wrote:

So that's clear that it's no longer a possible 50/50 then?

I've emailed Brian Doyle about it so hopefully i'll hear something back from him tomorrow

If there's no 50/50 option, there's going to be war from me anyway, i have all the documentation needed to give me a case, if they can make exemptions and change everything for some students they can certainly give an option to the students who knew about the 50/50 dealio.