Anonymous marking in NUIG

RDM_83 again

Did my first proper in exam in NUIG this week and I was very surprised when I had to write my name on the front of the paper, I always presumed anonymous marking of papers was a requirement in externally assessed course (assessed by external examiners), even in the submitted essays for my dept we were told just to put our student number on them (I know not anonymous but still more so than name on the front)
(ps its not difficult to implement, simply requires a sealed area on the front of the paper is the system I've seen in use).
Anybody any opinions on this not worried about it but just seems very odd and open to abuse even sub-conscious abuse by markers

challengemaster

This was brought up a few weeks ago IIRC

Basically, there's no such thing as anonymous marking - the little sealed tab/etc - can easily be tampered with if people really wanted to. Things are never truly anonymous. Also there's benefits and disadvantages to anonymous marking so... it's been raised a few times, but each time students voted against it.

RolandIRL

there's been talk of this before, and i don't see why it isn't implemented. wasn't there an article in sin that was saying that foreign students were getting lower marks than irish students? not sure how true that was.
i wonder if a lecturer had a grudge against you though, would he/she mark you harder than others?

i remember that peter mannion said that it was one of the things he was going to bring in, no sign of it yet :rolleyes:

RDM_83 again

Ok searched for anonymous before I posted didn't see anything.
I don't really see any disadvantages to anonymous marking could you give me some?
Also the sticky things are easily opened but that is an effort, whereas with the name on the front the lecturer simply sees the name and for example the student has always preformed poorly previously and immediatly has a lowered expectation or the reverse can also occur with a positive view of the students work.
Ps I understand there can never be truelly ananymous marking but I still find it suprising that an effort isn't made where this is (admittedly small) effort at a dept level.
I never knew students had an imput on exam proceedure.

challengemaster

whiteman19 wrote: »

i wonder if a lecturer had a grudge against you though, would he/she mark you harder than others?

You always have the option of an appeal though

edit:

wasn't there an article in sin that was saying that foreign students were getting lower marks than irish students? not sure how true that was.

Could well be true, but that doesn't mean they're being marked unfairly. There's a substancial amount of non-national students who haven't got adequate english. That's not a fault with the marker.

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I don't really see any disadvantages to anonymous marking could you give me some?

Take, for example, a case where a student has to take some time out because of a berevment/family issues/something serious, and they miss a substancial amount of material.

The staff will know about the person taking time out for personal reasons, and if they happen to be borderline on passing then they'll generally give them the benefit of the doubt in a review board.

With anonymous marking - the student would just be seen as someone who never bothered to do the work.

RDM_83 again

Thats not an issue about anonymous marking though, as the appeal process would have the answer papers with the name attached/revealed anyway. Unless what you mean is that the lecturer should give better marks to somebody who doesn't know the material when marking the paper his or her self in which case I completely disagree with you and I'm fairly certain external examination would to as it would indicate that the university lowering its standards, what you are describing is a case for deferral of exams/assessment or repeating at a later date either of these options indicate that the person has the required knowledge

aperture_nuig

I thought there was some sort of external correction/inspection to ensure unbiased correction of papers?

RDM_83 again

The external examinor is one of these features however from what I have heard they tend to concentrate on the extremes of marks and final year projects etc, however it would be unlikely that they would pick up on a say an undeserved 5% drop in marks for an individual student, yet that drop in marks could have a big impact on the student.

randylonghorn

aperture_nuig wrote: »

I thought there was some sort of external correction/inspection to ensure unbiased correction of papers?

Most assessment is triple-marked, to an extent ...

... fully marked in detail by the original examiner, reviewed by an internal examiner (often HOD) and by an external examiner. Stage 2 and 3 wouldn't be as detailed, certainly, but no, generally it's not just the extremes (though they're certainly likely to look at these), they will pull a few samples at random as well. May not pick up everything, but no examiner can safely say "this script will not be re-checked".

Plus there is an option to get marks reviewed if students genuinely feel they have been hard done by.

The only real disadvantage of anonymous marking (that I can think of off-hand, anyway) is that it leads to more errors in data entry of results. When you can cross-check names and numbers as you enter marks, you're less likely to enter the mark against the wrong student. That's a bigger advantage than you might think, when you're trying to upload marks for say 400 first year geography students and all the numbers are similar enough, you're trying to do it in a few hours, and you're already seeing double from wading through the heroin-addicted spiders crawling across the page which is the way most students write these days!

Ficheall

I wouldn't worry about it, OP. You're a first year - your script will probably be given to some postgrad along with a couple of hundred others, all to be corrected over one long weekend. They won't even look at the name on the paper until they're filling in your score on some spreadsheet.
I have never yet come across someone in college who felt that they had so pissed off a lecturer that said lecturer would care enough to try mark them harder in the exam - knowing full well that it would more than likely be appealed anyway. However, I know plenty of postgrads and lecturers who have to go through scripts again and again looking for an extra couple of marks to bring someone up to a pass.
Anonymous marking would be a substantial amount of extra work for the markers.

Just know your stuff, don't be a dick to any of your lecturers, and then you won't have a problem.

RDM_83 again

I'm not worried about it never had an issue with lecturers just surprised at its absence from NUIG (in a HDip, worried about the marks obviously though), the process you describe of lecturers bringing up marks of people just by giving extra marks on exam scripts is completely untransparent though, I do think there should be a process for doing this (trying to think how they referred to it in TCD, not viva don't think though that could bring up marks) but not a completely ad hoc one

Ficheall

Ah, HDip, fair enough. Well, I've no experience with any marking of such, but surely the classes are so small that it would make little difference whether the exams were anonymous or not - the examiners would know anyway? I dunno... maybe some HDip classes are larger than any I might have come across.
And the process isn't really 'untransparent', as it's not really a process.. moreso a 'done thing'? It looks better for the college if more people get good results, deserved or no. This in turn is resulting in quite the dumbing down of material, but that's another discussion...

There is an appeals process, as mentioned previously, or if there are a number of complaints that a paper was too difficult (or too easy) the scripts/marking might be reviewed and adjusted correspondingly.

I've never seen any reason for anonymous marking, certainly not in NUIG, and said as much to Mr. Mannion during the elections when he was promising such.

RDM_83 again

I understand that marking can not be properly anonymous, my specialism at undergraduate for two years was in a class of 6 people with much more contact hours than I have here, and again not worried about it personnaly, my issue with the fact that something that can be implimented at least partially (a sticky side to an exam paper is not expensive) for little cost or difficulty is not.
Its recommended as best practice by the QAA in the uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_Assurance_Agency_for_Higher_Education

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/codeOfPractice/section6/default.asp#p14

and as far as I know is implimented for exams at nearly every UK university
In terms of Irish universities
UCD, TCD,and UCC all have it.
Don't know about other uni's in ireland.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0303/1224265501148.html

Grade inflation is a universal issue in the education system but its not equal across all the Irish universities or at least is not perceived as such by the people that matter

Skopzz

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I understand that marking can not be properly anonymous, my specialism at undergraduate for two years was in a class of 6 people with much more contact hours than I have here, and again not worried about it personnaly, my issue with the fact that something that can be implimented at least partially (a sticky side to an exam paper is not expensive) for little cost or difficulty is not.
Its recommended as best practice by the QAA in the uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_Assurance_Agency_for_Higher_Education

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/codeOfPractice/section6/default.asp#p14

and as far as I know is implimented for exams at nearly every UK university
In terms of Irish universities
UCD, TCD,and UCC all have it.
Don't know about other uni's in ireland.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0303/1224265501148.html

Grade inflation is a universal issue in the education system but its not equal across all the Irish universities or at least is not perceived as such by the people that matter

The NUIG Pharmacology exam is supposedly among one the most hardest marked papers on campus. The NUIG Pharmacology Department like to cut students down in their grades

The grade inflation issue is often fixated on by conservative, small minded, and judgmental Lecturers. Yes; these are the over-paid civil servants who cannot be fired.

However, students can vote with their feet by choosing to study elsewhere.

ZRelation

Skopzz wrote: »

However, students can vote with their feet by choosing to study elsewhere.

Can they really though? Not so easy to change colleges once you've started somewhere. And before you start somewhere the grading method for scripts is hardly a major influence in which college you go to.

Grade inflation is definitely a problem but don't think it falls entirely at the lecturers door. They are often under pressure from above to ensure as many students as possible pass. Take the recent problems in GMIT for example where lecturers raised concerns about grade inflation and cheating, but were ignored by the academic council.

And yeah I've heard about pharmacology MCQs. Glad I've never had to do them..

Ficheall

ZRelation wrote: »

Take the recent problems in GMIT for example where lecturers raised concerns about grade inflation and cheating, but were ignored by the academic council.

And students' willingness to sue etc. if they don't get a good mark/degree.
The attitude seems to be that if you pay for your degree, you're entitled to it, inability notwithstanding.

Skopzz

ZRelation wrote: »

Can they really though? Not so easy to change colleges once you've started somewhere. And before you start somewhere the grading method for scripts is hardly a major influence in which college you go to.

Grade inflation is definitely a problem but don't think it falls entirely at the lecturers door. They are often under pressure from above to ensure as many students as possible pass. Take the recent problems in GMIT for example where lecturers raised concerns about grade inflation and cheating, but were ignored by the academic council.

And yeah I've heard about pharmacology MCQs. Glad I've never had to do them..

Yes you can by a simple means of transferring the subsequent year OR by leaving before the 31 October deadline where you receive your full fees back. The grading issue is certainly one for students going to any university/IT. Past student experience is useful in this regard, as well as researching the forums on students experience. I would never go to NUIG when I seen the way they mark students.

You apparently lack the basics about grade inflation too, or you just go along like a sheep repeating the same old thing about 'Grade inflation is a problem'....

Grade inflation is a vigilante tool used by conservative lecturers who earn up to EUR 64.00 / hour. Cutting someone down in their grade unfairly just to please the Minister for Education is unwarranted, unjustifiable and selfish. Particularly nowadays where cutbacks to Lecturers inflated salaries loom. The response is to pretend they are doing good work by snipping the grades of students down even further.

Skopzz

Ficheall wrote: »

And students' willingness to sue etc. if they don't get a good mark/degree.
The attitude seems to be that if you pay for your degree, you're entitled to it, inability notwithstanding.

No. You have got it so wrong; it's unbelievable. Putting in so much hard work to sit a well-written exam and then not getting recognition for same by a menial marker on the other end. Try to change your stereotype and look beyond the student.

Ficheall

Skopzz wrote: »

No. You have got it so wrong; it's unbelievable. Putting in so much hard work to sit a well-written exam and then not getting recognition for same by a menial marker on the other end. Try to change your stereotype and look beyond the student.

Skopzz wrote: »

Grade inflation is a vigilante tool used by conservative lecturers who earn up to EUR 64.00 / hour. Cutting someone down in their grade unfairly just to please the Minister for Education is unwarranted, unjustifiable and selfish. Particularly nowadays where cutbacks to Lecturers inflated salaries loom. The response is to pretend they are doing good work by snipping the grades of students down even further.

Do you know what "grade inflation" and "menial" mean?

yer man!

Skopzz wrote: »

The NUIG Pharmacology exam is supposedly among one the most hardest marked papers on campus. The NUIG Pharmacology Department like to cut students down in their grades

The grade inflation issue is often fixated on by conservative, small minded, and judgmental Lecturers. Yes; these are the over-paid civil servants who cannot be fired.

However, students can vote with their feet by choosing to study elsewhere.

I did the pharmacology 2nd year paper this year I thought they were fairly harsh alright, now I didn't expect to come out with an A but i thought I deserved more than a D. Do a lot of people complain about the Pharmacology marking? seems to me that if you don't fill the exam with drug names you're not getting past a C.

ZRelation

Skopzz wrote: »

You apparently lack the basics about grade inflation too, or you just go along like a sheep repeating the same old thing about 'Grade inflation is a problem'....

Grade inflation would imply an artificial increase in grades. Since I actually partake in quite a bit of marking I doubt very much I lack the basics regarding grade inflation. Its something I'm constantly debating with both students and academics so I think I'm in an ok position to comment on it.

Skopzz

ZRelation wrote: »

Grade inflation would imply an artificial increase in grades. Since I actually partake in quite a bit of marking I doubt very much I lack the basics regarding grade inflation. Its something I'm constantly debating with both students and academics so I think I'm in an ok position to comment on it.

You are a Professor at NUIG? There is no artificial increase in grades at NUIG. I should know, I studied my degree and now my masters there. In fact, the opposite - Grade Deflation by Lecturers desperately trying to pretend they work.

In any case, grades are being cut down by most NUIG Lecturers. There is corruption in the system too. That is why prospective students looking to NUIG will soon go elsewhere. Then what? > these Lecturers won't have such a big neck on them. The Government should cut ALL Lecturers over-inflated pay and implement a system of independent inspectors to review their work. If a Lecturer is deliberately failing or cutting down students, they must be FIRED from the job, like any other Country.

Ficheall

Skopzz wrote: »

You are a Professor at NUIG? There is no artificial increase in grades at NUIG. I should know, I studied my degree and now my masters there. In fact, the opposite - Grade Deflation by Lecturers desperately trying to pretend they work.

In any case, grades are being cut down by most NUIG Lecturers. There is corruption in the system too. That is why prospective students looking to NUIG will soon go elsewhere. Then what? > these Lecturers won't have such a big neck on them. The Government should cut ALL Lecturers over-inflated pay and implement a system of independent inspectors to review their work. If a Lecturer is deliberately failing or cutting down students, they must be FIRED from the job, like any other Country.

You do realise that the large majority of students that post on this forum are NUIG students or alumni? Your "I should know, I studied my degree now my masters there." isn't going to lend any more credit to your nonsense.
I'm in my seventh year here now. So I am clearly right. So :P.

You don't have to be a professor to have experience with marking exams. I've marked exams too, and know plenty of people who have marked exams and none have ever been instructed to mark people down. Quite the opposite in fact - more often than not students are given far higher marks than they deserve. In fact, short of outside problems or dog laziness, I don't know how anyone can possibly fail. I do know of people who have had trouble with their supervisors etc. but they are definitely in the minority. Perhaps your own individual complaint is justified, Skopzz, but given the general ignorance of your posts, one would be inclined to believe that it's just a major case of sour grapes.

Skopzz

yer man! wrote: »

I did the pharmacology 2nd year paper this year I thought they were fairly harsh alright, now I didn't expect to come out with an A but i thought I deserved more than a D. Do a lot of people complain about the Pharmacology marking? seems to me that if you don't fill the exam with drug names you're not getting past a C.

You got an A? A rarity in NUIG Pharmacology, especially with the aforementioned Lecturers marking your paper. I shared class with your 3rd year Pharmacology compatriots last semester and those Lecturers set and marked our papers also. They mark first and second years VERY easy because second year carries forward very little % towards your final degree award. Third year (and especially fourth year) carry the most % towards your degree. When I studied my undergraduate, second year was only worth 15%, third year 30% and fourth year 55%.

In other words, you will soon discover that if you have the misfortune to study fourth year Pharmacology at NUIG, you're in for a big nasty surprise. They will cut you down.

Skopzz

Ficheall wrote: »

You do realise that the large majority of students that post on this forum are NUIG students or alumni? Your "I should know, I studied my degree now my masters there." isn't going to lend any more credit to your nonsense.
I'm in my seventh year here now. So I am clearly right. So :P.

You don't have to be a professor to have experience with marking exams. I've marked exams too, and know plenty of people who have marked exams and none have ever been instructed to mark people down. Quite the opposite in fact - more often than not students are given far higher marks than they deserve. In fact, short of outside problems or dog laziness, I don't know how anyone can possibly fail. I do know of people who have had trouble with their supervisors etc. but they are definitely in the minority. Perhaps your own individual complaint is justified, Skopzz, but given the general ignorance of your posts, one would be inclined to believe that it's just a major case of sour grapes.

What you said is FALSE. You are most likely a seduced snob with the corrupt NUIG ''holier than thou'' attitude, a commonality of an NUIG Lecturer. Like I said, when the chickens come to roost (no more students enrolling here), you will not be as judgmental and hard necked when your job is on the line.

Ficheall

Skopzz wrote: »

What you said is FALSE. You are most likely a seduced snob with the corrupt NUIG ''holier than thou'' attitude, a commonality of an NUIG Lecturer. Like I said, when the chickens come to roost (no more students enrolling here), you will not be as judgmental and hard necked when your job is on the line.

I'm not an NUIG lecturer - just not a fool.

red_fox

I guess I have two points,

1. If you studied both your bachelor's (I assume this is what you mean by degree) and now masters here then what's your basis for comparison? Your leaving certificate? Somebody else's result elsewhere?

2. Each of us should make a note on our cv: Studied at NUIG, note that they cut down my grade to a 2.2 so it's equivalant to an first from UCD.

The second wasn't really a point.

ZRelation

Skopzz wrote: »

You are a Professor at NUIG? There is no artificial increase in grades at NUIG. I should know, I studied my degree and now my masters there. In fact, the opposite - Grade Deflation by Lecturers desperately trying to pretend they work.

In any case, grades are being cut down by most NUIG Lecturers. There is corruption in the system too. That is why prospective students looking to NUIG will soon go elsewhere. Then what? > these Lecturers won't have such a big neck on them. The Government should cut ALL Lecturers over-inflated pay and implement a system of independent inspectors to review their work. If a Lecturer is deliberately failing or cutting down students, they must be FIRED from the job, like any other Country.

No, I'm not a professor? I'm a post-grad here in NUIG and have done my undergrad here aswell. Like Ficheall said its pretty common for post-grads to mark assingments (for no pay in my case too).

I think grade inflation is far more prevalent than some sort of malicious cutting down in grades, tbh you're the first person I've ever heard suggest something like this.

Skopzz

ZRelation wrote: »

No, I'm not a professor? I'm a post-grad here in NUIG and have done my undergrad here aswell. Like Ficheall said its pretty common for post-grads to mark assingments (for no pay in my case too).

I think grade inflation is far more prevalent than some sort of malicious cutting down in grades, tbh you're the first person I've ever heard suggest something like this.

You read some article in a Newspaper (or wherever) about grade inflation and, like a sheep, you jump on the bandwagon and follow the same failed analogy pursued by an old 57 yr old conservative Lecturer. At the end of the day, I am here to defend Students work.

Fisher Calhoun

Skopzz wrote: »

You read some article in a Newspaper (or wherever) about grade inflation and, like a sheep, you jump on the bandwagon and follow the same failed analogy pursued by an old 57 yr old conservative Lecturer. At the end of the day, I am here to defend Students work.

I just read through all the posts above and I'm seriously at a loss as to what you're here to do...

Padkir

Skopzz wrote: »

You read some article in a Newspaper (or wherever) about grade inflation and, like a sheep, you jump on the bandwagon and follow the same failed analogy pursued by an old 57 yr old conservative Lecturer. At the end of the day, I am here to defend Students work.

You don't seem to be here to do anything but argue...! These people have experience in marking papers, and have had no dealings or even heard of what you're suggesting, so where is your proof that it happens? Were you ever marking papers and told to cut down people's grades?

I can't possibly understand why they would want to do this anyway, as it looks bad on their part if their students are doing below average!

ZRelation

Skopzz wrote: »

At the end of the day, I am here to defend Students work.

And I wish you all the best in your noble cause.

Somewhat back OT though, the main reason anonymous marking isn't brought in is probably that its a bit of a nuisance in terms of marking and not enough people are requesting it to justify bringing it in. It is a good idea, even though tbh when I was marking scripts I couldn't have cared less who they belonged to.

Squeeonline

yer man! wrote: »

I did the pharmacology 2nd year paper this year I thought they were fairly harsh alright, now I didn't expect to come out with an A but i thought I deserved more than a D. Do a lot of people complain about the Pharmacology marking? seems to me that if you don't fill the exam with drug names you're not getting past a C.

I did the basic pharma thing last year as a 1 semester module. Loved it, and it really clicked eventually when studying. After the exam I was confident of 60-65% but to only get 50 really disappointed me. I asked for a re-check in case some of the cont. ass. was missed or an entire question, but no.

I think you're right about having to fill it with drug names to get anywhere.

Back on topic. I dont see the point of having to write your name when you have your id number written down. I do worry about some lecturers looking unfavourably on some students. Opposite is also unfair.

what was the reason given for not implementing this?

Can we all chip in and get Skopzz a dictionary for Christmas. He's either trolling or doesn't have a clue.

Ficheall

Squeeonline wrote: »

Back on topic. I dont see the point of having to write your name when you have your id number written down. I do worry about some lecturers looking unfavourably on some students. Opposite is also unfair.

Some students write down their ID number incorrectly.
If a student's script needs to be accessed or discussed, it's easier to use their name than a number.
When all the marks are being filled into whatever spreadsheet they're destined for, it's easier to say 'joe bloggs - X per cent' than '012345678 - X per cent'.
Also, if anonymous marking is brought in, it's only a matter of time before some similar ****e follows for oral and practical examinations, with externs being required to mark.

Simply - don't be a dick to the person who will be correcting your exam, and learn your stuff.

Squeeonline

Ficheall wrote: »

Some students write down their ID number incorrectly.
If a student's script needs to be accessed or discussed, it's easier to use their name than a number.
When all the marks are being filled into whatever spreadsheet they're destined for, it's easier to say 'joe bloggs - X per cent' than '012345678 - X per cent'.
Also, if anonymous marking is brought in, it's only a matter of time before some similar ****e follows for oral and practical examinations, with externs being required to mark.

If you cant write 8 numbers down correctly, should be doing an exam at a university level?

Ficheall wrote: »

Simply - don't be a dick to the person who will be correcting your exam, and learn your stuff.

QFT - but some lecturers do hold grudges for those who don't turn up to lectures. Unfair IMO.

ZRelation

Squeeonline wrote: »

If you cant write 8 numbers down correctly, should be doing an exam at a university level?

You'd be surprised how many people are incapable of doing such simple things under pressure in an exam.

TBH I don't think whether you're turning up to lectures or not will have a real bearing on how you'll be marked, or at least not in the sciences or engineering, as exams aren't so subjective.

If you're not turning up for project work and the lecturer notices then thats a different story.

Fisher Calhoun

ZRelation wrote: »

You'd be surprised how many people are incapable of doing such simple things under pressure in an exam.

TBH I don't think whether you're turning up to lectures or not will have a real bearing on how you'll be marked, or at least not in the sciences or engineering, as exams aren't so subjective.

If you're not turning up for project work and the lecturer notices then thats a different story.

You'd also be surprised how many students submit assignments without a name or ID number... it boggles the mind!

Squeeonline

Fisher Calhoun wrote: »

You'd also be surprised how many students submit assignments without a name or ID number... it boggles the mind!

Tough bollocks. They'd soon learn if they got zero for that exam. Examiners already make it clear before every exam to fill in the details.

Maybe doing this would force the evolution of students by removing the brainless. No harm I say.

Skrankio-X

I thought this was about the spate of Anonymous posters and graffiti I've seen up around the place recently. As in the 4chan peeps.

Never mind.

Squeeonline

yeah every time i see the thread, i think it's about that, and then i remember....

/disappointment

Columc

Skopzz wrote: »

The NUIG Pharmacology Department like to cut students down in their grades: Dr Kelly, Dr Dowd, Dr Grealy & Dr Welsby...

Do you have proof? if not dont discredit lectueres.

What it sounds like from you skopzz is that you didnt do well in your assignemnts and got a bad grade and are annoyed and trying to troll these parts.

If you dont like the way your grades are or the way they are marked bring it up with the Examination office.

blairbe

Skopzz wrote: »

You got an A? A rarity in NUIG Pharmacology, especially with the aforementioned Lecturers marking your paper. I shared class with your 3rd year Pharmacology compatriots last semester and those Lecturers set and marked our papers also. They mark first and second years VERY easy because second year carries forward very little % towards your final degree award. Third year (and especially fourth year) carry the most % towards your degree. When I studied my undergraduate, second year was only worth 15%, third year 30% and fourth year 55%.

In other words, you will soon discover that if you have the misfortune to study fourth year Pharmacology at NUIG, you're in for a big nasty surprise. They will cut you down.

This is bull****.. Did 4th year pharmacology in 2010 and got a 1.1. As far as I know most of the class got 1.1s and 2.1s. They are very supportive during final year, more so than other science departments in nuig. The standard of teaching is excellent. Nicest lecturers in NUIG.

Pharmacology is a hard science. You just have to work harder to get good marks.

Skopzz

Columc wrote: »

Do you have proof? if not dont discredit lectueres.

What it sounds like from you skopzz is that you didnt do well in your assignemnts and got a bad grade and are annoyed and trying to troll these parts.

If you dont like the way your grades are or the way they are marked bring it up with the Examination office.

Yes; the Pharmacology Department of NUIG want to retain their 'rave review' reputation by cutting your grades down (even if you do a good exam). They are desperately trying to fend-off budget cuts to their Department. They embark on a grade deflation campaign to appease the Government, thus helping avert potential budget cuts to their area.

And possibly another thing; they employ a British external examiner for the Pharmacology paper (anti-Irish secret agenda?) or could it be that they are simply ''in this together'' meaning no fair marking takes place?

Personally, I would not recommend studying Pharmacology at NUIG to ANYONE. On the outset, the syllabus is poorly planned, badly organised continuous exams, corrupt marking system etc..

In fact, one of the Lecturers has already left NUIG and found a job elsewhere - Now....! Do you still think I'm lying?

Skopzz

blairbe wrote: »

This is bull****.. Did 4th year pharmacology in 2010 and got a 1.1. As far as I know most of the class got 1.1s and 2.1s. They are very supportive during final year, more so than other science departments in nuig. The standard of teaching is excellent. Nicest lecturers in NUIG.

Pharmacology is a hard science. You just have to work harder to get good marks.

No bull****.... What you say is your opinion; nothing more, nothing less.

Yes I DID work hard, done a really good paper but came up against a grade pinching crowd of markers. No matter how hard I worked, I wasn't going to make the decent grade that I truly deserved.

Seriously, you need to look independently at this rather than just backing the Lecturers up because your mates done well on a 1:1 or 2:1. The Lecturers mark you easy ONLY when they WANT to.


Anonymous marking is desperately needed in Pharmacology.

brianthebard

Skopzz wrote: »

Yes; the Pharmacology Department of NUIG want to retain their 'rave review' reputation by cutting your grades down (even if you do a good exam). They are desperately trying to fend-off budget cuts to their Department. They embark on a grade deflation campaign to appease the Government, thus helping avert potential budget cuts to their area.

And possibly another thing; they employ a British external examiner for the Pharmacology paper (anti-Irish secret agenda?) or could it be that they are simply ''in this together'' meaning no fair marking takes place?

Personally, I would not recommend studying Pharmacology at NUIG to ANYONE. On the outset, the syllabus is poorly planned, badly organised continuous exams, corrupt marking system etc..

In fact, one of the Lecturers has already left NUIG and found a job elsewhere - Now....! Do you still think I'm lying?

*facepalm* lecturers move to different jobs all the time and getting an external examiner from England/Uk is common. Stop your conspiracy theories. Mod.

yer man!

Philip was my lecturer, he's gone traveling with his wife who was in biochemistry. Pharm is a pretty hard subject to study, I think the problem may be down to the fact that there isn't tutorials as it's so small of a dept and students may not know how to answer the questions properly as they are all essay questions and it's pretty easy to go wrong in them if you're not used to them even if you studied your a*s off. Many schools in nui use examiners in foreign countries, not unusual.

Skopzz

yer man! wrote: »

Philip was my lecturer, he's gone traveling with his wife who was in biochemistry. Pharm is a pretty hard subject to study, I think the problem may be down to the fact that there isn't tutorials as it's so small of a dept and students may not know how to answer the questions properly as they are all essay questions and it's pretty easy to go wrong in them if you're not used to them even if you studied your a*s off. Many schools in nui use examiners in foreign countries, not unusual.

Now you know who I'm talking about.

In December, he mentioned it was his last lecture and also his last day forever in NUIG, so someone's lying here and it isn't me. I've answered essay style questions for the past 3 years in previous studies, so I know how essay questions work inside-out. It's the way Pharmacology is marked at NUIG that is the problem. I would have zero faith in appealing my grade if I knew the external examiner was British (given the history between these two countries). I would simply be wasting my time and money.

Anonymous marking eliminates all this, provided the internal examiner is kept unknown to the external examiner as well as their location. If you were a Lecturer, you're going to back-up people in your own field whatever the cost.

Ficheall

Just to check - you're claiming that NUIG lecturers are deflating grades because they think it will get them more funding?
That's BS. The only problem on that score is that NUIG are increasing grades to up the numbers that graduate with high marks, thereby devaluing the NUIG degrees. It also seems to give people notions that they are entitled to a good mark for sub-par work, and they claim it's a conspiracy against them.

That said, you do strike me as the kind of person whom, if you were in my class, I would be disinclined to mark favourably. But generally, one would have to be a real jerk for the lecturer to even notice whose name was on the exam script.

Skopzz

Ficheall wrote: »

Just to check - you're claiming that NUIG lecturers are deflating grades because they think it will get them more funding?
That's BS. The only problem on that score is that NUIG are increasing grades to up the numbers that graduate with high marks, thereby devaluing the NUIG degrees. It also seems to give people notions that they are entitled to a good mark for sub-par work, and they claim it's a conspiracy against them.

That said, you do strike me as the kind of person whom, if you were in my class, I would be disinclined to mark favourably. But generally, one would have to be a real jerk for the lecturer to even notice whose name was on the exam script.

How many times do idiots need to be told there's NO grade inflation at NUIG, period.

I have been here for some time now and I know the trend. Only blindfolded sheep believe it's justified to deflate a students grade in order to give the college a plastic reputation on education standards. NUIG degree is worth little anyway - this University could be dwarfed by a similar degree from any U.S University (where they give you a grade you truly earn and deserve, like an A).

brianthebard

Skopzz infracted for insulting people. No more talk of grade deflation in this forum unless evidence is provided in the form of third party articles. Mod.

Ficheall

Look, I realise that English not being your first language might be causing you some confusion so I shall try to be clear when responding to your points:

Skopzz wrote: »

How many times do idiots need to be told there's NO grade inflation at NUIG, period.

Grade inflation is a huge problem in almost every institute of education in Ireland, and NUIG is no exception.
I, ZRelation, and probably many others can attest to this.
Failing that, here is a link: http://www.stopgradeinflation.ie/links_irl.html

Skopzz wrote: »

I have been here for some time now and I know the trend.

You have not been here as long as some of the others you are arguing with here, so that 'fact' does not lend any extra weight to your claims. I strongly suspect that you know very little about academic matters - or your branch of study, by the looks of things.

Skopzz wrote: »

Only blindfolded sheep believe it's justified to deflate a students grade in order to give the college a plastic reputation on education standards.

No one is saying that, except perhaps maybe yourself. On the contrary, most people here are arguing that NUIG is inflating grades to try and convince other colleges that we are a good college.

Skopzz wrote: »

NUIG degree is worth little anyway - this University could be dwarfed by a similar degree from any U.S University (where they give you a grade you truly earn and deserve, like an A).

Granted, the NUIG degree is worth comparitively little, but only because they hand out honours degrees to anyone who is prepared to put any amount of work in.
There are certain universities in the US which would certainly dwarf any qualification from NUIG, or any Irish university, but I very much doubt that you would get an A over there if you cannot even get one in NUIG...

Perhaps you should go to one of these other Universities and earn a qualification there - and then you can come back and complain that NUIG's courses are too easy and worthless, and that you were only denied some wonderful accolade because of some small-mindedness of your lectuters'?