Some Qs on DCU in general

Ellen O123

Hi,
I' m thinking about going to DCU next year, I just have a few questions about the college in general.

Firstly, if you fail an exam, what are the options? For example, in UCD, you can repeat the exam, repeat the module, or sometimes do another module instead of repeating the same one that you failed.

Secondly, can you pass by compensation in DCU? For example in UCD, if you get an E in a module, but you pass 75% of your total modules for the year, you don't have to repeat the one you got the E in.

Thirdly, do all lecturers put their notes up on moodle?

Also, are you notified if a lecture is cancelled ie by email?

Do have some kind touch screen computer system in the library where you can take out books by yourself? Or do you have to go up to the counter like they do in trinity?

Also, is it possible for students to downlaod past exam papers from the DCU website, or do the lecturers make them available to you, or are they just not available to the students to help them prepare for exams?

.... that turned out to be abit longer than I had expected!! anyways, any help would be much appreciated.

adamski8

i think the answer to all those questions is yes dcu have all those things in place. moodle, library check out, compensation etc etc

jennyq

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Firstly, if you fail an exam, what are the options? For example, in UCD, you can repeat the exam, repeat the module, or sometimes do another module instead of repeating the same one that you failed.

In most cases you can just repeat the exam, but if it's a practical module like a lab, placement, etc. the repeat options can vary. Each individual module can have different rules. This link answers some common questions on those issues.

Secondly, can you pass by compensation in DCU? For example in UCD, if you get an E in a module, but you pass 75% of your total modules for the year, you don't have to repeat the one you got the E in.

Yes, once you get at least 35% in the module and you can only compensation 1/6th of your credits (usually you do 60 credits in one year, so 10 credits in this instance) and have an average of over 45% overall. Compensation applies to most modules except for some exceptions (e.g. you can't compensate for some important practical modules on courses like nursing, etc.).

Thirdly, do all lecturers put their notes up on moodle?

Not all unfortunately but a large proportion do, or have their own websites where they put notes online. More and more lecturers are using it as time goes on.

Also, are you notified if a lecture is cancelled ie by email?

Not always :rolleyes: but usually unless it's a very last minute thing.

Do have some kind touch screen computer system in the library where you can take out books by yourself? Or do you have to go up to the counter like they do in trinity?

There's self-service check-out/in systems so you can still check out books when staff aren't around after hours or on Sundays coming up to exam time.

Also, is it possible for students to downlaod past exam papers from the DCU website, or do the lecturers make them available to you, or are they just not available to the students to help them prepare for exams?

They're available on the DCU website and often lecturers also have them on their websites, possibly with extra, older exams and/or answers (not usually full solutions though!)

Hope that helps

cocoa

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Hi,
I' m thinking about going to DCU next year, I just have a few questions about the college in general.

Firstly, if you fail an exam, what are the options? For example, in UCD, you can repeat the exam, repeat the module, or sometimes do another module instead of repeating the same one that you failed.

options isn't really the right word, you are required to resit the module at the next available sitting, which is usually during the autumn repeats. Some modules are entirely continuously assessed and may not have a summer resit opportunity. If you fail (again) you may retake the module the following year (academic session if you want to be technical). You are allowed upto two academic sessions to pass a module, which means a max of 4 exam attempts. In general you would not have the option of doing another module instead except where the original module is no longer offered, this can vary by course however. Carrying modules over into the next academic session is almost never allowed.

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Secondly, can you pass by compensation in DCU? For example in UCD, if you get an E in a module, but you pass 75% of your total modules for the year, you don't have to repeat the one you got the E in.

You can pass by compensation in DCU except where stated otherwise. The rules for compensation are fairly clear and quite inflexible, either you get it or you don't. You need to have a precision mark (usually average mark) above 45% and you can only compensate upto 10 credits and the modules getting compensation need a mark of 35% or more.

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Thirdly, do all lecturers put their notes up on moodle?

It depends on the lecturer of course.

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Also, are you notified if a lecture is cancelled ie by email?

Once again, it depends on the lecturer, at the risk of generalising without sufficient data, most lecturers are fairly good about this sort of thing.

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Do have some kind touch screen computer system in the library where you can take out books by yourself? Or do you have to go up to the counter like they do in trinity?

Yes, there are self service desks in the library.

Ellen O123 wrote: »

Also, is it possible for students to downlaod past exam papers from the DCU website, or do the lecturers make them available to you, or are they just not available to the students to help them prepare for exams?

Yes, past exam papers are always available.

edit : woops, sniped by jennyq, ah well, info in more words

Ellen O123

Thanks very much cocoa and jeenyq, i appreciate your replys, they were very helpful:)

Sugar_Plum

Are there any limits to what kinds of modules you're allowed to pass by compensation in DCU? Like are you only allowed pass 1 semester modules or can you pass the year long core modules by compensation too?

Kavrocks

Sugar_Plum wrote: »

Are there any limits to what kinds of modules you're allowed to pass by compensation in DCU? Like are you only allowed pass 1 semester modules or can you pass the year long core modules by compensation too?

http://www4.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/registry/pdfs/M-S_version-2012.1.0.pdf

There are limits and criteria which have to be met and all can be found in the link above around page 11.

Sugar_Plum

Thank you so much that's really helpful!

katieanne

Hey can anyone tell me how you could end up having to repeat a whole year/semester instead of just doing repeat exams in August?

Attol

katieanne wrote: »

Hey can anyone tell me how you could end up having to repeat a whole year/semester instead of just doing repeat exams in August?

If the module is just continuous assessment there may be no option to repeat it in August. Also, if you fail the August repeat you'll have to resit the year.