Semester 2 Exam Reults

jennyq

juanace wrote: »

Where do you find the passlists?

Link on your portal page.

Powerhouse

Kavrocks wrote: »

I disagree, if a lot depends on the subject then why do we currently have the same percentages for 1.1's, etc, across all subjects?

I would also put it to you that maybe the reason there are less 1.1's in Humanities and such is that the people in those courses just aren't willing to put in the work that those in more Math's based courses are and that that stems from the view people have about Arts courses.

I think maybe you need to get your story straight before you 'put' anything to me. When you are contradicting yourself, as above, you haven't really thought it through.

briocht

My passlist doesn't work!

Kavrocks

Powerhouse wrote: »

I think maybe you need to get your story straight before you 'put' anything to me. When you are contradicting yourself, as above, you haven't really thought it through.

I didn't contradict myself. You took two small quotes out of context.

Powerhouse

Kavrocks wrote: »

I didn't contradict myself. You took two small quotes out of context.

Okay, let's spell it out then. You said in the early part of your post "I disagree, if a lot depends on the subject then why do we currently have the same percentages for 1.1's, etc, across all subjects?"

This implies, er, that we currently have (or at least you believe we have) the same percentages for 1.1s across all subjects.*

Later on you say "I would also put it to you that maybe the reason there are less 1.1's in Humanities * and such is that the people in those courses just aren't willing to put in the work that those in more Math's based courses are and that that stems from the view people have about Arts courses."

Clearly this states that there are less 1.1s in Humanities.I underline the specific contradictions only for emphasis. They are presented in the original context, which as it happens has no relevance.

Your claim that we currently have the same percentage for 1.1.s across all subjects cannot be reconciled with then going on to posit reasons that there are less 1.1. in Humanities. It's like saying that there is the same level of rainfall in Donegal and Mayo, but the reason there is less in Donegal in that it is more Northerly. The second proposition is a complete non sequiter and cannot possibly follow from the first so there's no point in discussing the matter really.

* I am ignoring the fact that there is no reference for either piece of information for the moment for the simple reason that they cannot both be accurate. Cliched generalisations about Arts students are one thing - we know where they are sourced - but apparent facts are quite another and should have some demonstrable basis in reality.

p1akuw47h5r3it

Powerhouse wrote: »

Okay, let's spell it out then...

I might be wrong but does he not mean that 70% results in a 1.1 no matter the subject, not the percentage of people obtaining 1,1's

Kavrocks

DanDan6592 wrote: »

I might be wrong but does he not mean that 70% results in a 1.1 no matter the subject, not the percentage of people obtaining 1,1's

That's exactly what I meant. Thanks.

Powerhouse wrote: »

* I am ignoring the fact that there is no reference for either piece of information for the moment for the simple reason that they cannot both be accurate. Cliched generalisations about Arts students are one thing - we know where they are sourced - but apparent facts are quite another and should have some demonstrable basis in reality.

When I said

Kavrocks wrote:

I would also put it to you that maybe the reason there are less 1.1's in Humanities

I was referring to where you said

Powerhouse wrote:

I think a lot depends on the subject really. In some subjects a student can demonstrably get full marks - I'm thinking of something like Maths. 80%+ for a First in something like that might be reasonable.

In other subjects such as the humanities (paradoxically often regarded as 'easier') it can require a very strong performance to achieve 70%+, where you are not only required to have serious reading done and know your stuff, but also have the verbal dexterity to react and construct and argument related to the specific wording of a question - the answer to which is ultimately up to interpretation anyway.

I have absolutely no idea what the percentage of 1.1s achieved across multiple subjects are I only gave 1 reason as I see it myself to which I was looking for your opinion on.

juanace

jennyq wrote: »

Link on your portal page.

Really, i can't see it - where bouts on the page, whats section is it in? Thanks a mil!

Kavrocks

juanace wrote: »

Really, i can't see it - where bouts on the page, whats section is it in? Thanks a mil!

Its gone.

https://www.dcu.ie/results/passlist.php3

Powerhouse

DanDan6592 wrote: »

I might be wrong but does he not mean that 70% results in a 1.1 no matter the subject, not the percentage of people obtaining 1,1's

No, you're right. My mistake. I misinterpreted it.

R.M.

Does anyone know when we'll get the results posted out? I need a copy to apply for a course asap. Could i go in and ask them to print a copy for me?, and if so where would i go to ask? thanks

Powerhouse

Kavrocks wrote: »

I disagree, if a lot depends on the subject then why do we currently have the same percentages for 1.1's, etc, across all subjects?

You are suggesting that it is harder to get 70% in a Humanities subject than a Maths subject but I have to say I completely disagree.

First of all my apologies for my misinterpretation of your remarks earlier.

Why do we have 70% for 1.1s across all subjects? I have no idea. I suspect it is nothing more complicated than tradition from the days when Universities taught logic, rhetoric and arithmetic.

I'm not sure if I suggested that 'it is harder to get 70% in a Humanities subject than a Maths subject' from the point of view of the relative difficulties of the subjects per se. It is more a question of marking schemes. In much of the Humanities there is not always a 'right' or 'wrong' answer, and if you give an opinion the examiner doesn't much care for you might be penalised. Of if you prioritise or assess material in an answer in a way that the examiner doesn't much fancy you could lose marks. In Maths, I suspect there are less nuances. If you know your stuff there might be less to go wrong.

Also because of the marking scheme I presume that it is possible to get even 100% in Maths. In Humanities that is unheard of to my knowledge. That's why - to go back to the original issue - that I think 80% (what you suggested for a 1.1 generally) for a 1.1 in Maths would be more reasonable than in the Humanities. It would be penally high for Humanities unless the marking regime changed utterly. That's just my opinion.

Kavrocks

R.M. wrote: »

Does anyone know when we'll get the results posted out? I need a copy to apply for a course asap. Could i go in and ask them to print a copy for me?, and if so where would i go to ask? thanks

As far as I can remember we were told in an email when they will be posted out. Otherwise its definitely on the DCU website.

Yes you can ask for a copy to be printed off. Go to the Registry.

bren2001

Powerhouse wrote: »

First of all my apologies for my misinterpretation of your remarks earlier.

Why do we have 70% for 1.1s across all subjects? I have no idea. I suspect it is nothing more complicated than tradition from the days when Universities taught logic, rhetoric and arithmetic.

We have 1.1's set at 70% across the board because that is what is fair. In theory (and I agree that it is not the case in practice) it should be just as difficult to get a 1.1 in Humanities or Math. It would be extremely unfair to say well you got 79% in a Math degree but only get a 2.1 while somebody gets 70% in Humanities and gets a 1.1. The idea is that you understand 70% of the material and that warrants a first.

Powerhouse wrote: »

I'm not sure if I suggested that 'it is harder to get 70% in a Humanities subject than a Maths subject' from the point of view of the relative difficulties of the subjects per se. It is more a question of marking schemes. In much of the Humanities there is not always a 'right' or 'wrong' answer, and if you give an opinion the examiner doesn't much care for you might be penalised. Of if you prioritise or assess material in an answer in a way that the examiner doesn't much fancy you could lose marks. In Maths, I suspect there are less nuances. If you know your stuff there might be less to go wrong.

In an exam it is easier to get 70% in Math and I'd be surprised if anybody disagreed with that but Engineering courses have different issues, my average week in lectures, tutorials and practicals is 30 hours+. On top of that I have (on average) 2 assignments due in, which take about 3-4 hours each, and 1 test. We don't get reading week and these assignments really build up (mainly week 6 and 12). We also have to prepare for tutorials, on any given week I could be doing College related stuff for 40 hours +. Most (but not all of course) Humanities courses have nowhere near 30 hours of lectures and I've always felt that if people worked 40 hours + they would be able to obtain the 70% mark.

Also, the statistics show that there is not an uneven number of Engineering based students (and subsequently Math students) who get a 1.1. In last years ME class there was 2 1.1's out of 20+ students which was consistent with the other courses (about 10% get a 1.1). I only know this because I sat through my sister graduation last year, was extremely bored and started comparing the courses to find which was easiest, turns out Business was one of the hardest in DCU.

Powerhouse

bren2001 wrote: »

Humanities courses have nowhere near 30 hours of lectures and I've always felt that if people worked 40 hours + they would be able to obtain the 70% mark.

Of course Humanities course don't have 30 hours of lectures because they are far less practical and hands-on than some other courses. Lectures give guidelines and instructiopn but the real work in Humanities' courses is done independently outside lectures in reading and research and the lecture schedule allows for this. Hence, often phenomenally long reading lists. But studying smarter is as important as studying longer in Humanities. You could easily spend 40+ hours reading irrelevant material that you coild not prossibly have time to refer to in a exam. All other things being equal it is fair to say that the more you study the better you shgould do.

Incidentally, you say that Maths/Maths based courses are easier to get 70%+ in (something upon which I have speculated too - from a logical rather than empircial perspective) but would you not accept that your perusal of the grades at the graduation actually challenges this view?

bren2001

Powerhouse wrote: »

Incidentally, you say that Maths/Maths based courses are easier to get 70%+ in (something upon which I have speculated too - from a logical rather than empircial perspective) but would you not accept that your perusal of the grades at the graduation actually challenges this view?

Well clearly the statistics show that it is just as hard to get a 1.1 in a Math based subject as it is in Humanities. However, you are assuming that it is a fair trial, which of course it is not and I don't particularly want to get into statistical modelling and distributions.

But the important thing to note is that I did not say it is easier to get 70%+ course but a Math based exam (I can see how you think I was inferring that it was easier overall, that is not what I was trying to imply). Just under half of my Engineering grade (I can only speak for DCU Engineering) is actually calculated on the exam components. The rest is assignments or our final year project. It is in these areas that many students completely fall down on, myself included they are not quite as high as my exam marks.

jennyq

Kavrocks wrote: »

As far as I can remember we were told in an email when they will be posted out. Otherwise its definitely on the DCU website.

Yes you can ask for a copy to be printed off. Go to the Registry.

Bear in mind Registry do charge for result transcripts so if you really need it urgently you might be better just printing off the results page from the website and telling your employer or whoever that you'll have the official transcript in a few weeks.

Mardy Bum

bren2001 wrote: »

We have 1.1's set at 70% across the board because that is what is fair. In theory (and I agree that it is not the case in practice) it should be just as difficult to get a 1.1 in Humanities or Math. It would be extremely unfair to say well you got 79% in a Math degree but only get a 2.1 while somebody gets 70% in Humanities and gets a 1.1. The idea is that you understand 70% of the material and that warrants a first.



In an exam it is easier to get 70% in Math and I'd be surprised if anybody disagreed with that but Engineering courses have different issues, my average week in lectures, tutorials and practicals is 30 hours+. On top of that I have (on average) 2 assignments due in, which take about 3-4 hours each, and 1 test. We don't get reading week and these assignments really build up (mainly week 6 and 12). We also have to prepare for tutorials, on any given week I could be doing College related stuff for 40 hours +. Most (but not all of course) Humanities courses have nowhere near 30 hours of lectures and I've always felt that if people worked 40 hours + they would be able to obtain the 70% mark.

Also, the statistics show that there is not an uneven number of Engineering based students (and subsequently Math students) who get a 1.1. In last years ME class there was 2 1.1's out of 20+ students which was consistent with the other courses (about 10% get a 1.1). I only know this because I sat through my sister graduation last year, was extremely bored and started comparing the courses to find which was easiest, turns out Business was one of the hardest in DCU.

Just to clear this up in TCD and UCD humanities exams or essays like English or History are marked out of 80% i.e you start on an A plus and work your way down. In TCD a first is 70% plus with nothing distinguishing between the 70 and 80 mark while in UCD the GPA system distinguishes between the three possible A grades.
The reason it is considered easier to get a first in a mathematical subject is because they are marked out of 100 and you have 30% to work with while you only have 10% in the humanities.
I would say DCU have the same marking schemes.

bren2001

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Just to clear this up in TCD and UCD humanities exams or essays like English or History are marked out of 80% i.e you start on an A plus and work your way down. In TCD a first is 70% plus with nothing distinguishing between the 70 and 80 mark while in UCD the GPA system distinguishes between the three possible A grades.
The reason it is considered easier to get a first in a mathematical subject is because they are marked out of 100 and you have 30% to work with while you only have 10% in the humanities.
I would say DCU have the same marking schemes.

What exactly do you mean by that? You start with 80% and work down? So you cannot get 100%.

In mathematical subjects in DCU you start with 0% and are marked up.

Abdul Abulbul Amir

It means pretty much what she said, you can only get a maximum of 80% per module. DCU does it this way too, but I forget if it's 80 or 70. Seems odd to me too but that's the way it is, I suppose they figure arts subjects would be too easy otherwise.

With the failure rates in maths I wouldn't say it's all that easy. Sure you can theoretically get 100%, just like you can theoretically write a well argumented, well written and researched essay. For the record, I'm on the 'arts subjects are easier' bandwagon, because I've done both.

Mardy Bum

bren2001 wrote: »

What exactly do you mean by that? You start with 80% and work down? So you cannot get 100%.

In mathematical subjects in DCU you start with 0% and are marked up.

Yes UCD is similar you start with zero and work up to 100% in the maths subjects. In UCD an A plus is 78% and Trinity the equivalent is 70 plus.

UCD mark in grades in the humanities so anything from NG to A plus. So marking is corrected in relative terms from an A plus (78) i.e this passage is a C plus when compared with the A plus.
Trinity mark in % and in extraordinarily rare cases, those once every few years where the paper is considered publishable in an academic journal a student may receive over 80%; this is very unlikely at undergraduate level. This is also possible in UCD but I have not heard it happening.

bren2001

Thats interesting, I didn't know about that. Wanted to make sure I understood what was said.

I find it a bit strange to think that your paper has to be pretty much publishable to get above 80%. I've gotten above 80% in plenty of math tests in DCU and they have all been factual sort answers, my highest being 99% when I was docked for not writing in a couple of units. So it is very feasible to get 100% in DCU Engineering.

Mardy Bum

bren2001 wrote: »

Thats interesting, I didn't know about that. Wanted to make sure I understood what was said.

I find it a bit strange to think that your paper has to be pretty much publishable to get above 80%. I've gotten above 80% in plenty of math tests in DCU and they have all been factual sort answers, my highest being 99% when I was docked for not writing in a couple of units. So it is very feasible to get 100% in DCU Engineering.

Yes it is possible to get 100% in any maths exam because of the nature of the content. This is the big difference with the humanities. Over 80% implies an original contribution to the subject area in the humanities. While over 80% in a maths subject implies well excellent knowledge of the subject area; I would qualify this by saying that the maths exam/paper would not require development of new theorems and such i.e an original contribution to the topic.

bren2001

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Yes it is possible to get 100% in any maths exam because of the nature of the content. This is the big difference with the humanities. Over 80% implies an original contribution to the subject area in the humanities. While over 80% in a maths subject implies well excellent knowledge of the subject area; I would qualify this by saying that the maths exam/paper would not require development of new theorems and such i.e an original contribution to the topic.

Sorry if I was misleading, I wasn't trying to say your wrong or anything. Just think its an odd way to mark the papers for Undergrads. If thats the case thats the case.

To get above 80% in a math exam is just having excellent understanding, we don't have to bring any new ideas to the table. Just have to understand the question, relevant material and be competent at doing the math.

--LOS--

DanDan6592 wrote: »

I'm not sure about that but I don't really like Chem so I'd probably do worse in Pharmaceuticals than AP. I haven't looked at what people do in 3rd/4th year Pharm.

well it's true!


btw can someone do me a favour and just say here when you get your transcripts in the post, I had an issue getting them in January so just want to make sure I get them asap.

smeal

--LOS-- wrote: »

well it's true!


btw can someone do me a favour and just say here when you get your transcripts in the post, I had an issue getting them in January so just want to make sure I get them asap.

Got mine this morning:)

--LOS--

smeal wrote: »

Got mine this morning:)

thanks! will be keeping an eye on the post but I'm thinking my library fees are gona come back to haunt me

greens

I haven't received my transcript by post yet.
Is that OK?

tigerblob

greens wrote: »

I haven't received my transcript by post yet.
Is that OK?

I doubt it, most people got theirs almost a month ago. Try contacting the Registry and telling them it's got lost in the post. They might try and charge you for a copy though

Powerhouse

Abdul Abulbul Amir wrote: »

It means pretty much what she said, you can only get a maximum of 80% per module. DCU does it this way too, but I forget if it's 80 or 70. Seems odd to me too but that's the way it is, I suppose they figure arts subjects would be too easy otherwise.

With the failure rates in maths I wouldn't say it's all that easy. Sure you can theoretically get 100%, just like you can theoretically write a well argumented, well written and researched essay. For the record, I'm on the 'arts subjects are easier' bandwagon, because I've done both.

Yes, but the big difference is that you cannot get 100% for the well argued, well written and researched essay.

Incidentally I think these discussions make more sense if people talk about marking schemes and styles rather than subjective matters like what type of course is 'easier', which as I understand it was never up for debate here. There are far too many variables involved to reach a proper conclusion leaving aside most people's natural bias towards their own area.

A good friend of mine has a degree in Maths but always struggled with any significant writing/verbal subject in other subjects. I'd hate to make the assumption that Maths was an easier subject than History or English just because he had more talent at it.

But I can assure you that anyone getting an A+ in a humanities assignment in a subject that requires a significant element of writing and verbal reasoning has done a serious level of work, whether they find if 'difficult' or 'easy'.

I would say Humanities subjects are reasonably easy to pass unless you are utterly unprepared. But then again I imagine that garnering 4 out of every 10 marks in Maths is hardly climbing Everest either.