MJ's little flock

[RoyalChick]

Thank you. I'm getting to the point where I'm scared to fail people, which is not good for state or the students who need to observe how poor their work is.

That is really not good.
Stay strong!

 

[Ribh]

That is really not good.
Stay strong!

I don't get this. How else do you learn? I'm on the other end of this & appreciate all feedback. At lot has changed since I did my first degree & I'm still struggling to get my citations right but every mistake is a chance to learn what I need to change. Of course it's nice to be told your work is wonderful but it's the other you really learn from. I'm blessed in that I'm not reliant on grades for future employment but i feel for their future employers. These are the people who don't know the work, don't want to work but expect top dollar. It really boggles my mind.

 

[MaryJanet]

I don't get this. How else do you learn? I'm on the other end of this & appreciate all feedback. At lot has changed since I did my first degree & I'm still struggling to get my citations right but every mistake is a chance to learn what I need to change. Of course it's nice to be told your work is wonderful but it's the other you really learn from. I'm blessed in that I'm not reliant on grades for future employment but i feel for their future employers. These are the people who don't know the work, don't want to work but expect top dollar. It really boggles my mind.

Broadly speaking, mature students understand all that.

The immature ones don't. I recently learnt year 12 teachers spend the second half of every year chasing up on students who are neglecting their assessments. To keep their school's stats up? Generosity towards hapless students? To enable young people's achievements? I don't know why, but I wish they would let the kids fail instead of demonstrating deadlines are meaningless.

 

[MaryJanet]

That is really not good.
Stay strong!

I try.

I'm engaged in course redevelopment at present and making a swathe of improvements to uplift students understanding of their performance, to protect staff from malice, to prevent inappropriate use of AI in assessment, to better inform and guide marking, to build staff camaraderie and support, etc.

 

[MaryJanet]

@Ribh, wrt your citations, are you using EndNote or something similar?

 

[BY Bob]

I have been extremely frustrated for about a month Bob.

Today I received a kind email from a student who called me an inspiration and who said she recalled my conversations with her from two years ago and I was so vulnerable from all the nastiness I've been experiencing, it brought me to tears.

Those must be the students who inspired you to this profession in the first place and who likely keep you going. It seems this request showed up at a very opportune time. I'm glad that it did.

 

[MaryJanet]

Those must be the students who inspired you to this profession in the first place and who likely keep you going. It seems this request showed up at a very opportune time. I'm glad that it did.

I also had a good chat with the dean today while co-forming his response to yet another complaint about marking. I mentioned that the course used to achieve the best student feedback scores in STEM before it was changed by the program directors to a non-graded, intensive studio course 5 years ago. I said I used to take pride in my teaching, but I don't any more. He said I should be proud and commented on how good the course is, and to not let the complaints get to me.

I'm still the only one with a national teaching award in the IT program. That's something I guess.

 

[RoyalChick]

I also had a good chat with the dean today while co-forming his response to yet another complaint about marking. I mentioned that the course used to achieve the best student feedback scores in STEM before it was changed by the program directors to a non-graded, intensive studio course 5 years ago. I said I used to take pride in my teaching, but I don't any more. He said I should be proud and commented on how good the course is, and to not let the complaints get to me.

I'm still the only one with a national teaching award in the IT program. That's something I guess.

That sounds like a big something!

I may be being stupid, but if the course is not graded how can the students complain about grades? Or are grades and marking different things?
Is it possible that the non-graded nature of the course is creating adverse selection among the students? Meaning you get students who choose the course because it is not graded, which they equate with being an easy ride?

 

[MaryJanet]

That sounds like a big something!

I may be being stupid, but if the course is not graded how can the students complain about grades? Or are grades and marking different things?
Is it possible that the non-graded nature of the course is creating adverse selection among the students? Meaning you get students who choose the course because it is not graded, which they equate with being an easy ride?

Non-graded courses have two grades: pass and fail. To pass, students simply have to do everything - we do not evaluate how well something is done, simply that it is indeed done.

However, around half the students fail to achieve that and get a fail. As the course is non-graded, the budget says the feedback is in the grade, so we don't spend any time typing the things students didn't do, we simply expect them to be able to review their work and the task descriptions and find the parts they missed for themselves. Many of the complaints have been about 'lack of feedback'.

So it's a very easy course to pass. But it's also a very easy course to fail. Language proficiency is key. If people can't (or won't) read the tasks they inevitably overlook some of them. Even the most patient of 'friends/mates/cousin who took the course last year' can't talk a non-reader through ALL the tasks in the course.

The course is core in the IT programs and elective in the innovation and entrepreneurship business program. 90+% of the cohort are IT students. So there's very little self-selection into the course in the way that American uni students might be used to. More's the pity in my view. I would love it if students had a wider range of courses to choose from in their degrees.

 

[LozzyR]

How was the early row Loz?

It was dark! It was half an hour earlier than normal so on the water by 6.30; it's the first time I've needed a bow light! But there was no wind and I had one of the coaches all to myself, so that was good. I'm still struggling with technique, which is frustrating, however, I bought one of the club's rowing machines second-hand, so I can do some training at home now and that should help.

Rowing tax:

And some hugs because it looks like you're going through a rough time.