No set of exam results would be complete without an accompaniment of complaints from examiners about students' poor standards of grammar and spelling. But as Donald MacLeod points out, A-level students have been making mistakes for over half a century. A report from 1952 criticises candidates' "abuse of punctuation" and apparent "illiteracy".
What examiners apparently fail to take into account, however, is the enormous amount of pressure that students are under when in an exam situation, which can easily lead to a misplaced apostrophe, a "there" instead of a "their" or even the odd sentence or two of complete gobble de guk. I'm a first-hand witness to this problem.
By the end of the first three days of university finals, I had sat through 18 hours of exams (3-hour exams in both morning and afternoon for 3 consecutive days). Halfway through the afternoon of day 3 I gritted my teeth, embarked on my 18th exam answer of the week, and found that I was having serious trouble thinking in complete sentences. I've not seen the exam scripts since, but for a couple of weeks after that atrocious Wednesday afternoon, excerpts of my exam essay would appear, uninvited and unwelcome, in my mind, and I would cringe with embarrassment.
Although it probably isn't very pleasing to be faced with a pile of exam papers filled with basic errors of language, it should be remembered that during an exam situation, students are under intensive levels of stress, inevitably clouding their usual attention to accuracy.
Showing posts with label university. Show all posts
Showing posts with label university. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Tuesday, 7 August 2007
Debt drives students to extreme(ly silly) measures
Students today are leaving university in more debt than ever before. The majority of those who embarked on their undergraduate degree after 2006 face top-up fees, with students at many universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, forking out up to £3000 per year for tuition alone, not to mention accommodation and living costs.
Having just completed my degree and left university, my parents are several thousand pounds down and I owe a sum of roughly £14,000 to the Student Loans Company.
Although my loan will be paid back in instalments according to how much money I earn per year, I'm a little concerned about my overdraft, which is currently at an alarming level and isn't showing any signs of improvement, despite having two summer jobs which give me a regular income. The only way I can see to earn some money instead of scrimping and saving to break even, is moving back home.
But there may be an alternative.
The following suggestions are not necessarily recommended:
1. Posing for photo shoots.
I responded to a couple of posts on the Gumtree website advertising for models to pose for photographs, hoping that the opportunities would be as innocent as some of them seemed. I really should have caught on when I read "an open mind, discretion and nice feet are essential" but in naive desperation, I responded to the ad and got the following response:
"Thanks for your interest. I would like to photograph your beautiful, naked feet in the comfort of your own home. You will be required to dip your feet in chocolate, custard and other substances. You will of course be paid for your time and you can keep the chocolate/custard, as well as a copy of the photographs."
After some careful consideration, I decided not to bother.
2. Modelling.
Another trawl through the Gumtree website led me to some slightly less seedy-sounding opportunities for money-making. "Average female models required for classy photo shoots", read one ad. Whilst I'm no Kate Moss, I'm reasonably confident about my body and thought that with a layer or two of make-up, flattering lights and the right clothes I could pull off a bit of amateur modelling. I emailed the person who posted the ad to enquire what would be expected of me.
The reply was: leather catsuits.
Again, maybe not.
3. Participating in medical/psychology research.
A move away from thoughts of photo shoots and modelling brought me to a whole selection of ads asking for individuals to participate in research projects. The opportunities ranged from answering surveys on depression and anxiety to testing new TB vaccination drugs. Even though an incident like last year's Parexel disaster which left six men critically ill after taking part in a clinical trial is extremely unlikely ever to occur again, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of taking untested drugs, so I opted for a few others. So last week I went to have an ultrasound scan on my heart to confirm that it was suitable for participation in an experiment involving inhaling air containing varying ratios of carbon dioxide and oxygen. It turned out that my heart "doesn't regurgitate enough", whatever that means, so I can't take part in that one. But I got paid a bit of cash just for lying on my side and getting my left boob covered in lube ("ultrasound gel" I think is the correct term), so it was worth the half hour. And tomorrow I'm off to the Warneford (the psychiatric hospital in Oxford) to have an MRI scan whilst being fed chocolate through a tube.
4. Getting a proper job.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Having just completed my degree and left university, my parents are several thousand pounds down and I owe a sum of roughly £14,000 to the Student Loans Company.
Although my loan will be paid back in instalments according to how much money I earn per year, I'm a little concerned about my overdraft, which is currently at an alarming level and isn't showing any signs of improvement, despite having two summer jobs which give me a regular income. The only way I can see to earn some money instead of scrimping and saving to break even, is moving back home.
But there may be an alternative.
The following suggestions are not necessarily recommended:
1. Posing for photo shoots.
I responded to a couple of posts on the Gumtree website advertising for models to pose for photographs, hoping that the opportunities would be as innocent as some of them seemed. I really should have caught on when I read "an open mind, discretion and nice feet are essential" but in naive desperation, I responded to the ad and got the following response:
"Thanks for your interest. I would like to photograph your beautiful, naked feet in the comfort of your own home. You will be required to dip your feet in chocolate, custard and other substances. You will of course be paid for your time and you can keep the chocolate/custard, as well as a copy of the photographs."
After some careful consideration, I decided not to bother.
2. Modelling.
Another trawl through the Gumtree website led me to some slightly less seedy-sounding opportunities for money-making. "Average female models required for classy photo shoots", read one ad. Whilst I'm no Kate Moss, I'm reasonably confident about my body and thought that with a layer or two of make-up, flattering lights and the right clothes I could pull off a bit of amateur modelling. I emailed the person who posted the ad to enquire what would be expected of me.
The reply was: leather catsuits.
Again, maybe not.
3. Participating in medical/psychology research.
A move away from thoughts of photo shoots and modelling brought me to a whole selection of ads asking for individuals to participate in research projects. The opportunities ranged from answering surveys on depression and anxiety to testing new TB vaccination drugs. Even though an incident like last year's Parexel disaster which left six men critically ill after taking part in a clinical trial is extremely unlikely ever to occur again, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of taking untested drugs, so I opted for a few others. So last week I went to have an ultrasound scan on my heart to confirm that it was suitable for participation in an experiment involving inhaling air containing varying ratios of carbon dioxide and oxygen. It turned out that my heart "doesn't regurgitate enough", whatever that means, so I can't take part in that one. But I got paid a bit of cash just for lying on my side and getting my left boob covered in lube ("ultrasound gel" I think is the correct term), so it was worth the half hour. And tomorrow I'm off to the Warneford (the psychiatric hospital in Oxford) to have an MRI scan whilst being fed chocolate through a tube.
4. Getting a proper job.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Thursday, 2 August 2007
For Christ's Sake...
Until recently, if you wanted to become a member of Exeter University's Christian Union you had to self-define as Christian. The group is now taking the Guild (the Student Union) to court after it was decided by an independent body that non-Christians could become members.
Having read several newspaper articles about the matter, and found no reasonable argument as to why only those of the Christian faith should be allowed membership, I can only conclude that the Christian Union is behaving in an absurd and unjustifiable way.
Aside from the fact that the ECU (which, incidentally, has been forced to change its name to the Evangelical Christian Union) is explicitly breaking the rules and regulations of the Guild -
"it shall be an offence for any society ... to discriminate in any way against an individual or group of individuals based on their gender, ethnic origin, disabilities, sexuality, beliefs (including political and religious beliefs), physical appearance, or other personal attributes" -
if the ECU's principle of excluding those with alternative or non-defined viewpoints is applied to all societies, does this mean that Student Unions should exclude non-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from their LGBT societies? What about people who decide they don't want to attach a label or definition to their preferences? What about individuals unsure about their religion or sexuality, who are perhaps hoping to find reassurance, comfort and clarification by associating with a group of people who have supposedly similar motivations? Should the Lib Dem Society deny anyone without Party membership access to meetings, thus eliminating any possibility of debate or varied discussion? Should the French Society grant membership only to those in possession of a carte d'identité?
For me (despite being an Atheist), the essence of religion and of Christianity in particular, is charity to all, regardless of faith, gender, ethnic origin etc. For this reason and because there are so many different branches and sets of beliefs within the Christian faith itself, it seems anti-religious, not to mention fruitless, to try to separate Christians from non-Christians. Things just aren't as black and white as that.
Wars motivated by religion have been fought for centuries. However, in today's climate, where technology, warfare and the media are all far more sophisticated and therefore more destructive than they have ever been before, it is imperative that instead of engaging in constant battles against one another, different religions, ethnic groups and nationalities try to co-operate with one another so that we can all live in a safe, peaceful world. And that also applies to societies and groups on the smallest scale, like student societies.
Aside from all that, the Exeter ECU probably didn't need to be so cautious as to specify being Christian as an entry requirement. If you weren't Christian, you probably wouldn't want to go anyway.
Sources:
http://www.blogger.com/www.guardian.co.uk
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2136297,00.html
Having read several newspaper articles about the matter, and found no reasonable argument as to why only those of the Christian faith should be allowed membership, I can only conclude that the Christian Union is behaving in an absurd and unjustifiable way.
Aside from the fact that the ECU (which, incidentally, has been forced to change its name to the Evangelical Christian Union) is explicitly breaking the rules and regulations of the Guild -
"it shall be an offence for any society ... to discriminate in any way against an individual or group of individuals based on their gender, ethnic origin, disabilities, sexuality, beliefs (including political and religious beliefs), physical appearance, or other personal attributes" -
if the ECU's principle of excluding those with alternative or non-defined viewpoints is applied to all societies, does this mean that Student Unions should exclude non-gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from their LGBT societies? What about people who decide they don't want to attach a label or definition to their preferences? What about individuals unsure about their religion or sexuality, who are perhaps hoping to find reassurance, comfort and clarification by associating with a group of people who have supposedly similar motivations? Should the Lib Dem Society deny anyone without Party membership access to meetings, thus eliminating any possibility of debate or varied discussion? Should the French Society grant membership only to those in possession of a carte d'identité?
For me (despite being an Atheist), the essence of religion and of Christianity in particular, is charity to all, regardless of faith, gender, ethnic origin etc. For this reason and because there are so many different branches and sets of beliefs within the Christian faith itself, it seems anti-religious, not to mention fruitless, to try to separate Christians from non-Christians. Things just aren't as black and white as that.
Wars motivated by religion have been fought for centuries. However, in today's climate, where technology, warfare and the media are all far more sophisticated and therefore more destructive than they have ever been before, it is imperative that instead of engaging in constant battles against one another, different religions, ethnic groups and nationalities try to co-operate with one another so that we can all live in a safe, peaceful world. And that also applies to societies and groups on the smallest scale, like student societies.
Aside from all that, the Exeter ECU probably didn't need to be so cautious as to specify being Christian as an entry requirement. If you weren't Christian, you probably wouldn't want to go anyway.
Sources:
http://www.blogger.com/www.guardian.co.uk
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2136297,00.html
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