This is the third time in the last month I have had an academic tell my class (different classes) that they have decided not to do final exams. Because "some students can't cope with time pressure" or "it's not fair on everyone" or "I don't believe in exams". They couch it in the language of "equity", despite the fact that it clearly screws over students who are good at exams/aren't as good as assignments... This, on top of making practicals "non-compulsory", or removing lab/field classes altogether...
This ain't my first rodeo. I've been around for a while. I've never seen this before, even in the years immediately post-Covid...
And this isn't gender studies. This is, supposedly, Science and GIS.
I'm not sure how widespread this is, but I've heard from other students that more and more courses are going down this route, all very suddenly...
This despite the fact that students are much more likely to cheat on assignments than exams (obviously), and the "threat" of things like ChatGPT.
Not just at my Uni, either. Apparently this is happening elsewhere in Aus... Though my Uni has been particularly spiteful about it, with the removal of after-hours study spaces, and things like not even allowing library access to part time students on Sundays (yes, really)...
Something is very, very rotten in the state of Denmark. Not sure if other people have seen similar, in other countries, but if this is the state of "Higher Ed", even beyond all the woke shit..? Wow, we are so fucked...
It has been happening for years, especially in humanities/social science type classes. And while some of it may be DIE stuff, in my experience it is overwhelmingly faculty laziness with the DIE label now slapped on it for cover. Seriously, probably 2/3 (if not more) of the faculty at the school I teach at are the laziest people you've ever met.
So many faculty at the school I teach at just skipped finals to check out of the semester a week early (realistically, 2 weeks early because you don't have to grade final exams/projects if you don't assign them) that the administration now needs to send out reminders every semester: In order to maintain accreditation, you need to meet or exceed a certain length of classroom time (based on the number of credits), and skipping the final exam time means you don't meet that.
And it's more than just final exams. A lot of the faculty will complain loudly if their schedule requires them to be on campus more than 3 days a week. There was a huge fight during our last contract renegotiation because a lot of faculty wanted to be able to hold their office hours from home via Zoom rather than do them on campus. In Spring 22 I saw multiple e-mails from people saying that committee meetings should be moved online due to the Russian attack on Ukraine making gas prices prohibitively expensive. There are still some faculty who cite the WuFlu as a reason why their classes need to be online.
TL;DR - many professors are the laziest people you'll ever meet and they're just using the DIE stuff as cover to get out of having to do anything beyond the absolute bare minimum to keep their job.
Having professors/staff on campus is why University is a draw. Take those last things away and there's no point in spending all of that money. You can network for free with other peers. It's amazing that they aren't there 5 days a week for tuition costs these days. In the U.S. there is an equal amount of fake jobs bloat that matches the amount of actual productive Uni staff. Like diversity counselors, wellness, HR, admins, student safety, social workers. College needs a hard reboot. These schools need to start losing accreditation for turning out these useless graduates.
You might be on to something here, to be honest...
Although the problems I am seeing are suggestive that there are fundamental problems with this institution (where I am at), beyond just the teaching...
I've literally just discovered that the University has done away with Academic Integrity Declarations, "because it is taken as a given that students accede to this when they enrol in a course". That's ludicrous. Nonsensically so.
I'm also going to lose 2% of my final grade for a subject, because the subject coordinator failed to set the dates for quizzes properly, resulting in a situation where you cannot re-attempt the quiz within the designation timeframe, even though we were explicitly told that we would have multiple attempts, and now the lecturer refuses to fix it/even answer questions about it (which is more petty and frustrating than anything else)...
Do you use Canvas, where you're at?
We switched from Blackboard to Canvas, and it's the biggest load of bullshit ever. Fundamentally does not work, and the University has outsourced tech support to the company that sold them Canvas as an LMS, resulting in farcical situations all round...
Honestly, it is getting so bad that I don't think there is any way I will finish my degree here (i.e. I fully intend to attempt to transfer out of this anarchic shithole, if there is any way I can do so), because this is just... Insane.
On the laziness thing specifically, I have one lecturer now who has decided she's not going to turn up, for a full day of tutorials. Even though they're scheduled for 100 people, across that day. Forcing us all to turn up to a different day - too bad if you already have a class that will clash...
Like, the situation here is seriously, seriously fucked. I genuinely can't believe how much so...
If there's documentation on the syllabus or something that you would be allowed multiple attempts,, that should be grounds for a formal academic complaint. I'd recommend checking what you're school's grievance policy is (assuming you think the 2% is worth the effort).
We've been switching LMS systems every 3 years or so, so it is perpetually a mess regardless of what system it is. By the time the college gets it working properly and people figure out how to use it we're transitioning to the new one.
Oh, absolutely. The entire higher ed system is fouled up beyond belief on many levels. And I'm skeptical it can be fixed at this point, short of gutting the whole thing.
Even if it isn't from pure laziness, many professors only exist on campus to justify the funding/access/equipment for their research. The teaching shit is just how they accomplish that and have an infinite pool to draw assistants and guinea pigs from.