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...
That is just stupid. Why would handling time-pressure not be part of the mark? You have to handle that in the real world all the time, why would an uni class shy from it? Isn't the point of it to prepare you for the real world?
I guess in theory that is the point, but in reality we seem to be moving further and further from that "idea" of education...
I just had a conversation with a third-year civil engineering student from Vietnam, who had inexplicably just transferred the last year of his degree from Viet to Aus (and been allowed to), because "I preferred the subjects", or something to that effect...
Couldn't even form a full sentence in English. And yet, clearly his expectation is that in two years time, he will get a civil eng job in this country, and obviously remain here and work.
That's... Frankly kind of worrying. And you see that all the time...
Chokegaspwheeze -my brother, you appear to have fallen into some form of temporalspacial anomaly and have appeared 30+ years in the future from when that was last true. I'm afraid things have degraded somewhat from those halcyon days you come from
Not sure if you've had to work with zoomers much, but my god, the conformism and trend-following has surely reached its apotheosis by now...
They're just a bunch of bleating, Apple-obsessed sheep. It really is quite sad, tbh.
*needs to make "Sheeps is ..." memes from last night's Housebroken