Wow, this is a quite incredible story, it really is and I don't actually know where to start with it. So I shall leave it to you to make some comment.
What I will say is this. As somebody who has been around a bit, academically speaking of course, it is complete nonsense (in my opinion) to suggest that anything other than getting a First hampers employment choices. That simply isn't true, as a rule. A First can open doors, but that isn't quite the point here and is impossible to measure.
There are a very small percentage of graduands who achieve a First, often the criteria is getting 70% in all assessments in years three and four. That is tough. But achievable.
But it does raise the issue of what is a good degree and what is a bad one? Well for me, there is no such thing as a bad degree, or an HND, HNC and so on.
Any student will try and obtain the best possible award they can get. And sometimes a 2:2 is the best they will ever achieve. Is that a poor level of study? Of course it isn't. It is an Honours degree which demonstrates the learner can evaluate, analyse, write academically, work autonomously, reference, summarise, perform under pressure in exams, manage time effectively, apply theory to practice and many other skills besides.
But this article suggests a lot of interesting twists and turns - "Mr Siddiqui also alleges medical information about him was not submitted to examiners by a tutor". This is vital for any examination board and I have mentioned this to you before in classes. I have had occasion, quite a few times as it goes, to 'talk up' a student’s performance based on extenuating circumstances, which can be plentiful.
I look forward to your thoughts on this article, and I suspect he won't win his case, although we only have limited information at this point.
Have a great weekend whatever you are up to.
Mark
On the face of it this claim seems utterly ludicrous. How could he possibly know his career would have been more successful if he'd received a first? Using that logic I'm fairly sure I'd have been a successful artist if I'd done better on my standard grade art than a 4, time to sue St Aidan's High (I'm being facetious of course).
ReplyDeleteIt seems a rocky road to go down to me. If former students can start litigating against universities if they don't have their dream careers. It seems people these days can't accept if they don't get their own way all the time.
Saying that the information in the article is limited and by the same token there may be very legitimate concerns about the quality of the course and I do think all institutions should be open to scrutiny. Students are customers after all. That all said while there should be mechanisms for raising genuine concerns about a course/quality of teaching I don't know that litigation is the way to do it, especially so long after the event. I hope this is case will be considered time barred.
It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
Great comments Laura. Interestingly, at University, there are quite stringent quality procedures in place, internally, but crucially, externally. When I ran my Programme at Napier University, we had two external examiners and they scrutinised me and the work of the team every June before the exam boards met. As the Programme Leader I was always confident that Quality had been assured, or at any rate, was able to justify all decisions made had we ever been questioned. On some occasions, where a student was perhaps sitting very close to a First, I would specifically ask them to third mark their dissertations. On every occasion the External Examiners agreed with our decisions. The notion of classifications and marking is a very serious one, and even when you have been doing it for a while, you have to think carefully about these questions as an assessor - Am I being fair? Are my assessment decisions consistent? Are the criteria for students clear? Can I be sure that anybody else verifying my decisions will say yes to all the aforementioned! I am one of the few lecturers I think in FE who welcome External Verifier visits, as I feel it is the one way to justify our methods. I am also very lucky to work in a team where we are collegiate, ask questions about assessments and try hard to maintain high standards. I agree that litigation is arguably not the best way to proceed with a concern, as there are always internal mechanisms in place to do so. But 17 years later? If it wasn't so serious, one could be excused for thinking this graduate is having a laugh! I too will be keeping an eye on this story. I am reasonably sure he will lose this case and would be surprised if it ever went to court. But we do live in a very different world these days. As a closing point, I feel that all learners should have the right to question things if they see fit, as long as there are good reasons, the procedures are in place and it is done openly. I wanted to be the man on the moon when I was a wee boy, so I might compose an e mail to NASA! Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI don't this guy has any chance of getting a result in court. In fact I don't think it will get there. He should have dealt with this many years ago, not now. Seems like its all about him. Good story tho.
ReplyDeleteYes, 17 years does seem like an incredibly long time to be harbouring a grudge. Extenuating circumstances aside, it does make me wonder why now? That said, I posted it and we are discussing the moral dilemma of it, so it must have had some impact! The cost of his legal fees might be rather high too one would imagine...
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