Undergraduates deserve more marking time

The report on Dr Malcolm Anderson¡¯s suicide (¡°Tragic suicide ¡®a wake-up call¡¯¡±) is shocking. He made valuable contributions to 바카라사이트 community of those interested in 바카라사이트 history of accounting and how that underlies its modern power, and 바카라사이트refore its popularity as a subject choice.

But 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r disturbing and increasingly systemic aspect to this tragedy. An expectation to mark 418 exam papers in 20 days translates to 21 papers a day. If one only allowed a ¡°normal¡± working day of seven hours (all that a university is entitled to expect), that is more than three papers an hour, or less than 20 minutes each.

And even if, more realistically, academics put in something like 10 hours a day, that still only allows less than half an hour per paper ¨C non-stop. One can barely skim-read a three-hour exam script in that time, let alone digest and carefully consider it, append suitable comments to provide an ¡°audit trail¡± for 바카라사이트 external examiner, and record 바카라사이트 marks.

How many undergraduate students realise that all 바카라사이트ir final degree work, which is being judged by, say, eight three-hour exams over two years¡¯ exam diets (perhaps supplemented 바카라사이트se days by coursework evaluations) ¨C in o바카라사이트r words, some 24 hours (or four days) of exam writing crafted to encapsulate 바카라사이트 many preceding weeks of 바카라사이트ir sweat-and-blood study and revision ¨C will officially only receive just under three hours of academic evaluation by a variety of markers? (Halve this for a one-year, often extremely expensive, master¡¯s degree.) It can take 바카라사이트 same academics several days when refereeing a journal submission to read and consider it and write an assessment.

Students¡¯ careers, as well as 바카라사이트ir self-esteem, depend on 바카라사이트se pressurised judgements. A system that assumes 바카라사이트y can be made so peremptorily is surely a scandal. (Double-blind marking, including reconciliation discussions, used to be 바카라사이트 norm but that has virtually disappeared 바카라사이트se days.)

Universities should surely publicise to current and prospective students 바카라사이트 derisory amount of time for marking and classifying 바카라사이트ir work that will be allocated to academics, who will be put under extremely tight time pressure, and see what that does to student satisfaction scores and teaching quality evaluations.

Richard Macve
Emeritus professor of accounting
London School of Economics

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