We spend so much time doing TMAs and just a few hours on the final exam. So why is the weighting 50/50 asks student blogger Carrie Walton...
We spend so much time doing TMAs and just a few hours on the final exam. So why is the weighting 50/50 asks student blogger Carrie Walton...
I had an exam recently. I have finally reached the end of a module; the first time I’ve fully finished one in over five years. I’ve had to cancel or drop out of a few due to various personal circumstances (life, or rather its opposite, gets in the way at times doesn’t it!), so for me this was a truly monumental event.
In the days that followed the exam a number of the students on the module began posting up about their experiences of the exam; which questions they’d answered, which they’d avoided etc, but a general theme emerged which I noted with great interest and requested their permission to blog about. A good few of the students were commenting on the weighting of TMAs to exam in the overall final assessment score. Now, this particular module, AA308 for anyone interested, is weighted 50/50, so 50 per cent of your final score is from your TMAs and the other 50 per cent is from the exam. 50/50. Even split. Sounds fair enough. But hang on a minute... Don’t we spend almost nine months studying and working hard on six different TMAs, and only three measly hours in one exam? Now that’s a really uneven weighting of time, so why on earth is the final grade split evenly between the two?
I dunno about anyone else but I’m not the biggest fan of exams anyway. My memory is shockingly bad, I hold my pen really tightly which quickly causes southpaw cramp, and I don’t deal well with the stress in the run up to them. I didn’t like them at school either, but they’re a necessary evil and I fully accept that the module has to have one; they’re an indication of how your analytical skills have developed and how well you’ve understood the module materials, I get that and I don’t dispute it. What I dispute is the weighting.
One of the students on this module made a passing comment about how his wife was due to give birth only two days before the exam but hadn’t gone into labour by the time he had to go in to sit it, now let’s think; what is likely to be consuming his thoughts, philosophical theory and Descartes Vs Aristotle, or the possibility that his wife goes into labour during his exam and what he would do about it. Hmm... Let me think *sarcastic tone*. His mind is obviously going to be on other things so what if he doesn’t do as well in the exam because of that? It means that it’s an inaccurate representation of his knowledge and ability and shouldn’t be used to account for 50 per cent of his overall mark for the module, that’s what it means.
From a logistic and expense point of view it’s impractical to do a series of smaller exams throughout the module to ensure continuous assessment and that was something we all agreed on, however, there must be some way of either weighting the exam to TMAs differently or having an alternative method of final assessment. It just seems tragically unfair that you’re only ever going to be as good as your worst mark.
(4 votes)
Comments
50/50? I think that's fair. The math exams are the lowest of either the exam or average TMA score. So 95 averge TMA, and 41 on the exam that's a 41. If you start off with 40 on the TMA's that's your highest possible score even when you score 100 on the exam.
I actually find the fact that these TMAs are only formative to be utterly, utterly soul destroying. They take a reasonable amount of time, are still compulsory, but don't really count towards anything. Whilst I sometimes enjoy doing them (and they do contribute towards learning), it still feels like it's a waste of time somehow. It also makes me far more likely to skip difficult questions (which in turn can lead to skipping whole sections of the course if time is tight) because it just doesn't really matter.
That said, I've never been a huge fan of weighting too /p>
This system is totally unfair , if you pass your 6 TMA'S and fail the exam by a few points you are not given any credits for all that hard work..
EVERY 60 CREDIT IS NOW COSTING £2,500....I THINK THEY SHOULD CHANGE THE SYSTEM...IT ALSO COSTS YOU MONEY TO RETAKE ......6 TMA[S ARE WORTH 30 CREDITS...Take a look the people who run these courses.
If I take six TMAs my results are likely to vary a fair bit - I have done courses where my lowest mark was below 70 and my highest mark above 85 - a gap which spans three grades. After taking the average of all six results, however, I can be quite satisfied that my course performance has been fairly represented in the final OCAS score I get for the course.
The same cannot be said for the OES score.
If I could also take six exams I'm pretty sure I would get similarly distributed results. I might get 79, 86, 68, 71, 74 and 80, for example. This is plausible. If we average these out I would get a fairly represented OES score of 75 and a grade 2 pass for the course.
However, for obvious financial and logistical reasons, we can only take one exam and not six. In my example I am therefore forced to take a 'lucky dip' from these six possble results. If I get lucky I might get an 86. On the other hand, I might get 68. Whether I get a distinction, a grade two or a grade three pass seems to ride too much on luck for my liking. Will I have a good day or a bad day?
I say we should either do more exams or none at all. Having just one exam means our abilities are highly prone to being poorly represented.
M
"I am therefore forced to take a 'lucky dip' from these six possble results."
My point exactly, I, luckily, had quite a good day, but it could've just as easily swung the other way.
"I say we should either do more exams or none at all."
Or adjust the weighting so that the exam represents a lesser portion of the overall mark, even 60/40 would be slightly more palatable.
Basic problem - you cannot be sure TMAs are a student's own work. You can be sure an exam is. If you want OU degrees to be rigorous and respected, they have to have the reliance on the exam. As regards variation in exam marks depending on "luck" - sorry, I don't buy it. OU exams tend to be pretty predictable - look at the past papers. If you learn your stuff, you"ll do OK - and remember if they do set an exam that's too hard, they can move the boundaries down. I actually like the way the third level physics courses are going - TMAs formative only - so there's no incentive for people to try to get hints off each other, but can actually use them instead to test and improve their understanding.
I agree. It's also important to note that the stressful conditions of an exam is also a 'test'. One that is neccessary to certain careers. The problem I have is I am much better at writing on a computer than by hand. Seeing as written documents are nearly a thing of the past, it might be wise to switch exam conditions to a computerised format, or at least optionalise it. I think exam conditions could and should be improved. The weighting should differ on a module/degree basis, if that isn't already being put into practice!?
It seems silly to hear things like Johnny's wife is due to give birth and it might possibly ruin his exam becuase his minds elsewhere. There are many careers that your mind needs to be there regardless. If you're a frontline soldier you have a 1 in 36 chance of dying. In those circumstances your mind better be there, if it's not, you stand a good chance of losing your life, or a doctor who's responsible for others peoples lives.
Interesting. It looks as if the level 3 psychology courses (DD303, D307) are going in the opposite direction to the level 3 physics courses next year, with only 80% of the examinable (OES) component being the exam itself and the project TMA counting as the other 20% of the OES score.
One observation made by a tutor at the OUPS Warwick revision weekend for DD303 this year was on the disproportionate amount of time most students spent doing TMAs vs revising for exams.
Given that the split was 50/50 between OCAS and OES, he suggested that maybe one answer would be to try to spend a similar amount of time on exam revision vs TMA writing. I know I spend far more time on TMAs than on revision and I deliberately tried to rebalance it a bit after his comment - but I'll be much more strict with myself next year to make sure I have enough time set aside to revise properly.
Now that IS interesting Tim, I probably spend 3/4 evenings preparing and writing each TMA so if I have 6 TMAs that's up to 24 evenings spent just on TMAs. In exam prep we were allocated 3 weeks on the study calendar which is roughly similar to the time I spend on TMAs.
I still think a lot of it boils down to what kind of day you're having come exam day and I'm slightly uneasy with that.
Cathabrown, you make a good point about the exam being the only practical way of assuring that course has not been completed by someone else. That is really important I think and shows why exams really are necessary.
You also say that "As regards variation in exam marks depending on "luck" - sorry, I don't buy it. OU exams tend to be pretty predictable - look at the past papers."
Generally speaking, I agree, exams do not depend on luck, rather on ability and preparation. In this sense they are 'pretty' predictable. However, your results are always going to sit within a certain margin of error (perhaps something like 16 points which is enough to span three grade thresholds - or even just 2 points which is enough to span two grades).
I think the answer to the problem is to have more exams - an 'average of 2' or even 'best of 2' system would greatly reduce the odds of being awarded an unfair grade.
M
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