gair rhydd
FREE
GUARDIAN STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR
ISSUE 814 MAY 15 2006
CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972
“WORSE THAN MANSLAUGHTER, SEXUAL ABUSE, ASSAULT OR OWNING CHILD PORN...” ...AND MOST STUDENTS ARE GUILTY OF IT - SAM COARE, PAGE 7
As lecturers’ marking strike continues, University says:
WE’VE GOT A CUNNING PLAN! ...we’re just not telling you what it is yet
By Perri Lewis News Editor CARDIFF UNIVERSITY are assuring students that the lecturers’ assessment boycott will not affect summer exams, but refuse to say how they will ensure that final years graduate in July. They claim to be preparing a contingency plan to deal with the
situation, but were not able to provide gair rhydd with details of their preparations. A spokesman for the University said: “The vast majority of examination papers for forthcoming exams have been set. “We are considering all the possible contingencies to facilitate the progression of students, however there is nothing further to add at this time.”
Although the University have provided no indication about how graduation 2006 can take place if lecturers refuse to mark papers, a number of options are available to them. They could pay external markers to grade papers: however, although this appears to be a viable suggestion, one Cardiff lecturer condemns this as an alternative.
“I am quite confident that it would be unsound for people to grade assessed work who have not been part of the teaching and/or module preparation,” she said. “In other words, the grader must be aware of the module objectives and have a sense of what the module leader was trying to achieve both in terms of teaching the module and in terms of what knowledge and skills the stu-
dents should be demonstrating. “It is difficult to imagine, at least in our centre, how anyone outside our centre could be in a position to grade the work. “Marks would likely be inconsistent and they would likely be either too high or too low as compared to what the students would have been given.
Story continued on Page 4