Return to Student Council

Rejected Ideas

These are ideas submitted by students but rejected by student council.

These are ideas which were suggested by students but rejected by student council. You can also check out passed ideas and current ideas.

Policy Idea

Back to list
  • 6 score
    12 voters

    Individual Marking for Group Assessments

    Submitted 4 years ago by Finlay Haggerty
    Rejected
      5comments
      When students are working in groups for assessments, allow for students to attach their banner numbers to the parts they contributed to specifically so students can be marked accordingly for their work and not the work of others.

      Why you think it is important

      I think this is important because most people who have worked in an academic group will argue there is always at least one person who does not engage with material or put any effort in, even after discussing the matter with them or faculty. This means that when the group receive a grade, this individual gets credited for the work of others and not their own. In addition, some students may not put in much effort when completing their section of an assessment so the group as a whole could suffer. I believe it is vital that students are recognised for their own work at all times throughout their university career as not only does it ensure students receive fair marking for their contributions and abilities, it also allows them to improve on areas more specifically.

      Is there anything else you think we should know?

      N/A
    Kirsty Randall
    9:53pm on 3 Feb 21 Some courses have included this is in the marking criteria for this term, it would be beneficial if it became more widespread. It is frustrating that no matter how hard one person works that a mark can be brought down due to some group members who are not contributing fully. I understand that it is difficult for many to put as much time and effort into group work due to other commitments during the pandemic but feel that marking for group work, in normal times, should always include a portion of the mark for individual input.
    Sarah Anderson
    1:26pm on 15 Feb 21 Several students I've spoken with would also support this motion particularly within social work. As social work is so concerned with how people work together if we get a poor score in a group work assessment, due to others, this can poorly reflect on us. I know group work is usually the bane of people's university life but especially during covid its highlighting that its not working as there's no way to just meet someone before a class so people can vanish or not contribute and we cant do anything about it.
    David Chalmers-Lewis
    12:16pm on 18 Mar 21 While I can understand the reasoning behind this I don't think this would be feasible for lecturers to mark individually plus if you only get marked for the section you have completed are you actually meeting the learning outcomes required to pass the course in that one section? I will say since starting uni I've been similarly frustrated picking up the slack from other group members in order to make sure I don't end up with a poor mark. Having a mandatory peer review included in any module that has a group work component wouldn't necessarily increase lecturers work load + this would impact on the grade positively or negatively ??
    Ajay McLaren
    12:26pm on 18 Mar 21 I would agree with David. I feel that it would increase workload on lecturers (as assignments will need to be made longer to ensure each section meets all the learning outcomes) drastically. I think that the idea of a mandatory peer review is something which we could look into. A mandatory peer review would ensure that students are more motivated and they have more incentive to engage. It would also ensure that people would be rewarded for effort, work ethic etc., and others have their marks negatively affected for poor work ethic and effort. All this while ensuring that lecturers aren't drastically overloaded with work. Overall, I feel like a mandatory peer review for group work is worth looking into instead of this :)
    David Chalmers-Lewis
    8:39pm on 18 Mar 21 An alternative could also be allowing people to pick their own groups to reduce the risk of people not contributing ??