The Student Room Group

This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

I'm a university lecturer: ask me anything

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Freiheit
What exactly does an external examiner do?

Reviews a course. Looks at the paperwork around it - learning outcomes, teaching methods etc. Reviews student work such as exams and coursework. Interviews students (I think) then reports back to the department. They comment on fairness of marks, consistency between markers, problems the students had and suggest improvements.

Why are external examiner's reports/comments hidden from students?


Dunno.

How do lecturers decide what exam questions to set ?


They just...decide. We have a committee that checks the questions to make sure they're OK.

Do the lectures get blamed if there are high failure rates or very low average marks and how do universities try to stop this?


To an extent.The pressure is very much on us to have no failures and high average marks, as this looks good on the course info and makes us more attractive to applicants. This is a clear conflict of interest if you ask me. Check out the proportion of students getting 1sts / 2.1s over the past 20 years for huge grade inflation.

Bear in mind that lecturers and markers have almost complete control over the marks they give. So if the marks are too low...it's pretty easy to massage the figures. This doesn't apply to professionally accredited courses like medicine.

We have internal committees that look at average marks and number of fails and discuss outliers and how to "improve" them. For example, one university "rounds up" 59% to 60%, 69% to 70% and so on, to avoid students getting upset for missing out on a grade boundary. THis isn't rounding up of course, it's just adding a mark for no reason!
Original post by Lilyghz
I've become the really annoying person who asks so many questions but..

What's the most outstanding experience out of your entire career?

Going to Japan for a conference was nice.

What is your main area of study/interest in Psychology?


Human evolutionary psychology, especially mating.

Is there anything in Psychology that you think is data deficient?


Pretty much everything! The replication problem is rife in psychology.

What do you think are the most common misconceptions people have about Psychology?


Sigmund Freud is an important figure. It's about people's feelings. It's mainly clinical. There isn't much maths. It's not a science.

What advice would you give a prospective Psychology undergrad?


Study maths (at least stats) A level. Don't be under the misconceptions above. Do a general course in preference to a specialist one.
Original post by demx9
u wat


It's a very anthropocentric view to separate humans from the rest of the animal kingdom, as if we're somehow special. We, too, are animals that follow all the rules of biology, who evolved by natural selection, whose embryological development works the exact same as everyone else's, whose brain works the exact same as everyone else's. The only difference is that we have an extra few circuits that other species don't! Removing anthropocentrism would leave every field of human study as a branch of zoology, except the arts & humanities, which studies very uniquely the things tied to humanity. :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile
Interesting. What would you say to Freud were he still alive and active in his work?
Reply 544
Avatar for demx9
demx9
3
Original post by Hype en Ecosse
It's a very anthropocentric view to separate humans from the rest of the animal kingdom, as if we're somehow special. We, too, are animals that follow all the rules of biology, who evolved by natural selection, whose embryological development works the exact same as everyone else's, whose brain works the exact same as everyone else's. The only difference is that we have an extra few circuits that other species don't! Removing anthropocentrism would leave every field of human study as a branch of zoology, except the arts & humanities, which studies very uniquely the things tied to humanity. :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile


I think there should be a balance .. and putting Human psychology under zoology goes way too much the other way.
Original post by chazwomaq
What it says on the tin.


Are you ever suprised by the amount of lectures students miss?
Original post by demx9
I think there should be a balance .. and putting Human psychology under zoology goes way too much the other way.


I don't think "psychology" fits as a branch of zoology as the field is currently studied and conceptualised (i.e., the study of non-human animals), but if you take zoology as its literal description, then humans fall within that branch of study. Of course, it doesn't! Because like most species, we care most about our own species, so study into human anything far exceeds that into animal, plant or microbial equivalents. Hence, they rightfully become very separate. Perhaps in an alternate universe, the vets would treat humans and zoologists would study humans, too. :tongue:
Original post by chazwomaq
Yes, I have the pleasure of knowing because we get feedback from students, and they do like to include personal comments every now and then. I do think it's useful to know if others consider you a good or bad lecturer.



Replace A levels with IB. Maths would be compulsory, definitely for science subjects (some minimum achievement criterion).

I would not organise school classes by age but by ability. Thus you might have clever 12 year olds working alongside average 13 year olds and not so bright 14 year olds.

Increase disciplinary levels in schools - but I guess this is down to heads ultimately.

Reduce social and economic inequality - just don't ask me how!


That's nice!

I do agree with the Mathematics to some extent. Though that would bring many issues since a lot of teachers only have a BEd and can't teach the subject properly which just makes it somewhat troublesome for a few students.

I don't intend on asking how you'd do that :tongue:

Have any of your students ever disagreed with a test you've set or created; like some of the answers being wrong or some of the questions being ambiguous?
Original post by Lilyghz
Interesting. What would you say to Freud were he still alive and active in his work?


Probably yes. Just look at the huge numbers of psychoanalysts still peddling their wares, especially in America. Freud would probably move there to work.

But psychology in general was not very scientific in Freud's time. The real scientists were studying rats in boxes and Freud wanted to understand the juicy human stuff, so he made up loads of weird stuff. We have come a long way now, and Freud may have remembered his medical training and rejected his unscientific methods in today's world.
Original post by gaylubeoil
Are you ever suprised by the amount of lectures students miss?


Yes, constantly.
Original post by gaylubeoil
Are you ever suprised by the amount of lectures students miss?


Yes, constantly. I missed maybe 5 or 6 lectures or labs during my whole time at uni (out of a few hundred). If I get more than 75% in a class, that's a very good attendance.
Original post by Binary Freak
I do agree with the Mathematics to some extent. Though that would bring many issues since a lot of teachers only have a BEd and can't teach the subject properly which just makes it somewhat troublesome for a few students.


Yes, this is big problem as maths and engineering and physical science grads can get much better jobs than teaching, and so there are very few well trained teachers left to teach the subject. I know many psychology and geography graduates teaching maths.

Have any of your students ever disagreed with a test you've set or created; like some of the answers being wrong or some of the questions being ambiguous?


I don't think I've ever given a wrong answer. They do complain if I haven't told them what's going to be in the exam, or if it's a question that they can't answer by directly quoting something in the course, but have to work it out for themselves.
Original post by chazwomaq
Yes, this is big problem as maths and engineering and physical science grads can get much better jobs than teaching, and so there are very few well trained teachers left to teach the subject. I know many psychology and geography graduates teaching maths.


What's troublesome too is the lack of males in the teaching profession (especially at Primary level in which I believe there are too many female teachers). If you go from engineering and science to the education school then it turns from a sausage fest to a taco fest. A lot of schools I go in are mostly nearly all female!! Surely there's a need for balance?


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by datpiff
What's troublesome too is the lack of males in the teaching profession (especially at Primary level in which I believe there are too many female teachers). If you go from engineering and science to the education school then it turns from a sausage fest to a taco fest. A lot of schools I go in are mostly nearly all female!! Surely there's a need for balance?


Posted from TSR Mobile


There is certainly a huge sex difference.

I'm not sure how problematic it is. I would rather my children were taught by good teachers rather than one of a particular sex. Anecdotally some parents do say their boys respond better the male teachers, and I do think education can be "feminised" - rewarding being quiet and sitting still and concentrating rather than being competitive and making things.
Original post by chazwomaq
Yes, this is big problem as maths and engineering and physical science grads can get much better jobs than teaching, and so there are very few well trained teachers left to teach the subject. I know many psychology and geography graduates teaching maths.



I don't think I've ever given a wrong answer. They do complain if I haven't told them what's going to be in the exam, or if it's a question that they can't answer by directly quoting something in the course, but have to work it out for themselves.


Yeah.. The part is particularly true about the training the teachers have! :smile:

It's always an issue when people need to use their brain!! :tongue:

Have you always wanted to be a lecturer? Or is it just something you grew into?

Secondly.. Do you ever get annoyed with students that complain about a deadline being unrealistic?
Original post by Binary Freak
Have you always wanted to be a lecturer? Or is it just something you grew into?


I think when I was in the last year of my undergrad I realised I would really enjoy academia. Before that I had other plans - law, civil service, writing.

Secondly.. Do you ever get annoyed with students that complain about a deadline being unrealistic?


They tend to complain about multiple deadlines on the same day, but we only do this as it's the latest possible deadline. The other option would be to arbitrarily place some deadlines earlier than others just to space them out, but this would mean less time to actually do the work. Time management people, time management.
Original post by chazwomaq
I think when I was in the last year of my undergrad I realised I would really enjoy academia. Before that I had other plans - law, civil service, writing.



They tend to complain about multiple deadlines on the same day, but we only do this as it's the latest possible deadline. The other option would be to arbitrarily place some deadlines earlier than others just to space them out, but this would mean less time to actually do the work. Time management people, time management.


I originally had plans to become a police officer.. Oh how I do laugh at that now :giggle:

Spaced out deadlines gets on my nerves quite a bit. They're doing it an university at the moment and it's just silly me thinks.

What classification did you get on your degree? and did you ever fail an assignment or an exam?
Original post by Binary Freak
I originally had plans to become a police officer.. Oh how I do laugh at that now :giggle:


What do you do?

What classification did you get on your degree? and did you ever fail an assignment or an exam?


1st. I never failed anything, although I came pretty close in my histology exam as I recall.
Original post by chazwomaq
What do you do?



1st. I never failed anything, although I came pretty close in my histology exam as I recall.


I'm a first year uni student.. Once I'm done with uni I will hopefully be doing a summer job (10 weeks).. then going for a network engineering/support position! :biggrin:

Well done!! What was the workload like :colone:
Hi mate what course do you have to do to become a lecturer?:smile::smile:
Thanks

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you