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campusreview.com.au
A fair assessment
Australian university students call for grading changes.
By Wade Zaglas
Students at two of Australia’s highest-ranking universities are
urging their peers to sign a petition to change the grading
system this semester to either a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’.
As universities across Australia and the world turn to online
learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, students argue their
learning has been compromised and normal grading procedures
should not apply.
Close to 1000 students at the University of Technology Sydney
have signed the petition so far, which outlines their arguments and
requests a change to the grading system.
“There’s no denying it: studying during the COVID-19
(coronavirus) pandemic is hard,” it says.
“Some of us are worrying about how we’ll pay rent; others
are high-risk and stressed about our own health or the health of
those around us. Even the most stable of us may struggle with
mental health issues during this prolonged period of reduced
human contact.
“Why should we have to be stressed about readings too?”
The petition then mentions that, although tutors are doing their
best to continue teaching online through Zoom and Microsoft
Teams, such technology “disadvantages those who are not visual
or auditory learners”.
The petition also mentions the “unreliable nature” of Australia’s
NBN as another impediment.
“How can we be expected to produce our best work in these
circumstances?” the petition asks.
“It is for these reasons that we respectfully request that our
university, the University of Technology Sydney, moves to a
pass/fail grading system for the remainder of the autumn session,
and perhaps into the spring session, if relevant.
“We’ll be following in the footsteps of reputable universities
like Harvard and Stanford, who have taken these steps to
ensure that final results (and potential job prospects in the
future), are one less thing students have to worry about in these
tumultuous times.”
Meanwhile, a petition circulated by University of Sydney students
is calling for a “change [to] the grading of all undergraduate
courses being conducted online to a pass/fail basis during this
unprecedented crisis”.
In a similar vein to UTS students, University of Sydney
students cite grading changes at “the most prestigious and
competitive institutions in the world”, such as Harvard, Stanford and
Columbia, as justification for why Australian universities should be
adopting similar changes.
“For students of those universities, as of ours, the threat of
poor or atypical grade performance is a real one for future
job prospects. This should be the last worry in the minds of
students who face the very real challenges of finding substitute
employment, housing or even meals during this war-like period,”
the petition – which has over 4200 signatures – states.
UNSW engineering students will now receive either an
SY (success) or FL (failure) mark at the end of the semester,
according to news.com.au.
The grading change, which was reportedly circulated in an
email to the university’s students, cited “the high level of disruption
to teaching, the high levels of anxiety caused by COVID-19, and
the lack of integrity of online quizzes” as primary reasons for
the move. ■
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