Don’t make tertiary assessment harder

TERTIARY STUDENTS across the island are currently home, subject to quarantine regulations since March 2020. Students are expected to do online classes and at the end of their respective semesters, partake in a mode of assessment that would qualify them for their credits in order to matriculate. There is, however, a fear that these assessments will be made harder, which has psychologically placed tertiary students between a rock and a hard place.

Some university students have expressed an understanding of the move due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and the Government’s efforts to contain the spread. I am proposing that the universities in Jamaica take a holistic approach when considering what endof-semester assessments will entail. While there has been no confirmed word that lecturers plan to mark students harder, I urge the necessary university administrations to ensure that this remains the same.

There is an amicable understanding that while students are home and exams will take an online format, the requirements will change. It must, however, be noted that a change in requirements does not automatically equal to marking harder.

This urge to university administrations does not represent a sleight of hand, or students wanting a free pass or a holiday. The reality must be recognised that while being at home, conditions differ which, ultimately, affect the psychology of the students.

Is it reasonable for students to be placed under more pressure while having to deal with this pandemic? Certainly not. Quarantine is definitely not the same for every student. Some are experiencing crowded and abusive homes, amid other challenges, and so marking students harder during this time is certainly not the way to go. We’ve already accepted, under normal circumstances, that if students are affected psychologically, they won’t be able to execute well on examinations. Just imagine the pressure and stress students face in a time like now, and apply the same principle. This principle does not change with students being at home.

DIFFERENT STEPS

Universities all over the world have taken different steps to ease the pressure on students through changes in requirement for final examinations. The examinations were simply transposed at the same level of difficulty to online platforms. For others, such as the University of California, Vermont and Yale, just to name a few, there has been a decision for some courses to be only ‘pass’ or ‘fail’. For other courses, the requirements are retrofitted, ultimately altering the requirements suitable to be executed easily utilising online platforms, to be marked at their standard level.

Employing a few of those strategies in Jamaican universities will not lead to a decrease in the validity or standard of the degree. Two- to four-hour online examinations are just as hard, or even harder, for a lot of students. This is as a result of the sustained pressure and anxiety that students will be subjected to, especially when compared to the two to four hours that they may be used to. As such, lecturers must be cautioned against making course assessment more difficult.

Might I recall that the effects of this pandemic have made similar impacts on the world as if it were World Wars I and II. For students to go through this time and successfully matriculate, the right approach is needed for them to successfully manoeuvre themselves mentally while pursuing a higher education.