vikingTON Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Seriously, what's the point in these seen exams? (by this I assume you are given the question in advance?) I had one of these once and saw it as a waste of time, basically testing your ability to memorise a set text like a Standard Grade German speaking exam. Even the class idiot got a decent mark if I remember correctly (which probably secured him his Third by the skin of his teeth!) Actually, I don't see the point in an unseen exam. The issue should be whether you can articulately assess a key theme in the course, with benefit of evidence and perspectives. It shouldn't be luck of the draw as to which questions they randomly put in a paper, and how many of the wee facts you had to memorise you remembered about it. Unseen exams are pointless, as it just leads to regurgitating facts for a spread of 4-5 questions, then using two of them not very well. I'm all for seen exams as a marker of how well the student understands the course, so long as they are marked to a high standard. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 in my essay i've referenced a book, partly written by someone in the department, that has yet to be published. i found it on google scholar and took quite a lot of information from it before realising the date on it. is this allowed? It is allowed but you should include the Google Scholar link in your reference and the date you accessed it. Most times I'd just use the printed publishing details but obviously that's a problem with this one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supras Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 It is allowed but you should include the Google Scholar link in your reference and the date you accessed it. Most times I'd just use the printed publishing details but obviously that's a problem with this one. Yeah, I can understand why it's better to cite actual books and not web pages but in exceptional circumstances just bite the bullet. I'd be astonished if lecturers aren't aware of this massaging of the facts given most students I know do it. In my last essay there were a few 2011 editions I am almost certain don't exist anywhere in the UK. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Yeah, I can understand why it's better to cite actual books and not web pages but in exceptional circumstances just bite the bullet. I'd be astonished if lecturers aren't aware of this massaging of the facts given most students I know do it. In my last essay there were a few 2011 editions I am almost certain don't exist anywhere in the UK. Coming entirely from my research methods class: they're happy for students to use any credible material through Google Books and Scholar, so long as it is referenced correctly. I just use the printed publication details because it's more presentable than clunky links and remembering (or making up) the dates accessed. Edited December 5, 2011 by vikingTON 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Saints Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Why would you leave it so late? Never understood folk who do that. I do this as well. I can't explain why I always leave things to the last minute. I had two 3000 word essays due last Monday, and I started them both at 11pm on Sunday night. I'm a fool. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Actually, I don't see the point in an unseen exam. The issue should be whether you can articulately assess a key theme in the course, with benefit of evidence and perspectives. It shouldn't be luck of the draw as to which questions they randomly put in a paper, and how many of the wee facts you had to memorise you remembered about it. Unseen exams are pointless, as it just leads to regurgitating facts for a spread of 4-5 questions, then using two of them not very well. I'm all for seen exams as a marker of how well the student understands the course, so long as they are marked to a high standard. It depends on the subject really. If Law exams were made open book it would make a complete mockery of it. They make allowances when it comes to recalling specific case-names or facts precisely because it is a closed book exam. They're interested in your ability to articulate the principles without external assistance. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 It depends on the subject really. If Law exams were made open book it would make a complete mockery of it. They make allowances when it comes to recalling specific case-names or facts precisely because it is a closed book exam. They're interested in your ability to articulate the principles without external assistance. I had two Law modules at Uni and both of them were a form of open-book. You were allowed to take in as many notes as you wanted - the only drawback was that they had to be handwritten. Thus, the exams became a test of not how much you know but how much 'free time' you had to write down huge chunks of the textbook. An appalling way to mark a course. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I had two Law modules at Uni and both of them were a form of open-book. You were allowed to take in as many notes as you wanted - the only drawback was that they had to be handwritten. Thus, the exams became a test of not how much you know but how much 'free time' you had to write down huge chunks of the textbook. An appalling way to mark a course. BA Law or LLB Law modules? I know that our School of Law does quasi-law modules for the likes of the Business students, but all the other modules are only open to LLB students. I think ours have to be closed book to be Law Society compliant. As you say though, when dealing with law papers it would be a total fraud to be allowed textbooks. As things are you're only allowed to take unannotated statutes into the exams and that's only really because you're expected to be quite specific about which subsection etc is the relevant provision. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supras Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 BA Law or LLB Law modules? I know that our School of Law does quasi-law modules for the likes of the Business students, but all the other modules are only open to LLB students. I think ours have to be closed book to be Law Society compliant. As you say though, when dealing with law papers it would be a total fraud to be allowed textbooks. As things are you're only allowed to take unannotated statutes into the exams and that's only really because you're expected to be quite specific about which subsection etc is the relevant provision. What are these quasi law modules for business students? Somethig to avoid but I see nothing for honours that is law based. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 What are these quasi law modules for business students? Somethig to avoid but I see nothing for honours that is law based. There's a "Commercial Law for Business" module that we're not allowed to take that others are. It's essentially our "Commercial Law" course but massively dumbed down. Level 2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Quick question with regards to UCAS, in the education part do I include all the modules I'm doing this year and have yet to sit exams in/pass? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honest Saints Fan Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Quick question with regards to UCAS, in the education part do I include all the modules I'm doing this year and have yet to sit exams in/pass? Yeah, that's what I did. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 BA Law or LLB Law modules? I know that our School of Law does quasi-law modules for the likes of the Business students, but all the other modules are only open to LLB students. I think ours have to be closed book to be Law Society compliant. As you say though, when dealing with law papers it would be a total fraud to be allowed textbooks. As things are you're only allowed to take unannotated statutes into the exams and that's only really because you're expected to be quite specific about which subsection etc is the relevant provision. I would think they would have been BA Law modules as I don't think Stirling offers the LLB. My degree was a BAcc so they were just like your quasi-modules. They focused on business law more than anything so they were quite interesting nonetheless. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widge Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 First exam over and tbh I could have been worse, I'll pass and that's the important thing. However the lecturer lied about what to revise, considering he wrote it. so wasted ages on stuff which didn't come up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Hahn Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Just realised my coursework marks have been up for about a week now and I hadn't checked. 75% and 62% with one mark back in January. I'm pretty happy with that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 It depends on the subject really. If Law exams were made open book it would make a complete mockery of it. It's the same with geology, although I'm not sure the seen exam I had was actually meant to be one! The whole point of the unseen exam is to give you a random problem to solve like you would have to do in industry once you graduated. If some people want to gamble on what will come up and get lucky then that's up to them but it rarely worked with our lot. On the whole, our current 'unseen' system means that the vast majority of graduates with good 2:1s or firsts have a wide knowledge base in their studies and didn't just focus on one small part when it really mattered. Our final c*** of an exam was one with 50 random rock specimens where you had three minutes or so at each one, writing as much as you could about it from it's name through to depositional environment. That's the one that really separated the good guys. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraser_smfc Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Got me exam timetable t'other day. Friday 13th January 2012 - HRD Wednesday 18th January 2012 - Contemporary British Governance Thursday 19th January 2012 - Work And Organisational Psychology All three exams are two hours long. I think I can do pretty well in them and a few weeks of revision should ensure I can back up my claim. What course are you doing yoda? Organisational psychology interests me but they don't teach it on my course which is a shame. First exam done yesterday, three to go. I don't think I'll come out of another exam feeling as confident. The questions were very fair and it helped that I studied hard for Cognition. Unfortunately what has suffered is my biological psychology module, and the exam is tomorrow morning. I've always struggled with biology and I had no choice in the matter regarding taking it. The hardest of the 4 modules has been taught by the worst two lecturers which obviously doesn't help. It's a shame as the rest of the course has been taught so well. I think I can rescue it by tomorrow, so I should really stop pissing and moaning and get off p&b. Btw Ad Lib, do you have a twin at Dundee? There is someone I see in the library from time to time who is the spitting image of yourself. It's uncanny. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forehead7 Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 My January timetable was released today. 9th, 11th and 16th of January. 9th and 16th are the harder subject and 11th is relatively easy to it's a half decent timetable. I was supposed to have an exam for another subject, hope it's actually in May and it doesn't get added inbetween them. Pegasus had changed. The one that was on the 11th is now on the 20th. Hard subject on the 9th, hardish subject on the 16th and easy subject on the 20th now Unless they add in that other subject, then I don't think I could've asked for a better timetable. Plenty of time inbetween them and a gradual decrease in difficulty. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 What course are you doing yoda? Organisational psychology interests me but they don't teach it on my course which is a shame. I'm doing Human Resource Management. It's quite interesting, especially with variety from the classes within the course. I quite like the organisational psychology part and my Higher in psychology has certainly made it a lot easier to grasp than I expected. Next semester it looks like we will be applying it to actual business examples rather than just the theory of it and the papers from psychologists. It's got a mix of pretty much everything in it. Politics, economics, psychology and obviously general management science theory. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad Lib Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 That Criminal Law and Evidence exam was a total abomination. I feel sorry for the 1st years who had to sit that. It was truly awful. The first two questions were virtually unanswerable unless you had pretty much read up the entire main topics separately as they were briefly covered in the lectures and not at all in the tutorials, and the final 3 questions were quite complicated (you have a choice of 3). I think I gave a reasonably good answer to q3 and a solid one for q5 but q4 was weak. Oh well, roll on Politics essay, Human Rights report and Jurisprudence! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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