How's your marking going?

[KroplaBeskidu]

I'm knee-deep in third year undergraduate essays at the minute and I've got MA essays coming in on Tuesday.

I've deliberately set the assessments for both these modules so that students can be creative and they're actually interesting to read. But, I still find it hard work and hugely frustrating. I find students making the same mistakes time and time again and just not being critical or argumentative enough. I'm social sciences, they need to have an opinion and argue passionately for it.

I'm also astounded every single year at the poor quality of writing, which seems to be getting worse. It's not necessarily a problem with academic writing so much as just writing itself. These are third year, RG students and so many of them have no idea how to use a comma, they start sentences with dependent clauses (I think that's what they're called) and then never finish them and they use completely ridiculous flowery language to make the most simple of points.

OTOH, there are some absolute sterling essays which I love to read.

So, how's your marking going fellow MNers?

When I was at uni, my friends and I would grammar check each other's work (different unis and different courses). One had a habit of using a comma like a full stop. I broke that habit out of her by the end.

I'm also a primary teacher and finding this thread very interesting! The current method of teaching writing , the obsession with grammatical terms and (imo) the overuse of language to make simple points will only make things worse!

I'm currently trying to get my class to use simple sentences for effect. We teach them how to use compound and complex sentences and then they go crazy with it.

With DS1 having recently gone through GCSE teaching, I have a much greater insight into where the hideous complex sentences are coming from. There is nothing wrong with simple clear sentences. I'd much rather read an essay composed entirely of simple short sentences that allow students to make clear points, that the over-complex and poorly punctuated 'sentences' I see.

I think the semi-colon should be banned in undergraduate writing. I don't think I've ever read a student essay where semi-colons have been used correctly. They'd be much better off not trying to use them.

I love me a semicolon but only because I know I'm using them correctly. I have several teacher friends who don't know how to use them so are teaching them incorrectly.

Oh. I personally love a semi-colon. But only I'm competent hands.

Students who don't understand the difference between a full stop and a comma should not be anywhere near a semi-colon.

DS1 had a (horrendous) English tutor for a bit. The last straw was my discovering that, in fact, she did not know how to use a bloody semi-colon (or a colon) and was teaching him rubbish.

Oh, God, the long flowery sentences are doing my head in.

Yesterday I marked a research report (Masters level) where the student used their Discussion section (which was meant to be a discussion about the use of research methods to answer the research question) to give me a bollocking about the very small word count.

I'm marking exams for someone else's course and they've primed the students within an inch of their lives. This has resulted in 200 identical answers, which are nigh on impossible to differentiate.

Eugh, clockwotch That's so annoying.

One of my colleagues has completely dicked me around with marking. Last week, she promised that her essays would be marked and ready for me to moderate today. But she apparently hasn't got around to marking them . I'm away for the next week (hence needing them today) so another colleague has had to pick up my moderating for me, which makes me feel shit.

The students were meant to get their marks back a week ago so they're going to be seriously fucked off.

Hopefully they'll be full of the joys of summer and forgotten the deadline!

I've just marked the last five 65, 66, 64, 64, 65. They are ALL THE SAME. Just makes you second guess constantly.

Not a chance. After getting hammered in the NSS for feedback, our programme director decided to make it a "thing" that students should know (a) when they can expect feedback, (b) how much feedback they can expect, (c) how to interpret feedback which is basically just linked to the marking scheme and (d) what to do if they're unhappy with feedback.

This has created a cohort of students who are shit hot on feedback. That's fine in theory but it doesn't give much wiggle room for when things go wrong and feedback is late.

It is frustrating when students are massively penalised for not submitting work on time (I know it's really important that it is) but they aren't returned by the date specified. Kind of a contradiction.

The odd computer error or marker illness is obviously an exception but when it's just a "haven't got round to it yet" it's incredibly frustrating.

BeingATwat The thing that pissed me off most was that we had a specific conversation where I said I had to have the essays on Wednesday (bear in mind I was expecting them last week) and she said I definitely would get them on Wednesday. Because she assured me, I cleared my diary so I could moderate today (Wednesday) but they're not here.

I know we're all busy but if I'd assured a colleague I'd get work to them knowing that they were fitting their diary around it (I could've worked at home today and saved myself £20- I only came in for moderating), I'd fucking make sure they got it.

However, clearing your diary for moderating and then not moderating does leave lots of time for MN

Oh I know. I wasn't getting at you. More just a general comment about the other markers mentality.

No, I know you weren't, sorry! I'm really pissed off about the whole situation and taking every opportunity to express that

-Miserable old bastard--

*marker's

Just reread my last comment and cringed at my lack of apostrophe!

I think I'd rather have uniform essays I could give solid 2:Is to than the alarmingly variable stuff I've had to mark. We moderated today (as arranged - and released the marks early). My colleague said that so many of the essays were like watching a horror film and waiting a the jump scare. You'd be thinking it was OK (not good, but alright) and then out of nowhere something truly horrendous would appear.

😂

Maybe they were writing them the night before they were due in whilst watching a horror film.

My DP used to write his the day they were due in. He worked out that any assignments submitted after midday weren't collected until 9am the next day but were still marked as on time. So he didn't hand them in until 7am the day after. That doesn't mean he spent all the extra time making it perfect. It meant he left it even longer. Funnily enough, he had to do resits before scraping a third.

Who'd've thought a winning strategy like that would result in a 3rd.

I suspect the bottom 1/3 of essays would have been improved had they been watching horror films rather than reading the daily mail. Our jump scare were of the hideous stereotypes and sweeping generalisations about 'the country of africa' type. Or the glorious 'poor people are a waste of future resources' (which appeared near identically in 3 essays).

Marking my Grammar papers makes me want to bang my head against the table...

I would love marking like that. Wading through 5 page handwritten essays x 200 is the worst!

I still have writing to assess as well. 😩

Sitting on a to-be-marked-pile as tall as my chair. One more teaching week and then I'll get to it. I will have one day's peace once I have finished marking the essays. Then I will be handed a huge pile of exams to be marked. Sob.