mansonsoul – Member
No offence Capt' but I hate how "naive" is used to denounce any position that the old guard, the 20th century thinkers, our political class, media and industrialists think is unrealistic. The only reason many political opinions are unrealistic, is because the aforementioned groups refuse to change or let go of their power.

This is a great post, but I don't think you can start a paragraph that basically screams "Smash the Establishment Comrades!" with the words "no offence Captain"… 😀

No offence Capt' but I hate how

naive
is used to denounce any position that the old guard, the 20th century thinkers, our political class, media and industrialists think is unrealistic. The only reason many political opinions are unrealistic, is because the aforementioned groups refuse to change or let go of their power.

I completely agree. In the situation i am thinking about, however, they are being naive (btw i'd hate to think i'm part of the "old guard, the 20th century thinkers, our political class, media and industrialists think is unrealistic" – i'm only 28!).

The SU where i work want anonymous marking on assessments. This makes sense, and i generally support it – it is a realistic thing to achieve (to a certain extent). But, the argument (as i have heard it) they are presenting is simplistic and uninformed. For instance, they present it as all assessments. Trouble is the range of assessments is huge and includes methods which cannot be marked anonmously – oral presentations, viva-type defenses, project work you aid them with, debates… etc. Furthermore, even with assessments which can be anonymised (essays for example) students often come to see lecturers to see if their topic is suitable, their plan appropriate etc.

To require anonymity is to assume that lecturers are unfair and likely to bias marks out of some petty dislike, there are no other positives I can see from it, only negatives. I find that insulting and distrusting.

To require anonymity is to assume that lecturers are unfair and likely to bias marks out of some petty dislike, there are no other positives I can see from it, only negatives. I find that insulting and distrusting.

There has been some research done apparently which shows certain groups lose out with non-anonymised marking. The details presented weren't particularly clear however. Our dept has asked for more detail on this research and the general desire from the SU.

I'd be interested to see that research, can you forward me any details you get?

Assuming the SU forwards it to us, sure.

EDIT – some details on NUS website :http://www.nus.org.uk/en/Campaigns/Black-Students/Anonymous-marking-/

BigDummy – 😆 you're probably right, but I meant it in the nicest possible way!

I don't know about this particular issue. I suppose my point was a rather more general one, about the attitude to the young our society has. We fetishise their youth and beauty, their fashion and whims. But the focus on these things makes it easier to disregard their politics. Nothing in the manmade world is absolute or unchanging. Failure to recognise that has brought down empires and made civilisations extinct, has seen old cynical politicians dumbstruck as the concrete fell and impotent despite their money and suits.

So, yeah, anyway, Smash the Establishment comrades.

Ah this reminds me of my student days – and the huge cultural divide between us and the Adult Students, with their boring and unfashionable real world concerns, practicalities and child care issues.

Although in their defence you will at least all be in the same boat, I would rather do all my exams in a week and get them over with, in fact when I was at Uni I think we only had two weeks for exams in November.

P.S George I passed my CBT although the guy was in stitches with some of my stupit answers to the road sign questions. Watch out road users…

Erm, the first year is for drinking and trying to persuade women to sleep with you. Work starts in the second year.

Or have things changed a lot since I were a lad?

you must be really old. When I went to University (almost 20 years ago now) the first, second and third years were for drinking and trying to persuade women to sleep with you. Work starts when you leave University.