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News: Degrees for Bournemouth Archaeology students who mix up Neolithic and Mesolithic
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Submitted by Andy B on Sunday, 28 February 2010 Page Views: 1303
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 Country: England The university professor who stood up against dumbing down of degrees. When Professor Paul Buckland settled down in his garden one summer's evening to mark exam papers from his second-year archaeology students, he was expecting the usual range of responses. But it soon became clear that the scripts had plummeted to new depths of ignorance.
In one paper, the decline of elm trees was attributed to diseases passed on by dogs. Next, a student explained that the volcanic eruption in Pompeii had "changed the pattern of human evolution". By the time he read that farming caused smaller jaws in humans, his head was practically in his hands.
The professor failed 18 out of the 60 papers he marked. And that was where his problems began.
For three years, the academic has been embroiled in a conflict with Bournemouth University over its decision to overule his professional judgment on the standard of his students' work and increase their scores.
The battle has effectively ruined his career. At the lowest point, Professor Buckland was even forced to ask his 89-year-old father for financial help.
But last week, a decision by the Court of Appeal hopefully marked the end of his ordeal. To the academic's immense relief, the court upheld his contention that the south-coast university raised the grades of weak students without his knowledge, and that his resignation, when it refused to reinstate his marks, amounted to constructive dismissal.
But the 62-year-old's nightmare has also cast light on a more widespread issue that vice-chancellors steadfastly refuse to acknowledge. According to Professor Buckland, a battle for standards is raging within parts of the UK higher education sector.
On one side are academics anxious to maintain quality and control over the courses they teach. On the other are managers, generally in newer institutions, who regard students as pots of cash and care more about recruitment and drop-out rates than ensuring that students' marks reflect the work they do.
"The implications go way beyond Bournemouth," said Professor Buckland. "Before last week's ruling, the message sent out to universities was that you could bully staff into upping grades – 'if you don't give the marks we want, we'll get someone else to do it for us' – which is what happened to me."
The saga began in 2006 when his department decided to remark the papers the professor had failed – 14 after students had resat – even though a second marker endorsed his scores, as did the external examiner. On the basis of this fourth assessment, scores were increased by up to six percentage points, moving several students from a clear fail to a pass.
These were students, the professor said, who after two years of an archaeology degree did not know if the mesolithic age came before or after the neolithic.
"The papers were farmed out to someone who didn't have the necessary expertise and it was all done behind my back," said Professor Buckland, who lives in Sheffield with his wife, Joan.
"It makes a mockery of the entire system if the relevant expert in the field is not allowed to return the marks. We get students who have to work damned hard to get their degree. Then there are students who just drift through, spend most of their times in bars, being given the same degree. It's an insult to the people who have worked hard."
Read More in The Telegraph
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| "Degrees for Bournemouth Archaeology students who mix up Neolithic and Mesolithic" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments |
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Re: Degrees for Bournemouth Archaeology students who mix up Neolithic and Mesolithic (Score: 1)
by Spiritseeker on Tuesday, 02 March 2010
(User Info | Send a Message) | One can only admire Professor Buckland for his stance on poor standards in students.I can recall one Professsor of History at Central Lancs. University welcoming mature students in his group and saying that younger undergraduates were the bane of his life as he had to spend part of the first year teaching them basic history that they should have learned at school.
Perhaps it is time to recognise that entry to university should be tightened up, not made easier,otherwise degrees will increasingly become not worth the paper they are written on. Instead of turning polytechnics into Universities they should have kept them and encouraged less academically gifted youngsters to learn a trade. We are so behind the rest of Europe where education is concerned. | [ Reply to This ]
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Re: Degrees for Bournemouth Archaeology students who mix up Neolithic and Mesolithic (Score: 1)
by frogcottage42 on Tuesday, 02 March 2010
(User Info | Send a Message) | This is an interesting debate because it reinforces the position that letters after a name do not necessarily imply depth of knowledge.
I have spent many years as an amateur and because I have a genuine interest I believe I have learned enough to give educated and objective opinion about the kinds of site I know and recognise the things I don't.
I have struggled to get any assistance or information or even the opportunity to put forward theories to some academics who regard amateurs as a sub-species.
I have recently looked into obtaining a degree in archaeology from UCC and may well do so in the next available window but it pains me to think that I need to do this to be taken seriously by some and that dumbing down may reduce the value of any work I put into a subject I take seriously.
Without the work of enthusiastic amateurs most academic positions would never have evolved and the badge of recognition that is a degree should be administered by people who are not subject to economic or political pressures.
Well done Prof, at least early retirement will give plenty of time for research! | [ Reply to This ]
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Re: Degrees for Bournemouth Archaeology students who mix up Neolithic and Mesolithic (Score: 1)
by Morgaine_ADO on Wednesday, 03 March 2010
(User Info | Send a Message) | Anyone who doubts the outcome of allowing schools and colleges to "dumb down" criteria need look no further than the US to see the inevitable results. A nation that was in intellectual and creative flower as recently as the 1950s and 60s is now filled with people who resent and suspect anything and anyone associated with culture as being members of an "elite"; people that can, and should, be removed from the common dialogue and life of society. And this is not the extent of it. Not only have average people lost the ability to distinguish between high art and talentless scribbling, they've also lost the ability to think and reason for themselves -- all in the space of about sixty years.
If it could happen to us, it could happen to you. | [ Reply to This ]
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Re: Degrees for Bournemouth Archaeology students who mix up Neolithic and Mesolithic (Score: 1)
by neodruid1 on Saturday, 06 March 2010
(User Info | Send a Message) | | Been there, done that. Some years ago I taught Western Civ I at a local community college (U.S. two-year college) and failed a number of students for, well, failing to pass the exams or demonstrate accurate knowledge in their papers. I was not formally reprimanded, nor (to my knowledge) were the grades changed - for which I am grateful - but neither was I invited back to teach the next semester! So I empathize deeply with Professor Buckland. And now they're pushing the idea that everyone should get a college or university degree, while de-funding or under-funding vocational/technical schools... I ask you, who's going to provide services for all these nincompoops with letters after their names? And we continue to ship manufacturing jobs offshore, and wonder why our economy is going down a black hole. I hate to sound like Scrooge, but "Bah, humbug!" seems an increasingly accurate assessment of the situation. | [ Reply to This ]
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