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Re: Philosophy and exams
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At Birkbeck and, indeed, London University as a whole, there are a few
options.
1. Take 8 subjects (5 compulsory and 3 optional) and undergo 8 Finals exams
2. Take 7 subjects (5 compulsory and 2 optional) and do a Dissertation of up
to 7,500 words
3. Pre-submit three 2,500 word essays for a subject instead of sitting the
final, for up to three subjects.
So you could write 9 essays and a dissertation and then sit exams in 4
subjects.
I think the London approach is a bit more flexible isn't it?
It's still a tough call.
Pre-submitted essays have to be of a much higher standard than exam essays.
There has to be more in them and you can't go over 2,500 words, the examiner
must stop reading at the 2,500 word mark.
Since I usually get slightly better marks for essays than I do for exams, I
was planning to take the Dissertation and nine essays route, leaving only 4
exams. The more I think of it, the more work that sounds.
Hmmm...next year is my final year, and time is flying by, so I have to decide
what I am going to do. I have some A graded essays for Epistemology last year
and am planning to try and do some A graded ones for Mind and for Metaphysics
this year. If I achieve that, which there is no guarantee of, then I think I
will be in a position to take the full pre-submission route - I can use the A
grade essays I already have and refine them more and that will leave me with a
couple of new essays to write.
Ho hum, we will see.
Nick Dippie <nd603@soton.ac.uk> wrote:
> To reply to this message or start a new topic please email:
BUPS-DIS@bups.org
>
>
> well exams are definitely not going to go away and i think thats a good
> thing.with normal essays it is impossible to tell how much help people are
> going to get from tutors etc - i've heard of some people going and talking
> to their lecturers a hell of a lot for guidance, even if they can't
> actually show them anything. with exams you know it is only going to be the
> students work.
>
> also thought you might be interested in the final year exams we have down
> here in southampton - not sure how many of the rest of you have these
> particular tests. they're called the 'philosophical commentary' and involve
> two three hour papers on entirely unseen material, with the qustion
> amounting to nothing more than 'comment on/analyse the passage' (which is
> usually a good 3 sides long i think). and its worth as much as our
> dissertations.
>
> so yeah, exams test us in a completely different way to essays down here.
> which i think is good.
>
> nick
>
>
>
> Quoting nj8 <nj8@ntlworld.com>:
>
> > To reply to this message or start a new topic please email:
> > BUPS-DIS@bups.org
> >
> >
> > Well ... this is a perennial issue, and Rab's post sums up the usual
> > pros and cons. One thing that hasn't been mentioned, is that depts often
> > justify exams on the grounds that they make you construct arguments
> > under pressure, and (also perhaps) to that extent they provide an
> > assessable vs. of the sort of philosophical discussion that takes place
> > (hopefully) in seminars, symposia, conferences etc.
> >
> > Bear in mind that all assessment involves some sort of cut off point
> > (once you've submitted your essay, that's it) - with exams cut off just
> > comes sooner! And they are well established in academic life, and ain't
> > going to go away.
> >
> > And FWIW, 'professional' philosophers frequently spend months, even
> > years working on papers, rather than days or weeks!
> >
> > nick
> >
> > tommorganemail-bups@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> >
> > > Another thing Sheffield are doing, at least for the first year (the
> > > marks for which do not go towards the degree) is assessed
> > > presentations during tutorials, perhaps with the same advantages as
> > > the essay but addressing the problem that a lot of students can write
> > > on a subject but not as many can talk about the subject with
> > confidence.
> > >
> > > Tom
> > >
> > > */Edward Grefenstette <pha04eg@sheffield.ac.uk>/* wrote:
> > >
> > > To reply to this message or start a new topic please email:
> > > BUPS-DIS@bups.org
> > >
> > >
> > > This is a topic that comes up quite frequently during staff-student
> > > committee meetings.
> > > The gist of the conclusions is generally that not all philosophy
> > > students are going to go on and do postgraduate studies, and
> > > therefore need their response to working under pressure, within
> > > monitored conditions, to be tested occasionally. Naturally the
> > world
> > > of exam essay writing is quite different from the world of
> > > philosophical research, so why must those of us interested in
> > evading
> > > the world of 'real' jobs go through with exams? After several years
> > > of bitc-errr polite insistence on the point, our department here in
> > > sheffield seems to be caving in and is potentially planning on
> > > allowing third year students to do more 'long essays' in lieu of
> > some
> > > 3rd year exams, thus leaving the students with a suitable choice
> > > between death by hanging on the corporate rope, or the more subtle
> > > library/gas-chamber which leaves you asphyxiated under a pile of
> > > books and broken dreams.
> > >
> > > As you can see, I too am looking forward to the end of term.
> > >
> > > Cheerio.
> > >
> > > -- Edward.
> > >
> > > On 14 Dec 2005, at 14/12/200516:04, Robert Charleston wrote:
> > >
> > > > To reply to this message or start a new topic please email: BUPS-
> > > > DIS@bups.org
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ! As a man who suspects he's about to be mugged of a few marks
> > > in the
> > > > next couple of days, as results are due, what do people think of
> > > > philosophy exams?
> > > >
> > > > I can see pros and cons.
> > > >
> > > > On the 'con' side: Most (time) of the course I'm on involves
> > > > writing essay papers over a few days, with a known question and
> > > > some reference books. It's a good mode of operating, can be
> > > > stressful when you don't leave enough time, but there's a fairly
> > > > reliable correlation of effort and result. I am then examined at
> > > > the end, using *a completely different skill*. One that I haven't
> > > > practised during the year, have not had feedback on my technique
> > > > for, and which I am poorly prepared for by the longer, more
> > > > involved essays that are required for good marks during
> > continuous
> > > > assessment. There's really not much you can do in an hour,
> > > > especially when you don't know what you're going ! to be asked.
> > > > Furthermore, it doesn't seem to resemble professional philosophy
> > > > life very much, which *is* about writing papers over several days
> > > > or weeks from MA onwards, at least on most courses I've heard
> > > > described. So what on Earth is the point of the philosophy exam?
> > > >
> > > > Pro side: Continuous assessment essays can be bought off the
> > > > internet or copied. Exams are definitely your own work. You only
> > > > write on 8-9 topics per module on continuous assessment. By not
> > > > telling you what's in the exam, you are being forced to learn
> > more
> > > > than you will write on - extra coverage without extra marking
> > load.
> > > > The marking load for assessing everybody fully, with prepared,
> > > > carefully worked-out papers on all topics in a module, would be
> > too
> > > > much for most departments. It is difficult enough to get all the
> > > > one-hour exam essay scripts marked.
> > > >
> > > > So, any important points h! ere? Is the exam a pragmatic
> > > response and
> > > > compromise that helps departments not students? Or are these just
> > > > the suspicions and embittered ramblings of a scared and under-
> > > > prepared man?
> > > >
> > > > Rab.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Browse or search the BUPS-DIS archives, or unsubscribe from the
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> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Browse or search the BUPS-DIS archives, or unsubscribe from the
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> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > Tom Morgan
> > > *MorganBooks*
> > > **
> > > For contact purposes, my mobile number is +447905663313
> > > /Check out our Amazon.co.uk items at:/
> > >
> >
>
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> >
> >
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