{"id":72683,"date":"2017-07-06T09:36:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T07:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/?p=72683\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:48","slug":"grading-an-academic-now-thats-a-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/07\/06\/grading-an-academic-now-thats-a-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading an academic \u2013 now that\u2019s a challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Booking.com, Airbnb and TripAdvisor \u2013 they all have review systems. As a guest, host or entrepreneur, these systems allow you to share your satisfaction \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 with the world. But what\u2019s the deal with review systems at Uni?<\/p>\n

Lecturers evaluate students<\/h3>

How can you determine whether a student deserves a diploma and isn\u2019t slacking off in the lecture hall? In the Netherlands, lecturers rely on a grading system, which assigns students marks from 1 to 10. This evaluation runs via the Course and Examination Regulations (OER) and the examining board. \u201cThe lecturers are our professional experts,\u201d says Brian Godor, Assistant Professor of Pedagogy and Education. \u201cThey know which subjects are important in their field, and by marking the students, they take stock of what they\u2019ve learned during the course.\u201d A student who makes a complete mess of it gets a 1, while a student who puts in a perfect job earns a 10.<\/p>\n

But it isn\u2019t that simple. Take the range of the marks themselves. According to Godor, lecturers in the Netherlands hardly ever grade lower than 3.5, or higher than 8.5. \u201cChinese students who come here struggle with this custom. In China, it\u2019s possible to earn a 10 with your work. But in the Netherlands, a 10 is for God, a 9 for the Dean and an 8 for outstanding students.\u201d In addition, hardly anyone is ever handed a 1 or 2 \u2013 even when they\u2019ve botched it. \u201cLecturers are afraid that such a low mark only demotivates the student, but this assumption actually has no basis in fact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Because a mark should never be used to penalise: it actually serves as feedback for the student\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

And the awarded marks may have a different weight depending on where you\u2019re enrolled. It becomes clear from the research that Godor performed this year that faculties with stronger students \u2013 in academic terms \u2013 grade less generously than other faculties. The fancy word for this phenomenon is \u2018gate keeping\u2019. And as a student, you\u2019re out of luck if the person on top of you on the pile scores exceptionally high. Because students who come immediately after a high-scorer can count on a stricter review than students in a random part of the pile.<\/p>\n

Regardless of how important marks are for assessing a student\u2019s abilities, they don\u2019t tell the whole story, in Godor\u2019s view. \u201cAbove all, you want to teach a student how to think in-depth, strategically and conceptually.\u201d And the mark shouldn\u2019t be all-important in that context. \u201cBecause a mark should never be used to penalise: it actually serves as feedback for the student. But at the same time, the government does require students to deliver solid results \u2013 via performance agreements, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the crux of the matter: as a lecturer, you don\u2019t want to spend too much time on those performance agreements. \u201cIf everyone learns a lot, but is nevertheless awarded low marks, this leads to questions. It\u2019s very difficult, in other words, to make an effective, balanced test.\u201d<\/p>\n

Academics evaluate each other <\/h3>

To successfully climb the academic ladder, it is important for researchers to publish articles in scholarly journals. This in turn relies on peer review: a fellow scientist in your particular field \u2013 or peer \u2013 evaluates your research and the paper you have written. This is often done anonymously. The big advantage: a pair of critical eyes that take a fresh look at research that you have been slaving away at for years.<\/p>\n

But peer review also has its drawbacks. Writing these evaluations takes a lot of time. And some people don\u2019t feel like doing this \u2013 meaning you can\u2019t always find a suitable peer for a particular research paper. \u201cAnd when criticism is unfounded because the peer reviewer lacks the expertise for a solid evaluation, things can get very complicated,\u201d says Jack Vromen, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy and Professor of Economics at ESE.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018This is so bad it makes me want to throw up\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Another issue is that researchers often work in a small field. \u201cEven though the review itself is anonymous, you often know who wrote it.\u201d For example, in Professor Rolf Zwaan\u2019s field of research, Biological and Cognitive Psychology, you had two professors who couldn\u2019t stand each other. Zwaan remembers how they would swear at one another at conferences. He needed to evaluate an article written by one of the two. \u201cI wrote a positive review; the other reviewer a negative one. \u2018Oh,\u2019 was the professor\u2019s response, \u2018that must be that bastard I\u2019m always arguing with.\u2019 \u2018No, it\u2019s someone else,\u2019 I said. I should have kept my mouth shut, because in that case he knew who it had to be. Meaning he now had a quarrel with two people.\u201d<\/p>\n

To avoid such problems, Zwaan is in favour of an open review system. This would allow everyone to access the reviewer\u2019s various considerations and arguments. \u201cReviewers would pay more attention to spelling mistakes and would work to improve the paper by presenting strong arguments.\u201d Another advantage is that you wouldn\u2019t have to deal with mean-spirited comments like \u2018A first-year student could write a better article,\u2019 or \u2018This is so bad it makes me want to throw up.\u2019 Zwaan: \u201cBut this approach does take more time, which isn\u2019t rewarded with university credits. Even though it does contribute to science \u2013 if you do it right.\u201d So we have much to gain from this change, in his view.<\/p>\n

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Many scholars are in favour of open peer review, concludes Zwaan, based on a Twitter poll among 200 academics. But some remain wary nonetheless. \u201cYoung scientists in particular are scared to put their name under a review because they are afraid of the repercussions. They believe that a negative review will ensure that a professor obstructs them in the rest of their career. In some cases this fear is justified. In other words, you shouldn\u2019t make open reviews with the peer reviewer\u2019s name mandatory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students evaluate lecturers<\/h3>

Do you leave the lecture hall with an excited mind and a spring in your step? Or does your professor sap your strength with twohour-long, bone-dry monologues? These and other aspects are reflected in student assessments of lecturers\u2019 teaching skills, handled via a digital evaluation form. The results are discussed in the programme committee. But the answers to the questionnaires don\u2019t necessarily lead to better lecturers, according to educationalist Brian Godor, who is currently researching these evaluation systems. \u201cThe questions often focus on students\u2019 level of satisfaction. But what are you actually assessing in these cases? We want to find out about students\u2019 learning process and growth.\u201d In addition, satisfaction doesn\u2019t always reflect where there may be room for improvement, says Godor. \u201cA student can also feel dissatisfied due to a variety of external factors, like the schedule, or to which extent he was interested in the subject itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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How many hours of you\u2019ve studied \u2013 another question on the evaluation form \u2013 isn\u2019t particularly revealing either. \u201cPutting in many study hours doesn\u2019t automatically result in a higher mark.\u201d In short, the evaluation forms don\u2019t adequately capture what defines a good course or lecturer. \u201cWe should first ask ourselves what we actually consider good education, and then determine how we can verify this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I\u2019m not sure how much use it is to fill in those forms\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Interpreting evaluation forms is also a very challenging task. For example, response rates tend to be very low. Students Lisanne Notenboom (21) and Pim Somerwil (22) have never filled in an evaluation form because they always receive the email reminder during their finals. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t have time for them then,\u201d says Somerwil. Notenboom: \u201cAnd when you\u2019re getting into a new subject, you no longer feel like doing it either.\u201d Psychology student Elena Bartre (21) gets an email asking her to complete an evaluation too often: every five weeks. There\u2019s not much in it for her personally, she says. \u201cWe\u2019re always complaining about the same things. Some of the sentences in the exams haven\u2019t been translated correctly into English. It never changes.\u201d And she doesn\u2019t believe that questions like \u2018Describe the atmosphere in class\u201d and \u2018How many hours did you study\u2019 make much sense. \u201cI think it would be more useful if they asked me to which extent I learned something from the subjects that were dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juliette van Trigt (20) likewise only completes a form every now and then. \u201cI don\u2019t always: it\u2019s too much hassle.\u201d Although there are quite a few things that could be improved in her view: \u201cSome of the lecturers don\u2019t speak very clearly, and use a lot of terminology. One time, we had a guest lecturer who was going on 70 and wasn\u2019t completely up to date on the subject. That was a drama to watch. But they never ask you about that kind of thing. So I\u2019m not sure how much use it is to fill in those forms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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