Viewing Thread:
"Education shake up"

So what do you guys think of the new proposals for a diploma system.

From what I have heard so far it sounds good to me, although I am still sceptical. One thing I am sure of is that something needs to be done, especially when these days you can take a modular A level and retake exams up to three times in order to pass. The A level students take today is in no way equivalent of the A levels taken five or ten years ago.

What peeves me off the most about the whole system is the students, or rather the way in which the education system has failed them. Its not their fault they were studying at the time the government decided to tinker with everything and mess it all up, and at the end of the day, fail to provide them with the high quality education they are entitled to in order to let more people through the net.

From what I've heard of the new system you get to make up your diploma with an emphasis on vital mathematical and english skills, and then you can add other bits of what you fancy, be that more maths, languages, arts or science, or maybe more practical skills too.

Perhaps this will take away some of the stigma that has been associated for years on people who leave school to pursue more practical paths to become apprentices, and provide less pressure for students to go on to higher university education (now "normal" education) whether they are really capable or not.

rant over.

I guess a lot of you are either about to enter, are involved in or are leaving the current system now, what are your view on the way the government is playing with your futures?

I quite like these new ideas. It is kind of dissapointing to realise you've missed out on it all, having already done school, now it's taken so-long for an idea like this to come along.

It may take another decade to really get-going, but I'm sure it'll be worth it, in the long-run.

For a "School-thing", it actually seems to make it all more-interesting. Perhaps more students WILL be encouraged to learn more, after all...?

I'm about to leave University, and I was in the last lot of students to do the traditional A Level BUT, because I had a year out, the majority of people in the year for my subject did the new style AS/A Levels.

You don't need to ask who had a year out in the year because from the grades it is pretty obvious - generally those with the old A Level are much better than those who did the AS/A Level combo. The other thing which seems to matter is that those of us who had a year out - and actually worked properly in that year - also do better, probably because we're pretty well motivated - those who have just gone from college to uni, without any work, have a pretty distorted view of what the "real" world is like, and most are leaving with no work experience at all - which seriously disadvantages them when it comes to employment.

I think there would be serious benefits to making all university students do one year of work before entry - not one year of swanning around backpacking, but actual work of some sort. We have people in our year who spent their year out going around Austrailia and Asia but can't write a decent essay, work in a group or make a legible presentation.

Personally I'd say bring back the old A levels but make acceptance for them tougher. It's fine saying that we want loads of people in higher education but if they're not up to standard then it's a waste of resources. The proposed system for paying tuition fees after graduation is a recipe for financial disaster because I guarantee you that we'll be seeing a lot of loans having to be written off after 20 years.

The Kid wrote:
> DO you have to code programs in your course?

I did, and do I suppose.
It's all a question of motivation though.

DO you have to code programs in your course?

Nope it was a Lincoln programme, I think (long time since I used it). Together J sounds familiar though, if it's what I think it is we had to use it for Object Orientated Software Development.

I hated it too.

Ineedsleep wrote:
> We'd used a CASE tool for some diagrams

Wasn't Together J was it? I hate that program!

Simon Says wrote:
> Ineedsleep wrote:
> It just reminds me that all our lecturers
> tell us that we usually do better in the exams / assignments then
> the
> full timers.
>
> Please do expand on that.
>
> To be honest I'm not surprised at that at all. Since Tony's
> "education, education, education (whether they're suited to it
> or not)" speech I think the standard of university students has
> dropped considerably. I know a lot of students and a huge number of
> them appear to be doing a degree because that's what mummy and
> daddy/society/good old Tony wants.

That's what our lecturers seem to be telling us. Everyone on my course works full time yet, despite the fact that we have to find time to do the studying outside of uni hours, we still get higher grades then quite a few of the full time students. The only full timers that match us are studying for the same reason we are - because that is what we REALLY want to study.

We have only the same time scale in which to complete any assignments as the full timers and we sit any exams at the same time as them.

A couple of years ago a few of us were in the computer room taking some screen shots for an assignment that was due to be handed in the next day. All the work was completed the week before but it needed to be put together. There were approx. 20 full timers in the room and we sussed they were on the same course as us. We'd used a CASE tool for some diagrams and were horrified to hear one of the lads say that after they had done the first level they had to take it down to level 4 and 5. This wasn't true, the assignment wasn't that comprehensive, but we left them to it.

I'm not belittling all students at university as I know there are young people there who genuinely want to be there but my husband recently did a degree, full time, and he found the same lacksydasial attitude from a lot of them studying the same course as him.

incidently if anyone is interested in the research that came out of Cambridge University on how to tie a tie this site might be a good start.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/289881.stm

The book that also emerged make a pretty good Christmas present for an awkward father too ; )

ßulle††™ wrote:
> Sorry but it did make me laugh.
>
> I can see it now, "Now Hiring! Great pay, free uniform, PHD
> required"

How about this:

Overweight product of the obesity bomb chokes on his prepacked, precooked, genetically engineered cube of chicken on a plane. Sexy stewardess lady remembers seeing a number of people sporting the title Dr on their tickets.

"Is there a doctor on the plane?"

Timid hand raises at the back.

"I'm a doctor, I can tie a tie in 85 different ways"

Bemused stewardess begins to panic.

"Shouldn't we loosen his clothing doctor?"

Doctor shakes his head.

"Sorry miss, can't help you there, that's not my area of research."

Sorry but it did make me laugh.

I can see it now, "Now Hiring! Great pay, free uniform, PHD required"