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To   : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer
From : Chris Uppal
Date : Fri Sep 23 2005 02:56 am

Subject: Re: Good examples of programming course lecture notes
Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:49:49 +0100
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clemenr@wmin.ac.uk wrote:

> > > There is also the major real-world problem that if notes are too
> > > complete, then certain types of students will decide that they don't
> > > need to attend lectures. Non-attendance at lectures has become a very
> > > very major problem in the UK.
> >
> > So let 'em fail...
> >
> > (Yes, I know the current UK university system makes that approach, um,
> > infeasible).
>
> No it doesn't. I can't talk openly about these sorts of things in
> public but the rumours about students never being allowed to fail no
> matter how poorly they do are just rumours. I have only once had an
> academic in the UK tell me that they weren't allowed to fail students
> who deserved to fail. And I'm not saying which uni but it wasn't one
> that I have worked for.

It probably isn't important, but for the record: I wasn't referring to that
rumour (which, in fact I had never heard -- until now ;-).  What I was thinking
of is the situation we now have where (as I understand it from an academic
friend who rather specialises -- in part as an academic study -- in this stuff)
there is pressure to pack as many students onto each course as possible; there
is pressure to maintain (not exaggerate) pass-rates; and it is seen as
important that few students drop out.  If -- as I believe happens -- there is a
tendency to see "failure" in either of the last two goals as solely failures of
the institution (or its members), resulting in loss of funds, etc, rather than
a natural side-effect of getting too many, or too little suited, students onto
the course in the first place, then that's a nasty bug[*] in the overall system
design.

    -- chris

([*] nasty in that it tends to be self-reinforcing rather than self-correcting)

.