External Examining

Alan Bramley University of Bath (once sacked as an external examiner)

Part I Experience of examining Experience of examining

My profile

Graduate Mech Eng, University of Liverpool Graduate Apprenticeship, Rolls Royce, Derby PhD, Univ Liverpool/Birmingham Research Fellow, Univ Birmingham Joint Lecturer, Mech Eng/Metallurgy, Univ Leeds Senior Lecturer Chair in Mech Eng, Univ Bath Post retirement 40% Emeritus Professor (now it’s a hobby) 3 2 3 3 11 4 19 4 now

External Examining

Hull Glasgow Sheffield Cardiff Aberdeen Loughborough Univ Sains Malaysia University of ?????

Open Univ Engineering Council King’s College Queen’s, Belfast University of Malaya Liverpool, MSc UMIST MSc

Related activities (External Examining is part of the Quality Assurance system) • QA work at Bath (inc Ext Ex reports) • Accreditation for IET • Accreditation for IMechE • Hefce Teaching Quality exercise

The job of External Examiner

• Induction – Understand the programmes of study – Understanding assessment schemes, condone, compensate • Check exam paper drafts • Attend project exhibition • Check samples of marked scripts • Look at coursework samples • Check project report assessment • Review mark sheets • Interview selected students • (a good lunch?) • Sit on Exam Board • Write a report (on the train) • Collect a fee 2 days 1 day 2 days

Checking Exam paper drafts

• Does one need to see all papers?

• Worked solutions (give answers) • Typos, grammar, ambiguities, missing data • Syllabus coverage • Level – Sting in the tail

Checking marked scripts

• Should have been second or check marked • Fairness • Consistency • Addition errors • Everything marked

Checking project reports

• Group project individual marking – Cambridge problem • Aims and Objectives • Conformity to guidelines – Whose fault?

• Second marked and viva

Review mark sheets

• Complex weighting systems • Complex adjusting systems – To get ‘acceptable’ proportion of firsts.

• Average marks levels • Marks distributions

Interviewing students

• Not permitted in some places • Purpose • Approach; what is one trying to do?

Exam Board

• Comments on interviewed students • Mark adjustment – Can a ‘first’ be independent of the mark?

• General comments along with other Ext Examiners • Is fairness and sense obfuscated by the university regulations?

Write a report

• Report form pro forma (see samples) • Forgot to ask the right questions • Goes directly to VC • Feedback • No report, no fee

Then you think it’s all over Resits!!

Conclusions

• It’s not about judgements.

• It’s about process and standards.