Your say: week beginning March 2

Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au.

Monday March 2

Last week, we published an article asking if it’s time to ditch group assignments at uni. We invited comments on this story, so here’s a selection of what some of you thought.

“This topic has been the subject of op-eds in the media in the past and rightly so. The use of group assignments enables some students to literally do nothing while others do the main work and are the winners of the high marks. In some degree courses the loafers can even pass core subjects without having done any of the work and obtain a degree on a falsehood. The argument often cited by academic staff is that group assignments reflect the collaborative environment in the workplace. This is a furphy of an argument, for in the workplace disciplinary action can be taken against freeloaders, including termination of employment. Efforts by myself and others to raise concerns about the conduct of some freeloading students have been met by silence and inaction.”

Charles Latimer

“Surely the essential problem with group assessments is that there is no way to ensure that all members of the group have contributed? People may be getting a good mark when they have done none of the work.”

David South

“It’s pretty common practice to include reflections about the process and the contributions of team members. There are even dedicated ed tech platforms designed to support this (e.g. FeedbackFruits) which provide options for students to provide peer feedback and evaluation on the quality of the work undertaken by group members as well as the effort they all expended.”

Colin Simpson

Tuesday March 3

Why group assessments are everywhere

“The uncomfortable reality is that in many institutions, particularly those that treat teaching primarily as a revenue stream rather than a craft, group assessments are driven less by pedagogy than by workload management. Universities are under constant pressure to make teaching more ‘efficient’, and academics are expected to deliver subjects with progressively fewer resources. This has had significant consequences for teaching practice, including the widespread use of the group assessment. The inclusion of even a single group task can substantially reduce the marking load.”

Hassan Vally, Associate Professor in Epidemiology, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University

Hanson’s doctors orders

“If One Nation wants to force doctors to do a regional stint to get a medicare provider number they need to consider how to accommodate these people. Many small towns do not have rental properties that could be leased short term (or even sufficient rentals for long term for that matter!). And how does a beginner doctor afford to pay another rent when they are probably paying rent in the city of their training? In addition, many rural folk come with complex conditions that would challenge doctors straight out of medical school. We as patients prefer doctors with a few years of experience, and so do rural practice leaders.”

Kirsty Harris, Upotipotpon, South VIC

Realities of a discouraged worker

“I am a discouraged worker. I’m 63 with some chronic health issues and have worked the last 2 decades at 2 of the big four banks. I left both due to their resistance to part-time work and sexist and ageist work cultures. The thought of going back to work in an environment that is dismissive of experience and only values young males ‘with potential’ is soul destroying. I understand why the government wants us to work later in life, but they’re not realistic about what it’s like in the work force.”

Jane Davis, Naarm, VIC