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Lecturers Attack Falling Standards of Students University 'Losing Ground'

Posted on: Monday, 19 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

STUDENTS at one of Scotland's most prestigious universities are failing to attend tutorials, plagiarising work, have poor general knowledge and cannot read or write sufficiently well, according to the staff who teach them.

The situation is considered so serious by some staff at Glasgow University's Faculty of Arts that they want current undergraduates to study for a "literacy certificate" in order to address a problem they believe is at "critical point".

Lecturers also describe student plagiarism in coursework and poor attendance at tutorials as "endemic" and "demoralising".

The findings were revealed in the faculty's "annual course monitoring reports" (ACMR), which are internal evaluations that assess the challenges faced by staff in delivering teaching services.

Released under freedom of information legislation, the documents show the concern felt by the university about plummeting student standards in the most basic areas.

"Departments seem to have reached a critical point in their ability to cope individually with the decreasing literacy of incoming students, " it reads.

"Conveners across the faculty are reporting that students demonstrate poor writing and even reading skills."

The 2003-2004 report, which was presented to the faculty in March this year, also referred to the "increasing poverty" of literacy among students and claimed that special classes were being organised for undergraduates.

One member of the classical civilisation course said of his intake: "The most basic arts skill of all, namely the accurate and grammatical use of English language, is a skill that is inadequately possessed by some students."

These comments led the author of the report, Dr Alice Jenkins, to recommend the introduction of literacy assessments.

She said: "There is an urgent case for establishing a 'literary certificate' and action to further this [which] is now a priority for faculty consideration."

The previous year's report had also warned of falling standards. One staff member on the German honours course complained that students' ability in written language had "declined" in recent years, while another official raised the "diminishing general knowledge base" of undergraduates.

In addition, plagiarism was cited as a problem by internal and external examiners, who blasted the "leniency" of the penalties imposed on students for cheating.

An exams marker on the philosophy course also "voiced suspicion" of cases where students' essay marks were much higher than their exam rate, while the report's author backed stiffer punishments for "stolen work".

Poor attendance at class was another issue that riled the faculty's staff. A member of the classics department said: "It is extremely demoralising regularly to present oneself for class - only to find that there is nobody to teach."

This view was backed by a staffer in classical civilisation, who bemoaned the "poor level of attendance, which now seems endemic at Glasgow".

The threat of artificially inflated pass marks was also raised, with one member of the philosophy department saying that "markers must be encouraged to award marks at the higher end of the scale", in the event of too few A grades being given out.

The student literacy row is another blow for the university because it comes just months after the publication of a secret report that claimed the institution was falling behind its competitors.

Christow Consultants, which produced the document, said of Glasgow: "The perception is that the university has lost ground at all levels - internationally, at a UK level, in Scotland and even in Glasgow."

It was also accused of "fundamental and ongoing problems, not all of which are being addressed".

A spokesman for the university said ACMR are written to "aid" the student experience: "They are designed to note best practice for dissemination and adoption by other departments, and to highlight practical problems of delivery for further action, if necessary."

He also confirmed that there had been "preliminary discussions" on "literacy certificates", which would involve tests and assessments, if adopted.

Glasgow Conservative MSP Bill Aitken said the faculty report was a "damning indictment" of the Scottish education system: "This does not surprise me. I am receiving constant complaints from employers that bright and highly qualified youngsters have very serious problems reading and writing. We are simply not getting it right at primary and secondary education level, " he said.

However, Melanie Ward, of student union NUS Scotland, hit out at suggestions that students suffered from poor literacy.

"It is universities that set the entry requirements and it is up to them to satisfy themselves that they are happy with students' abilities before they admit them to their course."

Professor Willy Maley, of Glasgow University, also dismissed the faculty's report.

"Some people come down on misspelling, but I have never been like that because I think there are much more important things in life. There is a dry-asdust pedantry around issues like this that I think is fundamentally misplaced, " he said.

paul. hutcheon@sundayherald. com

NEED TO KNOW

THE University of Glasgow, founded in 1451, is Scotland's second- oldest university and Britain's fourth-oldest. But the venerable higher education institution now has serious financial problems. It is being forced to make savings of GBP10 million and has offered staff voluntary redundancies. It is believed that compulsory redundancies may also be necessary.

KNOW MORE

www. gla. ac. uk

www. nusonline. co. uk

Source: Sunday Herald

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