Comments on: Prince Harry’s Art

By: THE_DUDE

THE_DUDE — Tue, 24 May 2005 02:49:36 +0000

Great article Boris. I was strangely touched, it being 2.41am, approximately 10 hours and 19 mins before I have the first of two exams. These are my end of first year exams at university (Leeds if you’re wondering) where I am studying Classical Civilisation. The pass mark for these are 40%, of which coursework takes up to 60% of the total mark. In other words had I done superbly in my coursework I would merely need to walk in, write my name correctly at the top of the page and I would still pass. As these exams don’t count towards my final degree and I need to have scarcely even browsed any Classical texts to pass them I feel an utter apathy and lack of motivation. This is not what I went to uni for, albeit I expect next year will be much harder. Finally then I will have something to get my teeth into. The Iliad, Aeneid, Theocritus and Aristotle. Quite where they expected my motivation to come from this year is something I have yet to discover.

Love the part about coffee, digestives, a crib sheet and a mad dash to the exam hall. That is one of my most vivid memories of GCSE and A level. It is also becoming a pretty large part of my current exams too. Still, the night-before routine got me this far.

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By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 18 May 2005 14:47:35 +0000

Despite being a big fan of your writing, Boris, I can’t say the same for all your policies.
_ great stuff for G2 on the car testing BTW.
You gloss over the issue of sexism but I have to tell you I was very glad of coursework.
Like my husband, I’m a journalist.
I would always get my coursework in with at least a day to spare (my adrenaline started running the minute the deadline was pronounced)and have continued this into my professional life.
My husband cannot get anything done until his editor is clambering down the phone lines to yell louder in his ear about late copy.
I prefer my way – I preferred coursework.
He wishes he could organise his time better but feels incapable. He preferred exams – then again he does have a photographic memory.

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By: jaq

jaq — Wed, 18 May 2005 09:42:33 +0000

“Clearly they didn’t bother with GCSE level physics then.”

maybe they didn’t have to – as progeny from the incestuous world of elite journalism their place in the world was assured.

Looking at some of their efforts, I suspect that if they spell thier name correctly it is hailed as a triumph, and incorrectly, as expressionism.

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By: Zoe Bidgood

Zoe Bidgood — Tue, 17 May 2005 19:30:42 +0000

STUDENT HERE: Currently in the relentless grip of AS levels.

I used to hate coursework – at GCSE written coursework seemed pointless, it didn’t test anything and was worth so little of the final grade that it wasted term-time.

But as an English student with slow handwriting, the timed exams are a mad rush to get as much down as is physically possible, and in my opinion tests how fast you can express understanding more than how well you can. I was glad my coursework was worth so much because quite simply I could write it properly and actually demonstrate my ability.

It annoys me that poliicians, journalists and the adult world in general condemn aspects of an exam system they have never actually experienced in its current form. Yes the coursework system has flaws, but so does democracy. Some subjects need coursework to be representative.

PS. The other day some high-ranking journalists sporting various Oxbridge degrees in history, literature etc. did not have a clue what an SI unit was. Clearly they didn’t bother with GCSE level physics then.

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By: Jozef Imrich

Jozef Imrich — Tue, 17 May 2005 12:03:34 +0000

Know it all point taken

As always you make unfamiliar familiar Nick … Thanks

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By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 16 May 2005 09:44:07 +0000

On the basis of Boris’s argument, if all coursework was abandoned and therefore the number of passes fell, would the Tories refrain from jeering because it was a sign that a “better” system had been introduced ?

Nope, thought not.

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By: Macarnie

Macarnie — Sun, 15 May 2005 20:57:37 +0000

Nick : excellent logical thought train in Re. digits/fingers. Power to your elbow , me old Jagger. Does Jagoes still stand?

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By: Melissa

Melissa — Sun, 15 May 2005 17:27:12 +0000

good essay Nick!

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By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 15 May 2005 15:57:33 +0000

“The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient history, nineteenth-century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, flower arranging, and hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later or six months, or six years down the road. But he has faith that it will happen.”
- Carl Ally

Jozef – Although I’ve not heard of Carl Ally this does very much sound like Claude Levi-Strauss’s ‘Brocolage.’

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By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 15 May 2005 12:37:43 +0000

And while Macarnie is having a go at my use of language. You can all have go at this old essay of mine from about four years ago.

http://www.sfherald.com/openforum/cobain.html

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