The 40%ers
The University students who are overjoyed when they get 40% in all their modules. These are the next generation of doctors, computer scientists, chemists, etc and they are delighted to get 40%?

I'm just glad that the 40% pass mark doesn't apply in the driving test.
(GingerIrishTosser isn't dead yet., Tue 9 Oct 2012, 9:29, 4 replies)

Doesn't that depend on how hard the exams are? Setting exams with a low pass mark is standard in universities because they are not interested in differentiating between people who don't meet the required standard. The purpose of the exam is to see who is genuinely outstanding and who is simply competent. The most effective way of doing that is a tough exam with a low pass mark.

Driving tests are different as there is no need for anything other than a pass/fail outcome. So, the DVLA decide on the basic level of competence required, test that, and make the pass mark high.
(silene, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 9:56, closed)

Most relevant exams in medical disciplines don't have 40% marks
And the point is very much what silene said.

Also, I salute my students who manage to get 40ish% and not fail in every single exam. It's a fuck sight harder to do that than get a 1st in everything as your margins for error are much tighter.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 10:05, closed)

I can see two sides to this.
The university I went to required you to do 2/3rds of study out-with your core discipline in the first two years (Scottish uni, therefore 4 years).

I was lazy so I tended to scrape a pass in the 'outsider' modules but got high marks in what I was actually trying to get a degree in.

In hindsight I probably should have picked outsider studies that were new and interesting to me to broaden my knowledge, rather than ones that overlapped with previous studies so I could avoid going to lectures.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 11:46, closed)

WRITE YOUR OWN NOTES!
When I went to uni, I had to do this with an A4 pad and a pen. The only time you got this info was from attending the lectures and writing it down! (OK, possibly also copying your mates scrawl who really attended worked too) It was only in the mid-90's - not a million years ago!

Now, students are spoon fed. THE ENTIRE POWERPOINT of the lecture is available in advance with notes to download from their learning platform. God forbid it's not - BOOOM in goes a excuse form as to why they couldn't do that week assignment.

SPOON FED and still they cry about it.
(TheManofScience, Tue 9 Oct 2012, 12:10, closed)