We don't want letters as grading

In this op-ed students argue that they prefer pass/fail as grading.

Although at-home exams is the best solution, it is still a bad one, as NTNU in practice has no control as to what aids are being used by the students.
Publisert Sist oppdatert

During the last few weeks there has been increasing uncertainty among students regarding the upcoming exams. As such, the students are voicing their thoughts on this. The reference groups therefore wish to pass on their thoughts.

Because campus attendance exams are at such a high risk of being cancelled, the students’ general opinion is that the exams should be made at-home.

If the exams are cancelled, it would have a big impact on the students, as we would have to postpone summer jobs, student exchange programs and academic progress. Although at-home exams is the best solution, it is still a bad one, as NTNU in practice has no control as to what aids are being used by the students.

One must expect that the use of non-permitted aids (such as teamwork) will occur, and therefore, this evaluation form is by design not fair to measure the students’ competence exactly. Because the method is inaccurate, we expect the professors to reflect this by using pass/fail as grading - not letters. We believe that an at-home exam with pass/fail grade, in addition to the mandatory exercises done throughout the semester, is sufficient to justify the competence reflected in the diploma.

When it comes to courses with both compulsory exercises and lab work, many students advocate that the work done during the semester is sufficient in order to give a pass/fail grade to the students. This is especially true for the courses where all the exercises are mandatory and the lab is a major part of the course.

These are challenging and uncertain times for all of us and we understand that this request requires some extra effort from your side. But this situation causes several disadvantages for us students, as we are forced to adapt to all these amendments. Therefore, we sincerely hope any changes you might make will favour the students.

Best regards,

Reference groups in TTK 4130, 4135 & 4145.

On behalf of MTTK class (Cybernetics and Robotics) of 2022