Open University Module Result

[creampuff]

Okey this is a study question, but there is no education forum so I guess jobs/employment is closest.

My wife is enrolled in a bachelor level philosophy course at Open University. Third/final year.

The module she just finished was assessed by 5 x 2000-word ongoing assessment essays and 1 x 3000-word final essay. The final essay takes the place of the exam and is marked by different people to the five ongoing assessment essays, which are marked by an individual tutor and the same tutor for all five. The final essay is the same format as the ongoing assessment essays, just longer and there was some freedom to write your own question around a general area then answer your own question.

You need to pass both the ongoing assessment and the final essay to pass the module. Everything is submitted online and there was no exam.

Mrs Puff got a consistent either 76, 77 or 78 for all the five ongoing assessment essays. Average mark 77.

She got a 38 in the final essay, which is a fail.

I proof read ongoing assessment essays and the final essays at the time for her. The final essay (38%) was at the same standard as the ongoing assessment essays (average 77%) but she got less than half the mark.

Something has gone seriously wrong. Any ideas?

Edited by creampuff on Thursday 7th July 23:31

[marshalla]

It's a while since I acted as an external examiner for the OU but, from memory, the most common reasons for scoring badly are

i) not answering every part of the question
ii) using too many words in the earlier parts of the answers so that the later parts don't get marked or a penalty is applied (they're *very* strict on word limits).
iii) misreading or misunderstanding the question being asked

Her tutor should be able to give some feedback, if this hasn't already been provided.

(and FWIW, an apparent discrepancy that great would usually have triggered an extra checking stage to make sure the lower mark wasn't an error).

Edited by marshalla on Thursday 7th July 23:37

[creampuff]

Thanks for that reply - when you were an OU examiner, were student essays marked by a single person or were they double blind marked?

[marshalla]

I honestly can't remember - I wasn't an examiner, I was an external examiner - i.e. my role was to check that quality procedures had been followed and that cases like your wife's had been handled correctly, including proper consideration & discussion at the exam board.

[Lady_Beefmaster]

I study with the OU currently.

When the EMA's are marked I seem to remember that the tutor gives them a once over to confirm that it is the work of the student. It is then sent to a different person to mark and then a third person reviews it again to confirm whether or not they concur with the mark.

I would have thought that with there being such a discrepancy between the OCAS and OEM that this would have been reviewed again.

It's best that your wife gives student support a call. I think there should also be a link somewhere on the module result page where she can question mark she has been given.

I hope it gets sorted for her.