New marking system to prevent cheating at psychology
The corona pandemic means more exams are administered online, which means that especially multiple-choice exams are sensitive to cheating. ‘That is why we want to change the way we mark the exams, since a grade doesn’t mean much in exams that can easily be cheated on’, says Maarten Derksen, chair of the psychology department’s exam committee.
Students don’t have to worry about their grade average. ‘They’ll receive a grade average based on exams that were marked with a grade. The pass or fail will be left out of the evaluation. People will still be able to graduate with honours.’
Nevertheless, Derksen understand why students are concerned or annoyed. ‘The corona crisis impacts all students, and it’s really inconvenient, especially since grades can have a profound effect on your career.’
Once the coronavirus has been eradicated, students will be allowed to retake their exams in a future academic year, even if they passed the first time. Normally, students are only allowed to retake an exam they passed in the same academic year, but the department is making an exception. ‘Students can retake the exam and have it marked with an actual grade should they so desire.’