Physics apologise over test and coursework blunders

An email was sent out this week to all second year physics students, apologising for the department’s response to a series of assessment blunders that went uncorrected.

An assessed problem sheet (APS) featured a mistake in one of the questions, and after students raised the issue, was told to “take it on the chin…it’s a drop in the ocean.”

This follows a similar incident that took place last term, after students relayed to another member of staff that a multiple choice question in a revision maths test didn’t have a correct answer. Again students were told it was too insignificant to be rectified.

The email, sent by Senior Teaching Fellow Dr Vijay Tymms, stated: “I apologise for the way I handled the incident and any upset caused…I’ll try and pause for thought in the future.”

He also invited any students affected to email him directly with the marks they think they deserve, and he will alter them accordingly.

“No need to send any proof, I’ll take your word for it. I should have said something akin to this in the first place,” said Tymms.

Back in December, students noticed that a question on an APS was incorrect a few days before it was due to be submitted, and contacted Tymms about the issue.

After a corrected version of the question was sent out to the second year students, Tymms also emailed to address what those who have already submitted their APS should do.

He told them he’d prefer students simply take “this on the chin, as it’s a drop in the ocean really and it’ll save time for everyone, but of course I understand if you want to claim full credit if hard done by.”

Last October, Professor Warren who oversees the maths revision test, was emailed about a question in the test, which was thought to not have a correct option in the multiple-choice questions.

Warren replied to students in January, confirming that their suspicions about the impossible question were correct. Warren admitted that the question had been used in this identical format for several years, and said it was “peculiar” that it had not been spotted before.

He also told the students that the consequences were “very minor” and said that changing the scores of the test in light of this error would make no difference.

The student who spotted the error then challenged Warren, but Warren did not relent in his decision. He told the student: “I don’t see a fairer way of dealing with it other than to ignore it.”

However, once the issue was forwarded through to Tymms, it was decided that the question would be struck from the exam and a new mark would be assigned from the remaining questions.

One student elegantly concluded that: “the department doesn’t seem to realise that even an ocean is made up of a finite number of drops.”

Felix spoke to Professor Warren, who told us why he initially thought it was best to ignore the error: “Given the number of correct answers to that question it’s clear that many students worked out the error in the formatting and inferred the correct answer!

“If the question was cancelled they might be aggrieved that their hard work was not rewarded. For this reason I decided to leave things as they were.”

Warren pointed out that the question was worth 0.1% of a single second year module, but decided to drop it after students commented on the initial decision to ignore the error completely. “On reflection I am happy to agree that this is probably a little bit fairer overall, although the smart students who worked out the error probably would not agree.

“In any case I am grateful to the student who found the problem, and to those who questioned the solution.”