Thursday 10 February 2011

MARKING SYSTEMS

Until recently, Denmark had a system for marking academic work (in schools, universities and so on), which my mathematically trained brain thought was bizarre. Here it is in full, from bottom to top.

00, 03, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13

6 was a pass, given for "unsure, but acceptable, performance".

Although Danes had no difficulty in using and understanding this system, there were nevertheless a number of problems with it. One was that in an increasingly international academic world, which the Danish authorities wanted to tap into, nobody outside the country understood it. Another was that it was extremely hard to get a 13, not least because the work had to be exceptional, original even. In some subjects (eg mathematics), that is simply not possible, at least until you get beyond Ph.D level.

So, in 2007, the system was changed. Did they go for an A to E system, as in the U.K.; or percentages, from 0 to 100; or 1 to 10; or something similar? No. Again, I set it out in full, from bottom to top.

-3, 00, 02, 4, 7, 10, 12

02 is a pass, so it is a bit like the A to E system (A being 12), plus two types of fail. In which case, why not just adopt that? And what on earth is the point of having a grade with a negative number? Danes don't appear to have any problems with the new system, but I am not sure that the rest of the world will get it so easily.

Walter Blotscher
Posted by Walter Blotscher at 22:11

2 comments:

  1. Joachim Satchwell12 February 2011 at 11:55

    There are 2 reasons for the framework of the new system:

    1) To keep the traditionalists from creating an uproar, the government tweaked the system rather than scrap the old one altogether - hence they tried to compromise between the A to E international system and the old Danish system.

    2) The system favours a egalitarian society (i.e. a Danish society), because of the different ratios between the numbers. Firstly, the government issued a guideline stating grades were to be given on relative terms up until the end of Gymnasium. Thus 10 % of the population should get 12, 15 % should get 10 and so on, ultimately creating a majority with middle grades, a few at the top, and a few at the bottom.

    However, the ratio between the bottom pass / fail grades and the top grades are 2 (00 - 2 - 4 and 10 - 12), while the slightly above average 7 has 3 points to each side. Thus a 7 has a larger marginal increase of a students average if she gets improves from 4 to 7, than if she improved from 00 to 2. Conversely, a bright student would receive a greater decline in her average if she got a 7 rather than a 10, as opposed to a 10 rather than a 7.

    Why does this matter? In Denmark, all admission to universities, polytechnics and technical schools is bases on an average of the grades from ALL your subjects. Everybody thus has a number after gymnasium (or "Folkeskole", although that is rarely important) and comparison is easy. The system ensures that the gap between the bright and the average, as well as the gap between the average and the non-academics, is fairly small.

    What the government has yet to realise, is that it doesn't help Denmark in anyway at all - in comparison, the UK uses interviews and personal statements along with grades to evaluate students, they have much fewer A-level grades (4-5 in UK vs around 30 in DK), and thus have a higher average. Furthermore, grade inflation means that some 25-30% of British students receive A's, as opposed to 10 % of the Danish students. Finally, differences in the administrative system fails to help tailor prospective international students to meet foreign requirements.

    Worst of all, the government now thinks this issue is resolved, and probably won't discuss it again till it is too late - already Denmark is slipping down the ladder in comparison to other OECD countries, but nobody seems to have a credible solution..

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  2. Walter Blotscher12 February 2011 at 15:15

    Hi Joachim,

    Thanks for that. As you say, what works domestically is not necessarily the answer internationally. Since the Danish Government is always going on about attracting foreign talent in the future in order to look after all those Danish pensioners, you would have thought that they would make life easy. This "reform" doesn't.

    Regards,

    Walter

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