Vice Chancellor, Dawn Freshwater, recently announced that all classes under 300 students would resume in person from the 8th October if Auckland moves to Level 1. Despite this, it was also announced that all exams would take place on campus at Level 1 or 2. This week, Craccum heard from four students about their thoughts on in-person exams.
Caitlin, Bachelor of Arts
“I feel like the best approach would be to keep all lectures and assessments online, but have in-person tutorials and labs (or even have an online option for these too). I thought last semester worked really well, so I don’t think we should be risking everyone’s health when we could easily take an alternative path.”
“However, I understand some people have genuine difficulties with online learning or other COVID troubles, and the university could definitely make some kind of allowance for these individuals, and keep campus facilities open for those who aren’t able to learn at home.”
“Mostly, I think there should be more empathy: is our in-person learning really more important than the health/lives of the rest of Auckland?”
Lewis, Master in Operations Management
“Personally I believe it is inappropriate to expect students to be sitting exams in-person when you look at how much of our time has been spent on campus. So far we have spent less time on campus than in Semester One, and we’ll all be exhausted trying to get back into that routine. It is unfair to expect us to perform well in in-person exams too.”
Sally, Bachelor of Science
“It’s frightening to me to have to go back for in-person exams. I understand that the university wants academic integrity, because the students want it too. It’s not fair on us if the results are skewed. However, a lot of people feel in-person exams aren’t appropriate for more than just grade reasons.”
“The majority of university students take public transport to uni, meaning we’ll be coming in to sit our exams having not socially distanced from anyone on the buses, trains or ferries.”
“We have had enough uncertainty this semester, I’ve even lost sleep over being so concerned about what’s happening. We don’t need in-person exams to add to the stress we all feel right now.”
Mark, Bachelor of Commerce
“I found in-person exams easier than the online exams we had to sit last semester, and I don’t think it’s a bad idea to entertain the idea of having in-person exams. They offer the opportunity to properly test your work and apply your knowledge, but I would even have to say they don’t seem like the best option right now.”
“The second lockdown for Auckland has thrown me and my friends off far more than the first one, and I’m sure others feel the same. We were able to get back a sense of normality, and it was very quickly stripped away. The problem is now the university is acting like we have that normality back. We still have cases, we still have reason to wear masks and socially distance; it’s really ridiculous to expect us to all sit in a confined room and hope no one has COVID.”
“It will make it incredibly hard to concentrate in the exam room as we will all be thinking about the risk around us rather than the course content, which ends up not testing our knowledge at all. I would love to have in-person exams, but when the time is right, not when we have the potential to be a huge cluster.”
Names have been changed to protect students’ identities
