SAVE OUR MAJOR - HIGH FAILURE RATES?
SAVE OUR MAJOR - HIGH FAILURE RATES?
The External BA Review into the Bachelor Arts Program/Bachelor Arts Program (Hons), hereafter referred to as, "BA Revew", drew attention to a large number of courses with high failure rates.
"...the course failure rate of commencing students is high, at 26 per cent in 2010. In that year the failure rates in a number of courses exceeded 30 per cent, and in some cases 40 per cent. This is evident at all levels of the Program." External BA Review (2011), p6.
The panel considered this to be a structural and teaching issue, but it shows that any failure rate in the Chinese major (which students are not convinced of) would in fact be inline with general trends in the faculty and therefore not a reason to remove the major. In fact, upon further investigation it transpires that 13/18 (72%) of majors in the BA program have high failure rates.
In the review, success rates are given for many of the majors which have high failure rates, but for Chinese the review simply states that, "failure rates are high in some courses", External BA Review (2011), p 16.
In the BA Review, the report mentions high failure rates in 13/18 courses as demonstrated in the table below. All failure rates are quoted directly from the review.
| Major | Failure Rate | Corresponding Failure Rate of "Some courses" |
| Chinese | "failure rates are high in some courses" (p16) | "high" |
| Japanese | "some course pass rates below 70 per cent" (p17) | over 30% |
| English and Creative Writing | "there are several courses with success rates below 80 per cent" (p16) | over 20% |
| Classics and Ancient History | "some courses have less than five enrolments and success near of below 70 per cent"(p17) | over 30% |
| Human Geography and the Environment | "there are a few courses with greater than average (for this discipline) failure rates" (p17) | |
| History |
"somewhat high failure rates in a number of level 1000 and 3000 courses. For example, there are a number of courses with pass rates between 60 per cent and 70 per cent." (p17) |
over 30%-40% |
| Religious Studies | "student success rates in this discipline [Relgious studies] are spiked and (except for one course) rae either below 70 per cent or at 100 per cent" (p18) | over 30% |
| Philosophy |
"it is gerneally noted that these students generally succeed at a rate lower than their peers from other Programs,and that six out of eleven courses have pass rates below 70, and only two courses have pass rates over 80 per cent. (p18) |
over 20%-30% |
| Politics and Policy | "BA students succeed at lower rates than students from other Programs and that in several courses the student pass rate is below 70 per cent and some below 60 per cent." (p18) | over 30%-40% |
| Psychology | "overall pass rates for BA students are low when compared to those from other Programs, with a number of courses passing less than 60 per cent of BA students." (p18) | over 40% |
| Sociology and Anthropology | "a number of courses with pass rates below 70 per cent in 2010, and three below 60 per cent." (p18) | over 30%-40% |
| Linguistics | "pass rates of BA students are of concern in a number of a Linguistic courses. For example, in several 2010 courses, the pass rates of BA students fell below 70 per cent." (p18) | over 30% |
| Film, Media and Cultural studies | "Success rates are generally at the high end of the Program average, although somewhat spiked, with a number of courses with success rates around or below 75 per cent in 2010." (p19) |
over 25% |
Only five majors in the BA Review did not mention high failure rates: French, German, International Affairs, Aboriginal Studies and, Drama and Creative Arts.
The review and recommendation documents can be found below.
The review date was 11th-15th April and according to the document entitled BA.BA(Hons) Review Final, it was received by the Faculty on the 5th August.
The Review: BA Review Report Final V2.pdf
The Recommendations: BA.BA (Hons) Review Final
We demand proof of high failure rates in Chinese.
We demand proof of higher failure rates in Chinese than other languages.
We demand the retainment of the Chinese major.
 |
|
| Save our major | Heather Richards |
Comments (0)