Degree Results in Geography 1973-1990: Students, Teachers and Standards

Degree Results in Geography 1973-1990: Students, Teachers and StandardsAuthor(s): Keith ChapmanSource: Area, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 117-126Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20003238 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 23:54

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Area.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.82 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:54:20 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=rgs

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20003238?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


Area (1993) 25.2, 117-126

Degree results in geography 1973-1990: students, teachers and standards

Keith Chapman, Department of Georgraphy, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen, AB9 2UF

Summary The proportion of students achieving good (ie firsts and 2(1)s) degrees in UK universities has increased signifyicantly during the 1980s. Results in geography are consistent with this general trend. Speculative explanations are offered. Further research is required to achieve a better understanding of the variables affecting degree results. Such research is desirable not only from an educational point of view, but is also relevant to political judgements influencing the future shape of higher education in the UK.

Whatever the scope of their research interests, most academics have a parochial and short-term perspective upon the outcome of their teaching efforts as reflected in degree results. They make comparisons with the recent past and their interest in events elsewhere is limited to the kind of one-upmanship implicit in disingenuous enquiries about the number of firsts by those feeling smug about an outstanding crop in their own

department. Perhaps the most common generalisation about students is that they are not as good as they were -a view which is apparently contradicted by the evidence of degree results. This note takes a reflective look at this evidence for geography in UK universities since 1973. Comparisons are made with the total output of graduates and with various other disciplines. The selected disciplines are regarded as those with which geography competes for applicants from schools and, more directly, for post graduate studentships from the research councils. The choice is, to some extent, arbitrary, but seems intuitively reasonable.

Data

The Undergraduate Record ofthe Universities' Statistical Record (USR) is an extensive database providing information in a continuous time series since 1972. Summary statistics are published annually (Universities' Statistical Record 1980-), but disaggre gated data can be obtained directly from the USR. Information is available on a wide range of variables relating to the characteristics of students, their choice of subjects and their academic performance. The database is very flexible since aggregate statistics are

compiled from individual student records. It excludes information on CNAA awards, but such data can be obtained from the Further Education Statistical Record produced by the Department of Education'. The scope of this note is limited to the pre-1991 university sector although it raises issues which will become even more important following the abolition of the binary divide and a proper consideration of trends in

degree results in geography must take account of the former public sector institutions.

Trends in degree awards

Table 1 indicates the expansion in the number of university graduates since 1973. The

growth in geography has been slower than that for all subjects, but its relative decline



118 Chapman

Table 1 Number of graduates in selected subjects from UK universities in 1973 and 1990

1973 1990

Percentage Percentage Per cent of all of all change

Subjects Number graduates Number graduates 1973-90

Geography 1,622 3-1 1,979 2-6 +22-0 Geology 562 1.1 780 1.0 +38-8 Environmental Sciences 147 0-3 511 0 7 +247 6 Economics 1,741 3 3 2,514 3-3 +44-4 Sociology 1,325 2-5 722 1 0 -45-5 Politics 529 1.0 1,111 1 5 +1100 All subjects 52,276 100 0 75,956 100 0 +44 0

Source: Universities' Statistical Record

is insignificant by comparison with, for example, the absolute decline of sociology. Indeed, geography remains a popular choice, ranking 11th in terms of the total number of graduates in 1989 out of 112 subject categories identified by the USR (Universities' Statistical Record 1991, 61-3). Changes in the popularity of subjects may be expected over a twenty year period and geography has probably lost students to comparatively new areas such as environmental science and to the surge in business-oriented disci plines such as accountancy and economics which reflected the spirit of the 1980s. Less predictable, however, are shifts in the distribution of degree classes. Figure 1 indicates the relative proportions of each year's output of graduates (excluding medicine, den tistry and studies allied to medicine)2 achieving specified classes of award. It suggests a significant jump in the proportion of' good ' (ie first and 2(1)) degrees at the beginning of the 1980s followed by a subsequent steady increase. Geography is consistent with this pattern (Figure 2) which is evident across a wide spectrum of disciplines. It is in the proportion of 2(1)s rather than firsts that this jump is clearest. Indeed, the base year of 1973 was exceptional for firsts in the total output of graduates and, coincidentally, in geography as well. It was not bettered until 1985 for all subjects and until 1986 for geography. The increasing proportion of 2(1) degrees is, however, unambiguous and is the principal contributor to the overall increase in ' good' degrees (Figure 3). Similar trends have been noted in CNAA awards (Healey 1989). What explanations can be offered?

Degree classification systems The rise of ' good ' degrees is partly matched by the decline of ' other ' degrees in Figures 1 and 2. ' Others 'include undivided seconds, pass and ordinary degrees as well as very small numbers of general, unclassified and aegrotat awards. Undivided seconds have largely disappeared and students formerly placed in this category presumably now achieve 2(1)s or 2(2)s. Ordinary degrees have also declined in significance, especially in Scotland where an ordinary degree is not necessarily an indicator of mediocrity, but rather a result of a conscious choice to opt for a shorter, three-year degree course.

Although these changes in academic fashion and classification practice have certainly contributed to the increase in the proportion of ' good ' degrees, they can only account



Degree results in geography 119

50

_2 (1) Cn) 40

2 (2)

30 30

IL 0

t 20

z w

c 10 FIRST w ~~~~~~~~~~OTHER .. ................. .. ..... T H IR D

0 --

1973 1981 1990

YEAR

Figure 1 Degree results in UK universities 1973-1990: all subjects (excluding medicine, dentistry and studies allied to medicine)

60

C/) w 50 2 (1)

< 40 , ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 (2) . 40

LL 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.................. ......

w 30

H z wJ 20 0

LLJ

10

THIRD ...... .......... ... .........O TH ER

0 1973 1981 1990

YEAR

Figure 2 Degree results in UK universities 1973-1990: geography

for a small part of the observed increase. Even if the unrealistic assumption is made

that all of the undivided seconds and ordinary degrees in geography in 1973 could have

achieved 'good' degrees, the proportion of such degrees would have risen to 45 3

per cent well short of the corresponding 53-8 per cent in 1990.



120 Chapman

160 . 2(1)

2(1) 140 /

120 " /A *v .. j/\ / FIRST

100 / 1973 -100

. > - <;; . J |. % / FIRST

80

60 .... All subjects

............................. G eography

40

1973 1981 1990

YEAR

Figure 3 Trends in the proportion of first class and 2(1) degrees from UK universities 1973 1990: geography and all subjects (excluding medicine, dentistry and studies allied to

medicine)

Entry qualifications

An improvement in entry qualifications is another possible source of explanation. There is a substantial literature examining the relationship between entry qualifi cations and academic achievement in higher education (Sear 1983; Society for Research into Higher Education 1986; Entwistle et al 1991). This research reveals a statistically significant, but weak correlation at the level of individual students. The relationship is

much stronger for aggregate data. More 'good' degrees are awarded by institutions with higher entry qualifications (Johnes and Taylor 1990, 109), for example, and Figure 4 plots mean A-level entry scores3 for students graduating with different classes of degree in geography since 19734. The data upon which Figure 4 is based relate to leaving cohorts (ie the qualifications held by graduates when they entered university 3 or 4 years earlier) and therefore provide a direct link between entrance and exit qualifi cations. The link between the two is clear and, making the (questionable) assumption that A-level scores provide temporally consistent measures of ability, any general increase in the average scores of students entering university might be expected to lead to a corresponding improvement in final results. Although there was some fluctuation in these scores over the period (Figure 4), the relative increase in good degrees far exceeded any marginal improvement in entry qualifications.

Teaching practice

If entry qualifications cannot account for the rise in the proportion of' good 'degrees, it seems that the universities have become more successful in ' adding value ' to their raw

material. In the absence of a detailed study focusing upon individual departments5,

explanations for this apparent improvement can only be speculative. Indeed, if good




13

'-\<>>>_< / \ ~~~~~FIRST

12

cc 0

(1) 1 1 - \ / 2 (1)

u H ALL ....................GRADUATES

10 --:.::/2 (2) z

Z<\ \ THIRD w

9

8 1973 1981 1990

YEAR

Figure 4 Mean A-level entry scores of geography graduates from UK universities 1973-1990

teaching maximises the potential of students, an impartial observer might have expected degree results, as indicators of achievement, to have deteriorated rather than improved during the 1980s. It is generally assumed that low staff-student ratios (SSRs) are a pre-requisite for good teaching in higher education where tutorials and seminars are intuitively regarded as preferable to mass lectures. The ratio of FTE staff to FTE students in cost centre 29 (ie Geography) for UK universities was 11 3 in 1984/85; the corresponding official figure for 1990/91 was 15-6 (CVCP/UFC 1986 and 1992). Few heads of department admit to figures as favourable as these and it is safe to conclude that the current average SSR for geography is significantly higher. Small group teach ing is difficult to sustain in these circumstances. Pressures upon teaching are not only related to class size. Larger numbers seem to have been accompanied by a dispro portionate increase in bureaucracy and administration. The research rating exercises, which have themselves generated non-productive paperwork, have drawn attention to potential conflicts in the allocation of staff time, whilst financial constraints have adversely affected equipment budgets, library provision and fieldwork opportunities. Perhaps the most powerful reason for expecting a decline in teaching standards is the collective impact of all these factors upon morale in an ageing profession.

There is no doubting the reality of these pressures, but there have also been positive trends. The importance of developing and rewarding teaching skills has at least received some official recognition (Cm 1541 1991; CVCP Universities' Staff Development and

Training Unit 1991) and most institutions have strengthened their procedures for monitoring and promoting these skills. Despite the unfortunate political overtones of its title, the Enterprise in Higher Education Initiative has encouraged a re-appraisal of

teaching methods. Within geography, several individuals have attempted to define and disseminate good practice in teaching (Gold et al 1991). If the previously identified link between teaching and student performance is accepted, the adoption of such practice

may be expected to be reflected in improved degree results.



122 Chapman

Although deteriorating SSRs frustate many initiatives in teaching, there have been some significant changes in recent years. Encouraging students to take responsibility for their own education by placing greater emphasis upon resource-based and computer-assisted learning is another pragmatic response to financial constraints, but it may also be viewed as a welcome step towards more active, student-centred learning.

Stronger motivation may be expected to enhance student performance. There has been a significant shift over the last 20 years in the relative weighting attached to compulsory and optional courses (including dissertations) within most geography degree pro grammes in favour of the latter6. To the extent that this shift reflects the wishes of students, it may have contributed to the apparent overall improvement in degree results. Student performance is related to methods of assessment and there is evidence of a belated recognition of the need to integrate assessment with curriculum design in higher education (King 1976; Humphrys 1978; Gold et al 1991). Essays written under the pressure of ' Finals ' remain the dominant method of undergraduate assessment in geography, but continuous assessment is becoming more important, partly because of the introduction of modular systems in some institutions. Although its effects are not always beneficial (Goodall 1977; Gold et al 1991, 144), the wider adoption of continu ous assessment in all its various forms may be expected to have a positive influence upon performance (as measured by degree results) because it is welcomed by the

majority of students and also because it encourages the feedback which should be an integral part of the learning experience.

Variable standards

Variability in degree results may be considered through time and between disciplines. It is important to emphasise that the increase in the proportion of' good ' degrees since the early 1980s has been superimposed upon significant and well-established differ ences in the distribution of awards between disciplines (Dale 1959; Cmnd 2154 1963; Nevin 1972; Hindmarch and Bourner 1980; Bourner and Bourner 1985; Heywood 1989, 59-64; Taylor et al nd). Generally speaking, the social sciences, languages and humanities have more compact distributions with fewer firsts and thirds than the physical and mathematical sciences, engineering and technology. Figures 5 and 6 indicate the percentage of firsts and 2(1)s in selected disciplines in each year relative to the corresponding proportion for all disciplines (excluding medicine, dentistry and studies allied to medicine). The effect of the overall increase in ' good ' degrees is, therefore, eliminated and attention is focussed on differences between the disciplines.

Geography is characteristic of the social sciences, but it awards significantly fewer firsts than geology and environmental sciences-a situation which clearly weakens the position of the subject in securing NERC studentships.

Whatever the differences between disciplines, the primary function of the external examining system is to ensure comparability of standards within disciplines (Cmnd 9501 1985; CVCP 1989). Comparability involves temporal and institutional dimensions.

Thus external examiners are required to make judgements at class boundaries which imply a common standard between one department and another. This is a formidable responsibility and doubts about the honesty and realism of this task are nothing new (Williams 1979; Warren-Piper 1985; Williams 1986). Indeed, the existence of persist ent and systematic variations between individual departments of geography in the proportions of good degrees awarded raises important questions which can only be answered by research into teaching practices, assessment methods and degree classifi cation mechanisms at departmental level7. As if the difficulties of comparing the




140

120

120 % t\\ lx AGeology 100 I v it, A A iSUBJECTS= l =

Environmental

40 ic \ /K 'E

i S tS

6p it >

(Economics

X XII ~~Geography

20 ,^

0 1973 1981 1990

YEAR

Figure 5 Proportion of first class degrees from UK universities in selected subjects relative to all subjects (excluding medicine, dentistry and studies allied to medicine) 1973-1990

150

A 140 4 1

130

7o l i t i c sPolitics

1201

t 1 I I'\ |t > , _ ; Geography

110 A ' '

Economics

100 ALL SUBJECTS= 100 Geology

\ Environmental

90 - science 1973 1981 1990

YEAR

Figure 6 Proportion of 2(1) degrees from UK universities in selected subjects relative to all subjects (excluding medicine, dentistry and studies allied to medicine) 1973-1990



124 Chapman

standards of one department with another were not enough, there is often an expec tation that external examiners possess some kind of mental calculator containing an

accumulated store of constant yardsticks for measuring student ability over the years. The truth is that standards are relative, not absolute, as many external examiners have

themselves acknowledged (Mundle 1968; Williams 1979; Lawton 1986). Degree results cannot be regarded as reliable, objective, consistent, criterion-referenced measures of academic achievement.

Conclusions In these circumstances, it is difficult to resolve the apparent paradox of improving degree results in the face of a declining unit of resource. Bearing in mind the undoubted political pressure to demonstrate the efficiency and the effectiveness of higher edu cation, degree results have become institutional as well as individual performance indicators. The exhortations of some Vice-Chancellors and Principals encouraging their staff to award more first class degrees may be regarded as an invitation to devalue

the currency (Pyke 1991; Utley 1992). This may be viewed as a betrayal of obligations to earlier graduates or as an acknowledgement of a long overdue move away from an

unreasonably high ' gold standard ' of intellectual performance, especially in disci plines such as geography which have consistently awarded so few firsts. Although attention has focussed upon this pinnacle of undergraduate academic achievement, the

most striking feature of degree results since the early 1980s has been the rise in the

proportion of 2(1)s. This may be seen as powerful circumstantial evidence of a con spiracy by internal and external examiners to re-define the 2(2)/2(1) boundary. On the other hand, such a conclusion may diminish the efforts of both staff and students. Many have worked extremely hard to cope with the pressures imposed by under-funding and greater accountability. There is little doubt that the vast majority of academic staff have put more effort into all aspects of their job, including teaching, over the last 10 years. A

combination of mounting personal debt and a very uncertain job market may have motivated students to make the best of a difficult situation8. If these interpretations are

correct, the improvement in degree results is a proper reward for greater commitment rather than an indication of falling standards.

The evidence presented in this note allows no firm conclusions to be reached in

accounting for the observed increase in the proportion of 'good' degrees. It does, however, draw attention to issues of both academic and policy concern. For students, the implications of being ' marked for life ' remain just as profound as they were when the phrase was first used in this context more than twenty years ago (Butterworth and

Powell 1971). University teachers have an obligation to understand their role in the link between learning experience and student achievement. This requires careful monitor ing of the teaching practices and administrative procedures which influence the very

public outcome of an undergraduate education. Such monitoring should be a routine feature of the management of individual departments, although there are growing pressures for more rigorous external evaluation procedures. The acknowledgement that'. . . the time may be approaching when a general inquiry into the working of the examiner system will be desirable' (CVCP Academic Audit Unit 1992, 27) reflects these pressures as does the creation of various quality control/audit mechanisms. It is in the interests of the academic community in general and the discipline in particular to reflect upon the practical implications of the intended participation rate of 1 in 3 18-19 year olds in higher education by the year 2000 (Cm 1541 1991). This will require a greater commitment to research into teaching methods in the new environment (Gibbs




and Jenkins 1992) and a concern for assessment procedures that extends beyond the annual joust that is the examiners' meeting.

Acknowledgements The research reported in this paper was supported by a grant from The Nuffield Foundation. The author is grateful to Miss Cynthia Holme of the Universities' Statistical Record for assistance in the supply of data and

also to Mr Kenneth Thomson, Department of Education, University of Aberdeen for help in its analysis.

Notes 1 The information in the Students in Higher Education Database, discussed by Healey (1989), has been merged into the Further Education Statistical Record.

2 These subjects are excluded because medicine and dentistry, which account to the bulk of subject group 2 in the USR classification scheme (pre-1985), have distinctive patterns of awards with the majority of

graduates securing ' pass ' or ' ordinary ' degrees.

3 Similar consistent relationships are revealed when Scottish Higher entry scores are matched to ultimate degree class. These are omitted for simplicity.

4 These relationships are also found in other disciplines. 5 Such a study is the subject of a research application to the Economic and Social Research Council. 6 It is worth noting that increasing student numbers may force a reversal of these trends.

7 See note 5.

8 These difficulties may, of course, have exactly the opposite effect on some students.

References Bourner J and Bourner T (1985) ' Degrees of success in accounting ' Studies in Higher Education 10, 55-68

Butterworth B and Powell A (1971) Markedfor Itfe (Citadel Press, London) Cm 1541 (1991) Higher education: a new framework (HMSO, London) Cmnd 2154 (1963) Report of the committee on higher education (HMSO, London) Cmnd 9501 (1985) Academic validation in public sector Higher Education (HMSO, London) CVCP (1989) Academic standards in Universities (CVCP, London) CVCP Academic Audit Unit (1992) Annual report of the Director 1990/91 (CVCP, London) CVCP Staff Development and Training Unit (1991) Teaching standards and excellence in Higher Education

(CVCP, London) CVCP/UFC (1986) University management statistics and performance indicators in the UK (CVCP, London) CVCP/UFC (1992) University management statistics and performance indicators in the UK (CVCP, London) Dale R R (1959) ' University standards ' Universities Quarterly 13, 186-95

Entwistle N, Wall D, Macmillan C, Tait H and Entwistle D (1991) Schools to Higher Education: bridging the

gap (Scottish Office, Education Department (Research and Intelligence Unit), Edinburgh Gibbs G and Jenkins A (1992) Teaching large classes: maintaining quality with reduced resources (Kogan Page,

London) Gold J R, Jenkins A, Lee R, Monk J, Riley J, Shepherd I and Unwin D (1991) Teaching Geography in higher

education: a manual ofgood practice (Blackwell, Oxford) Goodall B (1977) ' Problems arising from the use of continuous assessment for degree classification 'journal

of Geography in Higher Education 1, 47-52

Healey MJ (1989) 'The qualifications and employment of geography graduates: first degree awards and first destinations ' Area 21, 59-73

Heywood J (1989) Assessment in higher education (2nd edition) (Wiley, Chichester) Hindmarch A and Bourner T (1980)' CNAA degrees in the social sciences: a comparative analysis 'Studies in

Higher Education 5, 17-31 Humphrys G (1978) ' The role of assessment in the design of a curriculum for a degree in geography '3ournal

of Geography in Higher Education 2, 74-86

Johnes J and Taylor J (1990) Performance indicators in higher education (Society for Research into Higher

Education, Guildford) King R (1976) 'Assessment in geography: approaches to the formulation of objectives' Studies in Higher

Education 1, 223-32 Lawton R (1986) ' The role of the external examiner 'journal of Geography in Higher Education 10, 41-51

Mundle C W K (1968) ' Examining in philosophy ' University Quarterly 22, 302-6

Nevin E (1972) 'How not to get a first' Economic_Journal 82, 658-73

Pyke N (1991) Heading for a currency devaluation? Times Educational Supplement July 12, 10

Sear K (1983) ' The correlation between A-level grades and degree results in England and Wales ' Higher Education 12, 609-19



126 Chapman

Society for Research into Higher Education (1986) Entry and exit performance indicators for higher education (Conference, April 28)

Taylor J, Ulph D and Winters L A (nd) Do university economics departments give too few good degrees? Unpublished paper

Universities' Statistical Record (1980-) University Statistics (Universities' Statistical Record, Cheltenham) Universities' Statistical Record (1991) University Statistics 1989-90: vol 1, Students and Staff(Universities'

Statistical Record, Cheltenham) Utley A (1992) ' Quality questions as firsts rise ' The Higher January 17, 1

Warren-Piper D (1985) ' Enquiry in the role of external examiners ' Students in Higher Education 10, 331-42

Williams W F (1979)' The role of the external examiner in first degrees' Studies in Higher Education 4, 161-8

Williams G (1986) ' The missing bottom line ' in Moodie G C (ed) Standards and criteria in higher education

(Society for Research into Higher Education, Guildford), 31-45



Documents

Degree Results in Geography 1973-1990: Students, Teachers and Standards