Sinéad Baker | Co-Editor-at-Large
The School of Engineering is to introduce January exams for senior sophister students from Monday 5 January, 2015, The University Times has learned. The exams, which are to be for those modules taught entirely in the first semester, are to be introduced for students in the fourth year of both the four-year bachelors (BAI) and five-year integrated masters (MAI) courses.
The school has not yet notified students of the change, however the senior sophister timetable on the School of Engineering website now states that “Winter examinations for those modules taught wholly in the first semester commence on Monday, 5th January, 2015”.
The exams are intended to benefit students who are in their fourth year of the five-year MAI course, who can choose to do an internship or placement in the second semester. Previously, these students were required to sit exams after their placements.
Speaking to The University Times last November on the possibility of the introduction of winter exams, Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning in the School of Engineering, Ciaran Simms, said that “having these exams in January, before the placement, would enable students to commit fully to their work.”
He added that the move would help students gain as much experience as possible, while allowing the internship programme to benefit “from a significantly longer time period.”
The exams reduce the pressure on senior sophister students in the four-year BAI course, who typically sit amongst the highest number of exams – usually around 12 in a two-week period in summer. When speaking to The University Times however, many students in the four-year course, in which there is no choice to undertake an internship, expressed disappointment with the news as they will be unable to enjoy the Christmas period and the holidays will be cut short.
Speaking to The University Times, Molly Kenny, TCD Students’ Union (TCDSU) Faculty Convenor for the faculty of Engineering, Maths and Sciences, said: “The fact that students are sitting up to and often over nine exams in the space of three weeks isn’t only having a negative impact on students with stress, it’s also impacting on the overall grades and therefore employment opportunities for them as Trinity graduates. Therefore I see this move by the Engineering Department as a positive for all parties.”
It has been expected for some stage that these exams were to be introduced. Last November, unconfirmed rumours surfaced that the school was introducing January exams, which prompted TCDSU to post about it on their Facebook page. This post was later removed by the SU at the request of the school. Simms then told The University Times that the decision had not yet been made.
The possibility of introducing winter exams in has been a topic of recent debate around Trinity. Former Senior Lecturer and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Patrick Geoghegan has argued for the continuation of the current system that exists in most courses, in which exams are only held at the end of the academic year, as it allows students to use the first term to engage in other activities outside of the classroom.
