Solent Essay 3
Essay 3 Southampton Solent University
School of XX
Faculty of YY succeed@solent Level 1
10 credits
2,000 word essay
Student name : Stuart Dent
Course title : Academic Skills
Seminar tutor : Andrew Doig
Stuart Dent 1
Essay 3
Standards of academic writing among British university students are falling. Discuss.
Introduction
In this paper, it is understood that ‘academic writing’ has the meaning as clearly given by Hopkins (2008) of “'structured research' written by 'scholars' for other scholars (with all university writers being 'scholars' in this context).”
It is also important to consider, at this initial stage, the question of ‘Are standards of academic writing among British students actually falling?’ The Guardian Education Notebook (2008) reported “Academic standards are in decline in many British universities, Professor Geoffrey Alderman, a senior figure in higher education, told the press last month, ‘Students who would once have failed pass, and students who would once have been awarded respectable lower seconds are now awarded upper seconds and even firsts,’”
There is a great deal of research being carried out to prove whether these claims are true. However, it is not the purpose of this paper to examine these in detail. Instead, it will present two perspectives. The first agrees that standards are in decline and suggests some of the reasons for this: that technology enables increased academic cheating leading to a lowering of skills gained by students; that some institutions are lowering their pass standards in order to retain students; and that the cost of a degree forces too many students into part-time work and away from their studies.
The opposite perspective asks whether these factors have the greatest impact when competition for university places is constantly on the increase, and industry demand for graduates is also very high. It also argues that ‘academic’ skills and standards are increasingly being replaced by ‘vocational’ or
School of XX
Faculty of YY succeed@solent Level 1
10 credits
2,000 word essay
Student name : Stuart Dent
Course title : Academic Skills
Seminar tutor : Andrew Doig
Stuart Dent 1
Essay 3
Standards of academic writing among British university students are falling. Discuss.
Introduction
In this paper, it is understood that ‘academic writing’ has the meaning as clearly given by Hopkins (2008) of “'structured research' written by 'scholars' for other scholars (with all university writers being 'scholars' in this context).”
It is also important to consider, at this initial stage, the question of ‘Are standards of academic writing among British students actually falling?’ The Guardian Education Notebook (2008) reported “Academic standards are in decline in many British universities, Professor Geoffrey Alderman, a senior figure in higher education, told the press last month, ‘Students who would once have failed pass, and students who would once have been awarded respectable lower seconds are now awarded upper seconds and even firsts,’”
There is a great deal of research being carried out to prove whether these claims are true. However, it is not the purpose of this paper to examine these in detail. Instead, it will present two perspectives. The first agrees that standards are in decline and suggests some of the reasons for this: that technology enables increased academic cheating leading to a lowering of skills gained by students; that some institutions are lowering their pass standards in order to retain students; and that the cost of a degree forces too many students into part-time work and away from their studies.
The opposite perspective asks whether these factors have the greatest impact when competition for university places is constantly on the increase, and industry demand for graduates is also very high. It also argues that ‘academic’ skills and standards are increasingly being replaced by ‘vocational’ or