{"id":4686,"date":"2023-11-27T11:32:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T11:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/psychology\/?p=4686"},"modified":"2023-11-27T11:32:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T11:32:33","slug":"dr-dennis-nigbur-on-busting-markers-jargon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/psychology\/dr-dennis-nigbur-on-busting-markers-jargon\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr Dennis Nigbur on Busting Markers’ Jargon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever received feedback for one of your assignments but still don’t understand how to improve? Then read the following blog post written by psychology lecturer Dr Dennis Nigbur, which was originally published here on his blog<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With now over 20 years\u2019 experience in marking and moderating psychology coursework at BSc and MSc levels, I\u2019ve noticed that the same misunderstandings between markers and candidates come up time and time again. Since I have a bit of an obsession with (or let\u2019s more positively call it a passion for) feedback, of course I do point these out to markers whose work I moderate. But there are loads of markers, so these issues aren\u2019t going away anytime soon. So if you\u2019re a student and sometimes feel that you need a marker\/student dictionary, this blog post may be of interest. If you\u2019re a marker and want to build some awareness of these jargon-induced misunderstandings, good on you! Let\u2019s do some jargon busting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. “Use more recent sources”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes closely followed by something like \u201cCite the original source of this idea\u201d to make it extra confusing. What would be the point in teaching classics such as Piaget in developmental or Asch in social psychology only for markers then to be preoccupied with recent sources? Well, what the marker actually means here is that you can demonstrate more\u00a0knowledge of the literature<\/em>\u00a0(usually one of the most important grading criteria) by showing that you have an overview of who has critiqued, replicated, expanded or otherwise meaningfully engaged with the earlier sources you cited. The marker isn\u2019t asking you to ditch the classics, but to show \u2013 additionally \u2013 your awareness of what has happened since. This can also help your work in other ways. For example, an awareness of recent re-evaluations of Milgram\u2019s work on \u201cobedience\u201d (I may blog separately about this at some point, but for now I\u2019ll just cite Gibson, 2019, as an example) may allow you to demonstrate\u00a0critical reasoning<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 another important grading criterion \u2013 by highlighting and evaluating this debate\u00a0if (!)<\/em>\u00a0it\u2019s relevant to your assessment task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. “Too descriptive”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is one of my favourite bugbears. I believe it may be almost impossible for students to understand \u2013 at least for those who have been \u201ctoo descriptive\u201d in the first place. Bizarrely, this markers\u2019 jargon has established itself although it doesn\u2019t actually say what\u2019s wrong with the work or how it could be improved. After all, being descriptive is a good thing most of the time: Describing a theory, study or problem\u00a0well<\/em>\u00a0is a crucial skill and will earn you a fair few marks. So the marker isn\u2019t actually asking you to be less descriptive, but\u00a0more interpretative, critical, or analytical in some way.<\/em>\u00a0In other words, what\u2019s missing from your writing is an intellectual effort that goes beyond description \u2013 but what\u2019s missing from the \u201ctoo descriptive\u201d comment is any clear indication of what that is. I\u2019ve jokingly compared this to saying \u201cNice shirt!\u201d when you actually mean \u201cYou have no trousers on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Would you say \u201cNice shirt!\u201d when you actually mean \u201cYou have no trousers on\u201d?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

2 and a half. “Be more critical”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While we\u2019re on the subject: Being critical obviously<\/em> doesn\u2019t mean saying as many negative things as possible. All students understand that writing something like \u201cThis paper is a big steaming pile of dung because \u2026\u201d is not good! When a marker tells you to be more critical, what they mean is that you could do one or several of the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n