tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post1032963039094513897..comments2024-02-29T06:51:50.242+01:00Comments on Daniel Pargman's academic homepage: Can a student fail at a Swedish university?pargmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-24975725438802127972017-10-11T10:13:31.692+02:002017-10-11T10:13:31.692+02:00First of all i would like to thank you for the gre...First of all i would like to thank you for the great and informative entry. I has to admit that I have never heard about this information I have noticed many new facts for me. Thanks a lot for sharing this useful and attractive information and I will be waiting for other interesting posts from you in the nearest future. Keep it up.. Smithhttps://www.youniversitytv.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-71154698691056418012015-04-17T22:02:45.263+02:002015-04-17T22:02:45.263+02:00This has been an ongoing discussion probably since...This has been an ongoing discussion probably since long before even I was admitted to the U in 1979. How do you catch and rectify these "not apt" students before they have borrowed too much money?<br /><br />The student's financing of higher ed, is unfortunately, built on subsidies and also on our government's (whether "red" or "blue") eagerness to look good when higher ed is compared internationally.<br /><br />I remember one student who the last year of studies was told "we cannot pass you"! For the individual it is of course a disaster. The system doesn't approve of failures of this kind because you cannot borrow more money from the state and, the counter force is the teachers not wanting "to harm" the student by telling s/he the truth in an early stage - "to get out of here"!<br /><br />Despite all of this and also found in some of the comments, Sweden is actually doing pretty well! All statistics show that we are among the most successful countries on this planet.<br /><br />To me it's a sign that whatever takes place in academia is maybe not as important in society as academics think. And that is healthy sign!GDippehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14902693767933895552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-39923092510583042932015-04-17T17:12:23.185+02:002015-04-17T17:12:23.185+02:00Respect for having the courage to say how things w...Respect for having the courage to say how things work. What you wrote, Daniel, is my experience as well. and, like you, I am also a cog in the machinery.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05529850219279452785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-34007698828173735842015-03-27T13:48:42.041+01:002015-03-27T13:48:42.041+01:00I do agree with you Pargman! I am working as a lec...I do agree with you Pargman! I am working as a lecturer in a Swedish university and I can tell you that the environment is disappointing. It doesn't allow us as a lecturer to discipline students and demand them to work hard to pass a course. You know that in Sweden students get 5 opportunities to take a resit exam when they are failed at the first or second try. If students feel unsatisfied with you (because you don't want to give them more opportunities to pass the course) then they will raise the case to their parents and their parents will bring it to someone in the management level. I am worried that in the end of the day Sweden will not have enough tough, clever, and skillful people thus it cannot compete with other developed nations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-60179033529190114092013-03-27T11:16:24.063+01:002013-03-27T11:16:24.063+01:00I agree with 10.14 above. Without innovative, skil...I agree with 10.14 above. Without innovative, skillful, cleaver people, we're screwed. I would have to add though that you don't *become* innovative, skillful, cleaver people just because you attend a university.<br /><br />- Some people who don't attend a university can still be innovative, skillful and cleaver.<br />- Most people who do attend a university are not necessarily innovative, skillful and cleaver.<br />- But innovative, skillful and cleaver people who do attend university can, in a best-case scenario, get even better training and better tool and make wonders afterwards..-pargmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-64464650299725480662013-03-27T10:14:59.117+01:002013-03-27T10:14:59.117+01:00There is another issue at stake here. Swedens comp...There is another issue at stake here. Swedens competetiveness in the global economy. <br /><br />If we dont support the truly able individuals how are we to continue to produce things and ideas that makes Swedish industry and companies profitable. <br /><br />And here natural sciences are the enginges of growth and change. <br /><br />How much can we, as a country, afford to invest in mediocrity at the expense of the talented and motivated?<br /><br />/<br />W<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-6510133156855963522011-09-29T22:46:39.058+02:002011-09-29T22:46:39.058+02:00No, I don't tell them. I would want to, but no...No, I don't tell them. I would want to, but no one would thank me for doing what someone, anyone should. Quite the opposite, the students would hate it, perhaps report me for "harssing" them and my own university would disavow me. The current Swedish system for financing universities takes the raw number of students into account, i.e. more students = more money. So my boss would hate me too. As I write above, what use it is to "tell the truth" if there is zero institutional backing?<br /><br />The other questions are good, but hard. I'm-just-a-cog-in-this–great-machinery you know. Trying to change things politically sounds great, but my job takes all my time and what is left I spend with my wife and kids. And writing this blog. And some other things. I can complain about it, but trying to change it isn't my mission in life.<br /><br />So I complain about it here and every chance I get at work (but tempered), but beyond that and perhaps a few other things - not much.<br /><br />I do have to say that I'm not sure about the "liability" and "negative influence on society" part. It's a little bit harsh. Let's say I'm undecided about some of your in-your-face claims.pargmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17208443783482286491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-25856296508739533102011-09-29T12:12:52.070+02:002011-09-29T12:12:52.070+02:00"Some students just don't have what it ta..."Some students just don't have what it takes to be at a university and they really shouldn't. Not that they necessarily never will be able to get a university degree, but right here and right now their presence at the university is a drain on scarce resources, and no-one is happier for it except maybe (but not necessarily) the student himself."<br /><br />So do you tell these students the truth? Do you tell them that they should do something else with their lives than devoting themselves to acedemic studies? And more importantly, do you, as a professor, use your authority to work for a political change? Do you actively try to convince TPTB that some students really are a liability, that they are draining resources, that they will have a negative influence on the society as a whole and that the current system will not be sustainable in a long term perspective?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-88797983608709283572011-06-03T16:26:01.118+02:002011-06-03T16:26:01.118+02:00Another huge problem is that good students are not...Another huge problem is that good students are not promoted, but pushed down into mediocrity. This happens, of course, because of the socialdemocratic mentality and the Jantelagen. Sweden and Nordic countries have to wake up if they want to be competitive in the internazional labour and academic market.<br />AlexAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-73879943407159328702011-06-03T16:23:06.172+02:002011-06-03T16:23:06.172+02:00I totally agree.AlexI totally agree.AlexAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-57328270652489908212011-04-25T13:05:46.468+02:002011-04-25T13:05:46.468+02:00As an overdue engineering student myself, I do agr...As an overdue engineering student myself, I do agree with most of which you have written in this post. While I have a great interest in what I have studied, I simply lack the aptitude to sustainably make use of my gained knowledge. I would say the same applied to most of the people that were in my program. Hefty IQ and problem solving tests should be required as an admission barrier to rigorous and prestigious university programs. Let's put the right people at the right place. Why is it so much of a taboo to insinuate that a person might have limited abilities and not, after all, reach the stars?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-38454933660615086622011-04-25T11:04:18.771+02:002011-04-25T11:04:18.771+02:00I recognise this too well. And this has probably b...I recognise this too well. And this has probably become worse during the last decades with the expansion of 'högskolor' in Sweden (and some 'högskolor' getting university status as well) with the political goal of creating a 'knowledge society' (and temporarily taking care of unemployment). The result is too many students, people who normally would do something else than studying philosophy or social sciences. The 'university' where I worked handled this by lowering the standards. Answers to essay questions could have been made with SMS. And B-level papers could use articles from Aftonbladet. Not as material for analysis, but as scientific sources. Also: verbal fights with students who think they have done well when the fact that they are even there is a worrying sign of what happens at lower levels in the educational system. 'Let them pass, let them pass, we don't have resources for this...', was the solution. It made me sick seeing how my own educational platform was corrupted, by myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165044694341896839.post-79122307826223567562011-04-03T13:10:04.176+02:002011-04-03T13:10:04.176+02:00I agree totally! We should also be careful with al...I agree totally! We should also be careful with allowing the students to chose non-challening tasks.jofohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17604187851925969239noreply@blogger.com