Education in corona times: ‘Everyone is overworked’
How does the UvA continue to provide education now lectures are cancelled? What will happen to exams? Folia asks a professor and student about the current situation.
Eric Schliesser
Professor of Political Science
What did you do today?
‘I am at home with my son. My wife works at the hospital and we alternate a bit. I’m thinking about what to do with the exam of the course I teach, normally scheduled for Tuesday. We don’t want students to fall behind schedule, but we lack the money, time and technical facilities to hold exams that we can guarantee free from fraud and that we can mark in a manageable way. Political Science holds lectures for four-hundred students, and the examiners aren’t sufficiently trained to review essays. We have to be inventive, but sometimes that’s not possible. The Examinations Board and I have decided to adjust the weighting of different questions so it would be a take-home exam. But I’m not yet sure if this will be possible.’
Do you miss the UvA?
‘Right now, no. But I miss having support even more than usual. A number of examiners are not available or have limited availability due to family circumstances or because they have no place to work. Contact with the Examination Board, technical support and education coordinator is constructive, but everyone is overworked.’
Julius Zuijdendorp
student Social Geography & Planology
What did you do today?
‘I went to the beach with a friend. The trains were quite empty although there were lots of people on the beach. I made sure to keep the 1.5 meters distance.’
What about your upcoming exams?
‘I don’t know anything about them. The university stated it’s doing its best. I wait in peace.’
Do you miss the UvA?
‘Yes. My social life is more or less stalled… I miss it very much.’
Check the latest developments on www.uva.nl/corona. Read our Dutch stories on the corona crises here.
