"In remote or face-to-face".
For weeks, students have been living to the rhythm of these two words.
And the partial session started at the beginning of the month does not escape this very variable geometry.
Depending on the university, students are allowed or not to come and compose physically.
At the University of Rennes-1, discussions are underway around a mention certifying the presence of undergraduate students during their exams.
At the risk of discrediting the diplomas of those who are forced "at a distance", the opponents of this idea are alarmed.
It all started with a message posted on January 11 on Facebook by the Fédération Étudiante Rennaise InterAssociative.
He indicated that “the DFVU (Department of training and university life) was going to set up a mention
of the face-to-face examination
which will be indicated on the transcripts.
[…] It offers Rennes students an advantage by enhancing their face-to-face exams ”.
⚠️EDIT: this is not a FERIA proposal.
We are only information relay l'informationEDIT 2: for ...
Posted by FERIA - Fédération Étudiante Rennaise InterAssociative on Monday, January 11, 2021
The establishment ensures that the information was communicated completely "prematurely", while nothing "has been decided or investigated".
But the project was indeed the subject of discussions on Thursday, January 14, within the framework of the Commission for training and university life (CFVU), an advisory and decision-making body, in particular responsible for educational policy, as well as questions relating to training and the living and study conditions of learners.
A certificate reserved for third year students
The idea: to create a sort of certificate, independent of the diploma or the transcript of records, which would stipulate that the exam was indeed taken in person.
“It will be a supplement that the student can choose to use or not.
We also leave the choice to the various components of the university to set it up or not, ”says Erwan Hallot, vice-president of the CFVU at the University of Rennes-1.
"The general opinion is rather favorable", he assures.
Reserved for students in license 3, this certificate would, according to Erwan Hallot, support applications for a master's degree in other universities.
“There is an anxiety among the students that was expressed, and I believe that this is one way of responding to it.
It is a question of not penalizing students who had lower marks ”, underlines the establishment, which noted discrepancies in marks with the exams taken in distance.
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“There are teams that are much more advanced in educational engineering.
With tests just as complicated as in face-to-face and others which, in an emergency, reproduced from a distance what they were doing at a distance;
it's much easier from a distance in this case, ”continues Erwan Hallot.
"This mention, it limits the damage"
In the ranks of the students of the faculty of Rennes, positive opinions are numerous, wants to believe the direction.
Paul is one of the convinced.
“This mention limits the damage.
Because face-to-face is always more difficult, between the stress of the exam and the stress of catching the virus, ”confides the young man, who is enrolled in a Master 1 in political science.
But after a more than trying year, marked by unease and student distress, the announcement of such a project has had the effect of a hammer blow for many students from other faculties.
Because since the start of the exams, the choice of participating in a face-to-face or distance examination does not depend on them, but on the management of their establishment.
Trade-offs often synonymous with cacophony and anguish for students.
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The universities follow the recommendations of the ministry, which asks to maintain face-to-face exams "whenever possible", respecting a strict health protocol.
Fear of downgrading files
"This announcement calls into question the equality of diplomas in Higher Education and Research, after very anxiety-provoking exam sessions", denounces in a press release the Federation of Student Associations of Haute Bretagne (Fahb).
“The initial desire to promote certain students would, on the contrary, devalue the files of those who have taken their exams at a distance and wishing to access further studies,” insists the organization.
“For me,” retorts Paul, “the break in equality is in the fact that the universities themselves choose to organize face-to-face and remote.
It would have been necessary to harmonize ”.
The idea would in any case find its way into other faculties.
"We already have components of the university that have shown interest, especially in law, and other institutions seem to have this type of discussion," says Erwan Hallot.
Contacted, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation had not answered our questions on Wednesday.
For his part, Jean-Christophe Saint-Pau, president of the conference of deans of the faculties of law and political science confirms having heard of this project "very strange, even fanciful", in his own words.
The measure, which he does not consider coherent from a legal or educational point of view, would not win the approval of his peers.
“I am very hostile to it and no dean of law schools has informed me of its interest.
It is even rather the opposite, ”he assures us.
Adapted tests
"The assumption that remote exams would be of lesser value can be debated," said Jean-Christophe Saint-Pau.
The dean of the faculty of law of Bordeaux does not note a sharp rise in the averages of his students, sign of a more lenient rating, or easier exams.
"Then, the choice of the modalities of the remote exams could allow some universities to guarantee quality tests", he continues.
And to list all the precautions taken for these remote exams in his University of Bordeaux: oral by videoconference with identity verification and question-answer without preparation, MCQ with questions in random order for each student from a bank questions (30 questions in 30 minutes) and finally a free preparation assignment in the allotted time.
“This certainly gives the student the opportunity to have access to all documents, but also to waste time,” underlines the dean, who recalls that the copies are checked by anti-plagiarism software.
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It is also difficult, according to Jean-Christophe Saint-Pau, to know whether the organization of face-to-face exams has guaranteed students equal access, effective supervision or even duplication of rooms, as required by the protocol.
Not yet decided, the debate will return to the table of the University of Rennes-1 on the occasion of the next Committee on Training and University Life (CFVU), scheduled for March, and perhaps before that on that of other establishments.
