Course Handbook - Faculty of History - University of Cambridge

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linguistic shortcomings if appropriate. Linguistic shortcomings should be penalized, if their effect is to make the work not clearly intelligible. 7. SELECTION OF EXAMINERS All work is assessed by two independent examiners in the first instance. Examiners are nominated by the MPhil Sub-Committee at the time that titles of essays are approved and any necessary changes (e.g. due to refusals to serve) are made by the Academic Secretary subject to the approval of the Sub-Committee acting as Board of Examiners. Dissertation supervisors may not act as examiners of work they have supervised. 8. THE EXTERNAL EXAMINER The External Examiner normally examines a representative cross-section of the written work which is double marked, drawn from both options, and a cross-section of all dissertations within his/her field of expertise. He/she does so as the second, independent marker and not in a moderating role. The External Examiner also acts as a moderator elsewhere in the examination (including all marginal fails and fails), and may be called upon to act as a third independent reader where examiners have failed to agree. The External Examiner is also asked to write a report on the examination processes and procedures, as for Tripos. 9. MARKING PROCEDURES The two examiners must not confer before marking and there is no reconciliation of the two marks into a single overall mark. The marks are registered separately by the MPhil Sub-Committee sitting as Board of Examiners, and are used to determine pass or failure and reported separately to the Degree Committee. However, for the purposes of calculating the final percentages for Parts I and II all marks are averaged based on the weighting of each course element. On the receipt of any pair of examination marks with manifest divergence (e.g. by at least 10 points), the External Examiner is automatically asked by the Secretary of the MPhil Sub-Committee to read the piece of work and establish a third mark for it. The External Examiner normally provides a third independent mark in those cases where the examiners have failed to agree. However, where the External was one of the original examiners, the third mark will be provided by the Chairman. If the Chairman was also one of the original examiners or the supervisor of the candidate concerned, a third examiner will be appointed by the Chairman and Secretary, with the advice of the External. In the case of dissertations, a third examiner who is not the External may be appointed by the same process, if the External’s expertise in the particular area of the dissertation is not thought to be sufficient. In case a third examiner has to be appointed, this person should first reach an independent conclusion on the basis of the written work and only then look at the marks and comments of the two examiners before giving a final mark. The third marker will initially read the dissertation without reference to the two original examiners’ reports and provide an independent third mark, but may in his or her report comment on the relevant areas of disagreement between the two original reports and the judgements reached therein. Should they be members of the MPhil Sub-Committee sitting as Board of Examiners, neither the supervisor nor any examiner (except the External Examiner) of a given piece of work shall vote on any question arising about that piece of work. 10. MARGINAL FAIL MARKS IN PART I The mark of 59 is a marginal fail mark. All work receiving one or more marginal fail marks will be read by a third examiner (normally the External Examiner). The third reader will examine and award marks independently, without reference to the marks already awarded. If the permutation of marks results in a confirmed marginal fail in any one element of Part I, it is required that it be compensated for by two marks of at least 63 per cent in the dissertation. Any candidate who has a marginal fail in Part I will be notified through his/her supervisor that he/she is in the ‘danger of fail’ category and therefore needs to achieve this level in the dissertation. 21
11. FAILURE IN PART I In the case of one or two fail marks (58 or below) the External Examiner is automatically asked by the Secretary of the MPhil Sub-Committee to examine and enter a third mark for the essay. However, fail marks submitted by the External Examiner acting as a regular essay examiner will be moderated by a third marker appointed by the Secretary and confirmed by the MPhil Sub- Committee sitting as Board of Examiners. The external examiner or third reader will examine and award marks independently, without reference to the marks already awarded. Whenever possible, the third reader’s mark should give a clear recommendation of Pass or Fail. A third mark, which is a failing mark results in failure of this element, however a third mark which is a marginal fail (59) will result in a fail if the other mark is a fail, or a marginal fail if the other mark is a 59 or a passing mark. FAILURE IN COURSE ELEMENTS WORTH 10% OR MORE, OR MARGINAL FAILURE IN COURSE ELEMENTS WORTH 20% OR MORE CONSTITUTES FAILURE IN THE COURSE OVERALL. Candidates who fail at this stage will be notified as soon as possible so that they may withdraw from the course. The MPhil Sub-Committee sitting as Board of Examiners will make a recommendation to this effect to the Degree Committee of the Faculty of History. There are no vivas for Part I examinations even in the case of outright failure. The Board of Graduate Studies also allows the Degree Committee discretion in the case of certain Part I failures to allow a candidate to submit a dissertation for a Certificate of Postgraduate Study. The results of all possible permutations of problematic marks are listed below: Original Marks Third Reader’s Mark Outcome marginal fail marginal fail = marginal fail / viva pass fail = marginal fail / viva pass = pass marginal fail fail = fail marginal fail marginal fail = marginal fail viva pass = marginal fail / viva marginal fail fail = fail fail marginal fail = marginal fail pass = marginal fail fail fail = fail pass marginal fail = marginal fail pass = pass fail fail = fail fail marginal fail = fail pass = marginal fail 12. MARGINAL FAIL MARKS IN THE DISSERTATION (PART II) The mark of 59 is a marginal fail mark, which is possibly redeemable by evidence of more than borderline performance overall in the work submitted in Part I of the course. In giving such a mark examiners would indicate that the dissertation alone is not evidence enough to pass the course, but that it is sufficiently close that evidence of reasonably strong performance elsewhere in the course would warrant the award of the MPhil degree. In the case of one examiner awarding a Marginal Fail (59) and the other a Pass (60 or above), the dissertation will be marked by a third reader (normally the External Examiner). The third reader will examine and award marks independently, without reference to the marks already awarded. 22
Page 1 and 2: 0 Course Handbook MPHIL IN ECONOMIC
Page 3 and 4: INTRODUCTION Welcome to the MPhil i
Page 5 and 6: Senior Secretary, History Degree Co
Page 7 and 8: M. Foucault, Power/Knowledge (ed. C
Page 9 and 10: 2.2.4 MPhil Classes and Lectures Th
Page 11 and 12: methods. The student should also de
Page 13 and 14: Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and
Page 15 and 16: technological and financial innovat
Page 17 and 18: Bosworth, R. J. B. (1998), The Ital
Page 19 and 20: APPENDIX A: LIST OF ACADEMIC STAFF
Page 21 and 22: APPENDIX B: MPHIL IN ECONOMIC AND S
Page 23: 4.2 Research Methods (10%) Research
Page 27 and 28: moderated by a member of the MPhil
Page 29 and 30: APPENDIX C LENGTH NOTES ON THE APPR
Page 31 and 32: esearchers, you must acknowledge th
Page 33 and 34: commas. Longer foreign passages sho
Page 35 and 36: FOOTNOTES Notes should be kept brie
Page 37 and 38: Abbreviations Note the following co

Course Handbook - Faculty of History - University of Cambridge

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