ECR Thread

DaveIOW

Why was the ECR thread in the intermediate forum removed?

sarahwilson

Yes why was it removed?

agatha

What's the point in having a forum if you cant express your opinion :mellow:...

James Cristiano

ECR Thread

Dear AAT Forum users,

Please refer to the following link:

http://forums.aat.org.uk/announcement.php?f=78

The Thread in question was reported to us by another forum user as it contravened the above AAT announcement.

Kind Regards,
James, AAT Web Team

h_kan

James, I have read the link you have posted, however as many others have said, once people realised nothing relating to exam specifics was posted till 8.

In addition to that, the thread was deleted this morning, so if anybody was going to gain any advantage then they would have long done so.

What is there to gain in now deleting the thread, after the horse has bolted so to speak?

That thread not only contained useful discussions on approaches to questions, but it also allowed members to voice their opinions on the exams short comings and faults, as is their right to do so.

This cannot be considered a forum for students if negative opinion is deleted and then explained with flawed reasoning.

DaveIOW

James Cristiano wrote: »

Dear AAT Forum users,
:001_tongue:
But it was removed 13 hours after 8.00pm...or am i missing something?

mojo

ECR Thread

I am appalled that our opinions have been deleted!

Yesterday evening i read all of the previous posts before posting my own, not once was there any hint of the content of the ECR paper before 8pm, as requested by the AAT.

Why have a forum for us students if you're going to delete our opinions? You should be able to take the good with the bad! If any of the posts were offensive in any way i could understand. On this occasion i believe all posts were deleted because the AAT has been criticised by all.

Shame on you AAT!!! I look forward to reading your response very soon!!!!!

akjones

I believe the removal of the ECR thread a total farce. People were commenting how disgusted they were at a paper that was not fair. Areas that were not in any of the course books were in the exam and some questions were vague, all of which I will submit on the feedback form.

I looked at all postings prior to the 8pm deadline and not one mentioned actual content of the exam, only how difficult it was. Once it was pointed out re: 8pm deadline any mention of the exam stopped.

SHAME ON YOU AAT, you need to analyse all comments and re-show all the comments that did not breach any rules (all of them).

I will be looking for a reply from AAT on my comments. I have always respected the AAT but if they do not return these comments ,where students are clearly unhappy with the clarity of the exam, then I have no faith in them. It cannot be one rule for one and one for another. These comments should stand, not be hidden away.
:crying:

definite.studies

I admit to reporting a post (between 5 and 6 I think) in this thread yesterday which had started to discuss figures in the ECR paper. The control button and screen that come up are labelled Report Post and pass the post number not the thread number, so I did not expect the whole thread to be deleted. There were also some angry comments about the examiner who was named, but I did not report that post.

It seems to have been handled rather clumsily by the web team, perhaps because they do not have the knowledge to form a judgement on the content of the posts. The amount of bad feeling that has been generated makes me think that forum moderation should be more of a student relations function than an IT job. This is always going to be a problem in exam weeks, when large numbers of students will have just had a bad exam experience.

To have removed the thread the following day after any damage to the exam integrity was already done seems to serve no purpose, other than to destroy the evidence or perhaps to act as a punishment for bad behaviour.

At this point in time it should be possible for someone knowledgeable in the AAT who cares about student relations to edit the original thread, removing any objectionable material, and then to restore most of the thread to the forum.

The fundamental problem seems to me that the AAT's internal organisation has yet to catch up with the developments in IT and reasonable expectations of their students.

akjones

I agree if information was posted detailing exam questions or naming the examiner it should be removed but as other people have said return the rest of the thread to ensure AAT are seem to be a credible organisation.

To avoid this in the future why do AAT not flash a warning on the forum alerting new members to the very important rule of not discussing the papers of the day until 8PM. Surely in this I.T. world this would not be difficult, rather than expecting the member to have read the small print, easily missed, I am sure.

thoms04

Please provide the posts that "Discussed Figures" before 8pm because from what i remember there weren't any!

Everyone waited untill the required time, as stressed at the beginning of the thread.

Its a total cover up if you ask me.

definite.studies

Figures definitely were posted, but I expect that information had been removed by the originator by the time you read the thread, as he realised his mistake and corrected it. A report having been made, the web team probably decided to delete everything just as part of a procedure they had been told to follow. From the comments I read, it was obvious that many people had not read the warning about not discussing details before 8pm. Not surprising really, as it was not particulary prominent.

The main problem, as I see it is that the moderation job seems to have been given to IT staff who are not really knowledgeable enough to perform it with any judgement or discrimination.

thoms04

Well i was constantly refreshing the thread from the start untill the early hours of today and don't recall seeing any figures, until after 8.

I really don't believe this to be the case because otherwise the thread would have been removed ASAP and not hours later.

Anyhow its done now ..... perhaps we need an un-official AAT forum so that members can express their views freely.

CJC

definite.studies wrote: »

The main problem, as I see it is that the moderation job seems to have been given to IT staff who are not really knowledgeable enough to perform it with any judgement or discrimination.

I totally agree. Running a successful forum is more than just a matter of ensuring that the tech side of things is working. The admin staff should realise that they represent the AAT to forum users and thus have a public relations function and form part of the corporate image of the organisation.

With no explanation an entire thread is pulled and people are left confused and angry. Compare this reaction with how dozens of spam postings were allowed to remain on the site for weeks, that the incorrect time was displayed here for several days and that there has been a long term issue with loging-in. Now consider the impression that gives of how much the AAT values its students and how competent it is as an organisation.

My advice to the AAT is that if you're going to have a forum, hire people who can run it professionally and competently. The forum forms part of your marketing to current and prospective students, not to mention employers and you should be getting this right. The worst thing is is that doing it properly is not complicated, just takes a little care, attention to detail and knowing your job, not unlike accountancy really.

sarahwilson

CJC wrote: »

I totally agree. Running a successful forum is more than just a matter of ensuring that the tech side of things is working. The admin staff should realise that they represent the AAT to forum users and thus have a public relations function and form part of the corporate image of the organisation.

With no explanation an entire thread is pulled and people are left confused and angry. Compare this reaction with how dozens of spam postings were allowed to remain on the site for weeks, that the incorrect time was displayed here for several days and that there has been a long term issue with loging-in. Now consider the impression that gives of how much the AAT values its students and how competent it is as an organisation.

My advice to the AAT is that if you're going to have a forum, hire people who can run it professionally and competently. The forum forms part of your marketing to current and prospective students, not to mention employers and you should be getting this right. The worst thing is is that doing it properly is not complicated, just takes a little care, attention to detail and knowing your job, not unlike accountancy really.[/QUOTE

I totally second that!!

definite.studies

Institutional Deafness

It seems that the AAT suffers from "Institutional deafness", which is behaviour by an organisation which would be described as deafness in an individual. However, the individuals involved have little or no awareness of the problem which is caused by their collective actions.

Rather like a hive of bees, together they can perform a useful function and show signs of purposeful activity, but there is no guiding intelligence and talking to the hive is unlikely to produce a sensible response.

Northernangel

I was actually appalled to come on here, well before the 8pm deadline and see students posting away. Even if actual questions were not mentioned can you imagine how another person, about to sit the exam might feel?

CJC

No one is forcing them to read the thread. The rules are there to stop people sitting the exam later gaining an unfair advantage through specific reference to questions. General discussion of the exams has been permitted as long as I've been here which is a fair few years now.

Northernangel

Soooo, if you were due to sit the exam or had a friend who was and came in here you wouldn't read the thread or pass on the info?

CJC

Not if I felt that me or my friend would be adversely affected by so doing.

While I dare say that a case could be made for no discussion at all until after a certain time, the rule as it stands states that "you should not discuss the content of papers in detail". It's been this way for at least four years and this is the first year there's been any problems.