Lise Butler

I find this discourse perplexing because the solution seems straigthforward: make university marks almost entirely dependent on lengthy in-person exams that combine handwritten essays with oral questioning. Why is this even a conversation? Are there implementation barriers or something?

The real obstacles are regulatory. First, exams have become much more complex and expensive to administer. The proliferation of 'alternative arrangements' means you need many more rooms/invigilators than you did even 15 years ago. There are real coordination problems.

Everyone wants to be an intellectual historian, but nobody wants to read primary texts.