Marking scale from A to F
The study process, that is, knowledge of and work with assigned reading, is the basis of the evaluation. In general, the following three criteria will be decisive.
Knowledge
Understanding and analytical ability
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability
Below these three criteria are related to the main components of the study program (perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory, how gender perspectives relate to general policies on work and family life and to particular gender equality measures, the status of gender equality in different fields, the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in the different Nordic countries) at each of the six levels of the marking scale.
The weighting of every separate criterion will depend of the type of task the student is faced with. It is the overall evaluation which decides the mark given, in that each separate criterion does not have to have the same mark; for example, not all marks have to be A to achieve a final A. Discretional judgement is to be exercised across the board.
A – excellent
Best mark. The student gives an outstanding presentation which is clearly superior. Also, the student shows a high degree of independent reasoning.
Knowledge:
• The student can, in a convincing way, interpret the assigned texts and relate them to the theoretical positions and basic problem areas relating to perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory, and how these relate to general policies and to particular gender equality measures,
• The student shows a very high level of empirical knowledge of the status of gender equality in fields such as everyday life, education, working life, politics and ethnic relations and can relate this knowledge in a detailed manner to the assigned reading.
• The student shows exceptional insight into the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in the different Nordic countries.
Understanding and analytical ability:
• The student has acquired a workable conceptual framework and shows outstanding ability in applying it in order to understand and analyse perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory within the framework of the assigned course readings.
• The student shows especially good insight into how perspectives of gender and gender equality issues are reflected in the subject area.
• The student has a superior grasp of and ability independently to see, analyse and problematise gender in texts, images, theories and methods in a way that can lead to surprising insights.
• The student has an especially good overview of and understanding of different feminist strategies for change.
• The student is excellent when it comes to critical reflection on different concepts, theories and positions in the course readings.
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability:
• The student shows a remarkable ability to formulate her/his knowledge and analytical insights in a precise and stringent manner.
• The student has a good understanding of the significance of the tasks she/he faces and submits a product that is relevant in relation to the course of study as well as the tasks in question.
• References and information about sources are presented in correct academic style.
B - very good
The second best mark. The student submits a very good presentation which is well above the average. This student also shows ability to think independently.
Knowledge:
• The student is able to give a comprehensive account of her/his course literature, and is able to relate the texts to theoretical positions and basic problem areas concerning perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory and how these relate to general policies on work and family life as well as to particular gender equality measures.
• The student demonstrates a considerable and sound empirical grasp of knowledge relevant to the status of gender equality in fields such as everyday life, education, working life, politics and ethnic relations and is able to relate this knowledge competently and persuasively to the course readings.
• The student shows considerable insight into the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in the different Nordic countries.
Understanding and analytical ability:
• The student has acquired a considerable amount of the terminology of the field and puts this knowledge to good use when it comes to understanding and discussing perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory in the context of the theoretical and empirical contents of the course.
• The student shows very good insight into how perspectives of gender and gender equality issues are reflected in the subject area and in relevant contemporary debates.
• The student demonstrates considerable insight into how gender perspectives relate to general policies on work and family life and to particular gender equality measures and she/he also shows an indubitable ability to independent reading and argumentation related to these problem areas in the course readings.
• The student has a very thorough overview of and understanding of different feminist strategies for change.
• The student very good when it comes to critical reflection on different concepts, theories and positions in the course readings.
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability:
• The student demonstrates a very well developed ability to reason and avoids superficial use of subject jargon.
• The student shows understanding of the significance of the tasks she/he is faced with, and submits a product that is relevant in relation to the course of study and the task presented.
• References and source identification are on the whole worked out in accordance with standard academic practice.
C – good
An average mark. The student’s performance is average and as such satisfactory on most counts.
Knowledge:
• The student has acquired the most essential contents of the course readings, and can, by and large, relate this to the theoretical positions and basic problem areas such as perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory, and how these relate to general policies on work and family life as well as to particular gender equality measures. There are no big “holes” in her/his knowledge, but the student lacks some of the deep and broad understanding of the topic that was evident in those with higher marks.
• The student has good empirical knowledge of the status of gender equality in fields such as everyday life, education, working life, politics and ethnic relations and is able to relate this to the course contents.
• The student can identify and explain the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in the different Nordic countries.
Understanding and analytical ability:
• The student demonstrates sufficient knowledge of the terminology of the field and demonstrates ability to use this knowledge when it comes to understanding and discussing perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory in the context of the theoretical and empirical contents of the course.
• The student demonstrates insight into how perspectives of gender and gender equality issues are reflected in the subject area and in relevant contemporary debates.
• The student demonstrates a working knowledge of how gender perspectives relate to general policies on work and family life and to particular gender equality measures and a certain ability to independent reading and argumentation related to these problem areas in the course readings.
• The student has an overview of and a good understanding of different feminist strategies for change.
• The student shows ability to critically reflect on different concepts, theories and positions that are presented in the course readings, but may exhibit some uncertainty when it comes to precise use of terminology and ability to use her/his knowledge in an analytical context.
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability:
• The student communicates well, but her/his performance may be uneven when it comes to coherence and show vague or imprecise use of concepts.
• The student responds well to assignments, but may show a tendency to lead the discussion towards subject areas where she/he feels more secure and thus make the response less relevant in relation to the task at hand and the contents of the course.
• The student has understood the principles behind correct use of references and source materials, but may make the occasional error.
D – partially satisfactory
A below-average mark. The student’s performance is below average, with some significant shortcomings.
Knowledge:
• The student can, in a partial way, explain the course readings, but without the necessary overview. She/he is uncertain when it comes to relating the reading matter to different theoretical positions and basic problem areas such as perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory, and how these relate to general policies on work and family life as well as to particular gender equality measures.
• The student shows some empirical knowledge of the status of gender equality in fields such as everyday life, education, working life, politics and ethnic relations and can to some degree relate this knowledge to the course contents.
• The student can identify and explain the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in different Nordic countries.
Understanding and analytical ability:
• The student has not acquired the necessary knowledge of subject terminology, but can make reasonably good use of some relevant concepts necessary for understanding and discussing perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory within the theoretical and empirical contents of the course.
• The student shows limited insight into how perspectives of gender and gender equality issues are reflected in the subject area and in relevant contemporary debates.
• The student shows a reasonably good understanding of how gender perspectives relate to general policies on work and family life and to particular gender equality measures, but does not show sufficient ability in independent reading and argumentation related to these problem areas in the course readings.
• The student has a reasonably good overview and understanding of different feminist strategies for change.
• The student has a limited ability for critical reflection on various concepts, theories and positions that are taken up in the course readings. The paper gives more indication of rote learning and less of discussion.
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability:
• The student reasons quite well, but the submitted papers can seem un-thought through, lack inner consistency or use wrong terminology.
• The student responds to assigned tasks but lacks the ability to distinguish between what is important and what is unimportant or she/he may avoid giving precise answers to questions asked.
• References, sources and quotations are listed but contain serious errors and other flaws.
E – sufficient
Lowest passing mark. The student’s performance is sufficient for the minimum requirements, but no more.
Knowledge:
• The student shows some knowledge of the course readings, but lacks an overview and demonstrates only a superficial familiarity with the theoretical positions and basic problem areas such as perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory, and how these relate to general policies on work and family life as well as to particular gender equality measures.
• The student has some empirical knowledge of the status of gender equality in fields such as everyday life, education, working life, politics and ethnic relations, but shows little ability in relating this to the contents of the course.
• The student’s ability to account for part of the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in the different Nordic countries is poor.
Understanding and analytical ability:
• The student has acquired a minimum of the necessary knowledge about the subject terminology, but has difficulties when she/he is to use relevant concepts to gain understanding of or discussing perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory within the theoretical and empirical framework of the course. Concepts and theories are, in part, wrongly presented.
• The student shows a bare minimum of insight into how perspectives of gender and gender equality issues are reflected in the subject area and in relevant contemporary debates.
• The student shows some understanding of how gender perspectives relate to general policies on work and family life and to particular gender equality measures, but shows very little ability in independent reading and argumentation related to these problem areas in the course readings.
• The student demonstrates some understanding of feminist strategies for change.
• The student is only to a minimal degree able to reflect on different concepts, theories and positions that are discussed in the course readings. The response bears signs of rote learning and there is no relevant discussion of problem areas.
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability:
• The student’s response is understandable, but has sequences of muddled and/or confused reasoning with little internal consistency.
• The student’s response is only of minimal relevance to the task set.
• References and source identification are unclear or inadequate. Texts are quoted without adequate reference. The bibliography has serious shortcomings or is missing entirely.
F – fail
The student submits a paper that does not come up to minimum requirements.
Knowledge:
• The student lacks completely basic knowledge of the course readings. Important texts have not been read or have left little trace of understanding of the different theoretical positions and basic problem areas such as perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory, and how these relate to general policies on work and family life as well as to particular gender equality issues.
• The student has some empirical knowledge of the status of gender equality in fields such as everyday life, education, working life, politics and ethnic relations, but is hardly able to relate it to the contents of the course.
• The student is unable to explain adequately the legislation and state apparatus related to gender equality in the different Nordic countries.
Understanding and analytical ability:
• The student has not demonstrated necessary knowledge of subject terminology and is unable to make use of relevant concepts when discussing perspectives on gender in Nordic feminist theory within the theoretical and empirical framework of the course. Concepts and theories are partly erroneously rendered.
• The student shows little insight into how perspectives of gender and gender equality issues can be reflected in the subject area and in relevant contemporary debates.
• The student shows little understanding of how gender perspectives relate to general policies in work and family life and to particular gender equality measures and shows no independent ability when it comes to reading and argumentation in relation to the main problem areas of the course readings.
• The student demonstrates very little understanding of feminist strategies for change.
• The student shows no ability when it comes to critical reflection about different concepts, theories and positions which can be found in the course readings.
Professional communicative ability, relevance and reliability:
• The student’s response is often completely incomprehensible or confusing.
• The student’s answer can show a complete lack of relevance in relation to the task presented.
• References and source identification are worthless or missing entirely.