'Old' vs 'New' Curriculum Requirements

The English Section 'Weighted Average Requirement' was modified in August 2005 to reflect the different requirements for students who are continuing with the 'old' curriculum and students who began in September 2005 with the new curriculum.

The Weighted Average Requirement described below will continue to apply to students who plan to complete the 'old' curriculum. Students who will begin the new curriculum will no longer have a 'weighted' requirement. Instead, there will be a simple averaging of the grades received in all Basic Studies graded courses (excluding those courses which are Pass/Fail) at the time when the student completes his/her Basic Studies. For 'new curriculum' students, an average grade of 3 (HT) for all of these courses — using the grading procedure of the new 1-5 system which began on 01 August 2005 — will be required to remain eligible to continue studying English Translation.

The former 'weighted average' requirement which will continue to apply to students pursuing the 'old' curriculum is described below. This uses the 'old system' of 1-3 grading and 'ov' credits, as had applied to all courses prior to August 2005.

The English Section 'Weighted-Average' Requirement

English Translation major and minor students are required to pass the following five Basic Studies courses with an overall weighted grade of 2.0 or higher in order to continue studies in English Translation (see Note 1). Major students are expected to complete all five courses during their first year of study. The courses are (the 'new' curriculum code is given first; the 'old' curriculum equivalent, where applicable, is given in brackets):

1. TRENPK1 [TRENPP1A] Grammar and Usage (2 ov)
2. * [TRENPP1C] Phonetics (1 ov) [see Note 2]
3. TRENPK4 [TRENPP3A] Speaking Practice I (1 ov)
4. TRENAK2 [TRENPP3B] Basic English Professional Writing (2 ov) [see Note 3]
5. TRENAK3 [TRENPP4D] Translation I, Finnish to English (2 ov) [see Note 3]

English Translation major and minor students would normally be expected to pass each course with a grade of 2.0 or higher. In this case the weighted average procedure would not be relevant.

However, if a student receives grades lower than 2.0 in one or more courses, a weighted overall average will be used to determine the student's eligibility to continue English Translation studies. The 'weighting' procedure multiplies the numerical grade for each course by the number of study weeks awarded for the course; the resulting points from each course are then added, providing a sum which is divided by 8 (the total number of study weeks for all five courses). The required overall weighted average must be 2.0 or higher.

The following two examples illustrate the procedure:

• Student A gets 2.0 in PP1A, 1+ in PP1C, 2.0 in PP3A, 2.0 in PP3B and 2.5 in PP4D. In this example Student A would get 4 points for PP1A, 1.25 points for PP1C, 2 points for PP3A, 4 points for PP3B and 5 points for PP4D. The resulting total of 16.25 points, divided by 8, yields a weighted average above 2.0.

• Student B gets 1.5 in PP1A, 2.5 in PP1C, 3- in PP3A, 1.5 in PP3B and 2.0 in PP4D. [Plus and minus marks, if given, will be converted to the next quarter-unit up or down; e.g. a "3-" would be 2.75 and a "1.5+" would be 1.75.] In this example Student B would get 3 points for PP1A [1.5 x 2 ov = 3], 2.5 points for PP1C [2.5 x 1 ov = 2.5], 2.75 points for PP3A [2.75 x 1 ov = 2.75] 3.0 points for PP3B [1.5 x 2 ov = 3.0] and 4 points for PP4D [2.0 x 2 ov = 4]. The resulting total of 15.25 points would then be divided by the 8 study weeks of all five courses [15.25 ÷ 8 ov = 1.90]. This would not meet the required weighted average of 2.0.

Calculation of the weighted average (and consideration of other factors affecting student eligibility) will be done by the English Section Assistant in consultation with the section teaching staff.

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Note 1

NB: University degree requirements oblige students to complete all Basic-level courses before advancing to Subject-level studies. This obligation applies to both the 'old' and 'new' curricula.

In the 'old curriculum' weighted-average requirement, the five courses on which the weighted average will be calculated were chosen as a representative subsection of all English Section Basic-level courses; they do not represent the 'only' courses English Translation students must complete before advancing to Subject and Advanced studies.

Note 2

The former PP1C Phonetics course no longer exists in the new curriculum, having been subsumed into TRENPK4 Phonetics and Speaking Practice. Any 'old curriculum' student who has not taken PP1C should see Roger Luke in order to resolve the situation.

Note 3

The former PP3B Basic English Writing and PP4D Translation I, Finnish to English, courses have been moved to Subject-level in the new curriculum. However, course requirements and grading both match those of the old curriculum. Students who lack one or both of these courses in the old curriculum should simply take the new-curriculum equivalents (TRENAK2 and TRENAK3, respectively).