h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So my pushing clouds worked?

*looks out window*

...but not quite well enough. We've still got plenty No dikes threatened like in N England as far as I know, but dear me, we've had rain.

Just N of Copenhagen they got 3.6 mm (roughly 1/7") in ONE minute and the rest of that inch in the next 20 minutes. That's what I call rainfall in these parts.

*off to wrestle the company VPN connection again...

I do a lot of interactive stuff with the black death, so that's not my issue...in fact, I'm good as gold once we get to the crusades, etc. My problem is really, how does one spice up the rise of agriculture, and the advent of writing? I think it's cool, and of course it's important, but really, how does one convey that to a bunch of undergrads?!

The usual UK degree classification scheme is that the very very best candidates get a first class honours degree. The next best get a second class honours degree, which is usually split into upper and second divisions (a 2:1 or a 2:2 respectively). Then there are those who get a third further down the scale. Some people might get a pass or ordinary rather than honours degree but this is rare and you really have to have done very little to no work for that.
Me I got a 2:1 what seems like a long long time ago now (only 12 years ago really).

Spot on Phil and just beat me to it. Sorry it's Wiki but good link

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Degree_Classifications

FET federal estate/ or federal exise tax.

thought a fet was also a small sliver of metle.

how does one spice up the rise of agriculture, and the advent of writing? could mime the lesson, put the lesson plan in ogham on the blackboard

Huh. I only got a Pass degree.

What annoyed me most was that there was no chance to resit once you've got to finals stage.

[RNick, CET, CD, MCpl (Ret'd) - whose only degrees are body temperature]

Thanks for the explanation - also the link. Still I have difficulty in comparing it to the Danish educational system - the value of the degree/grade and what you should be able to to obtain it.

When I was on the school board and had co-responsibillity for hiring teachers, none of us hardly ever looked at the degree/number. Having passed the subject, proof of that they knew something about German, history, physics, yes, but the personality in the letter applying for the job, the thoughts they had for how to teach, their recommandations from former workplaces and their passions for certain subjects - and then of course how they came through at the interview - had so much more weight.

I don't understand the percentage bit. 80 % of what? Right answers? But often several different answers could be right. Different approaches could be right. There is for instance no single answer to how to write a news story on a fire.

I our school system we don't get papers with questions which have 'set' answers, but get an assignment to solve in an individual way - sometimes alone, sometimes in a group - and with means you choose yourself - be it powerpoint, drama, an essay, a leaflet, statistics, a film or a speach or combinations of 'media'- to mention a few - depending on the subject of course. Also the media can be limited to one - a written essay for instance. (But it is much more fun and conveys the message better to do it as radio, film or drama).

To a very large degree I'd agree with tartaronne - with the exception topics such as maths, obviously there are quite set answers. Even Danes haven't got round to interpret that liberally yet

It seems that the Danish school system, though it has been under some criticism for being lax on "absolute" knowledge, has something going for it. At least one of its core features, that of besides factual knowledge also giving school kids creative & social skills, is in quite fine harmony with the recent US study "The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce":

"Strong skills in English, mathematics, technology, and science, as well as literature, history, and the arts will be essential for many; beyond this, candidates will have to be comfortable with ideas and abstractions, good at both analysis and synthesis, creative and innovative, self-disciplined and well organized, able to learn very quickly and work well as a member of a team and have the flexibility to adapt quickly to frequent changes in the labor market as the shifts in the economy become ever faster and more dramatic."
(http://www.skillscommission.org/executive.htm; I got the link from http://tinyurl.com/yqb8tv - in Danish, sorry)

That some Danish school kids would dislike the study's mentioning of "having to work hard" is another story But also that is rather important - I think I've mentioned before Tom Peters' (I think it was) credo that while it used to be "eat up, kids in Africa are starving", today it's more like "do your homework, kids in India are reaching for your job"...

(for those interested: Winner of World's Best Presentation Contest: http://www.slideshare.net/jbrenman/shift-happens-33834 talks a lot about changes and besides being good use of PowerPoint, it's interesting to say the least)

*looks bewildered around* Me, going on a bit?

Morning all.

tartaronne, I was making fun of myself for my typo. As far as I know, there is no such word as fet in common usage.

It is raining here again today also. We had one extremely heavy rainfall yesterday....about an inch in half an hour. Right now it is light but steady.

Well done, Rosemary.

Apologies if I've already mentioned it, but I have news on a related subject. I've received my results from the first year of part-time postgrad library school and have passed all modules with either level 5 (commendable) or 6 (excellent), even the Information Retrieval one where I had to do a database design, and thought I was doing it completely wrong. Hurrah!

*brings out yet more *

The heavens opened here ten minutes before I was due to go to the school. 'wet play', oh no! Fortunately, just as the lunch bell went it stopped and we were able to the children outside, hurrah!


Hyp, I thought 'fet' was a regional term

>>tartaronne, I was making fun of myself for my typo.<<

That's what I thought at first, but then everybody told about different places for their 'fet', and Titania beat me to asking .

Regional term, , of course .

*Nudges GDZ and reminds him of inqiries (sp?) about rings*

Maybe it was a rubber ring , his piles might be playing up

I suppose it could be regional. I've heard people pronounce "fit" as "fet". As in, "Bobby Jo threw a fet when the far truck got marred in the mud." Or, "Ole Cooter looks lak he has a cob fet crostwise." Or, "Them thar drawers don't fet since they was warshed."

And, of course, there is Boba Fet(t).

Tartaronne: "I don't understand the percentage bit. 80% of what? Right answers? But often several different answers could be right. Different approaches could be right. There is for instance no single answer to how to write a news story on a fire."

True. What happens is that individual modules/exams/assignments/whatevers will be given a percentage based on how good they are. A weighted average is taken which is then translated into I, IIi, IIii or III.

Congrats David. I'm a bit worried that designing a database wrongly is considered "commendable" though.

Well done, David! Your boredom has been rewarded.