news

How an alogrithm can unfairly dash hopes of young – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Robert Minton-Taylor, Visiting Fellow, Leeds Business School, Leeds Beckett University.

Wednesday, 19th August 2020, 4:33 pm

People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results.People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results.
People take part in a protest outside the Department for Education, London, in response to the downgrading of A-level results.

ALGORITHMS can be an ass. I empathise with those headteachers who have just seen some of their most aspiring and hardworking students’ hopes dashed because of the crass handling of A-level results.

It must be even more galling for heads of schools in some of the more deprived inner city areas.

Sign up to our daily newsletter

The i newsletter cut through the noise

Some years ago, I remember marking a university student’s piece of work against an algorithm that I had devised for a course work project.

Students have been taking part in peaceful protests over the A-Level results controversy.Students have been taking part in peaceful protests over the A-Level results controversy.
Students have been taking part in peaceful protests over the A-Level results controversy.

According to my algorithm, this particular student’s work was a fail. But having slept on the mark I eventually awarded the student a distinction. On reflection the work, judged by industry standards, was simply brilliant.

It was a lesson to me that algorithms don’t always give an accurate reflection of a student’s progress through university, nor do they capture the dedication and the hard work students put into their studies and the progress they make.

The student went on to graduate with a first class honours degree, won the best newcomer of the year – judged by a chartered professional body – and set up a leading award-winning consultancy which now employs 30 people.

Editor’s note: first and foremost – and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity – I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists – almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses – who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets – our newsagents need you, too – can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Related posts

Coronavirus pain drives Big Oil’s dash for record debt – ET EnergyWorld

Samantha Doyle

Family seeks damages after veteran’s suicide inside VA mental health unit

Samantha Doyle

Raising the Security Bar? Dash Claims a 51% Attack Is Not Enough

Samantha Doyle

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More