Examinations

Examinations 2017/18

Starting from this academic year College will publish data for all students admitted to Volta by EDiSU who enrolled in a University course. This approach will make the College data fully compatible with the model that College adopted for the University-wide study completed and presented in July 2017. Accordingly the stats include drop out data, a key feature of the anlaysis carried out by Volta on the impact of College education on academic careers.  The number of credits secured by 10th August 2018 by all 128 undergraduates who studied in College for the academic year 2017/18 or parts of it is shown in the Fig Examination Results (Credits) 2017. The Fig shows data for individual students and the average per year.

When analysed vis a vis the requirements set by EDiSU for confirmation of College placements the number of students who secured EDiSU requirements was 20/28 for year 1 students, 32/35 for year 2, 18/21 for year 3, 25/28 for year 4, 5/6 for year 5 and 9/10 for year 6. The overall percentage of compliance with EDiSU rules is 85% and does not take into account students who are below the credit threshold as a result of the fact that they have been studying abroad as Erasmus students but have not had their credits converted and uploaded and students who have gained credits from traineeships to be uploaded in September. The average marks secured by each student is shown in the Fig Examination Results (Marks) 2017. For students enrolled in year 2 or higher years the figure shown represents the average across all course years and not just for 2017/17.  57 students out of 128 undergraduates (44.5%) have marks of  27 out of 30 or higher.

Examinations 2016/17

Collegio Volta reports a further increase in the percentage of students securing the number of credits required by EDiSU for confirmation of College placements above the results of previous years. The College also presented in a public meeting held at Collegio Ghislieri on the 7th of July 2017, the results of a University wide study on the impact of the Colleges of the University of Pavia on academic careers. The results of the study are wide-ranging and demonstrate that students living and working in Colleges experience a lower rate of drop out at the end of their first year of study and secure, on average, a higher number of credits througout the year compared to students living outside College.  The study also established the average, actual duration of undergraduate and MSc courses at Pavia and showed that only the group of Colleges known as 'Collegi di merito' (Borromeo, Ghislieri, Nuovo and S Caterina) were able to ensure that their students graduates in the expected time window or close enough.

Examinations 2015/16

The College is pleased to report a further increase of the percentage of students who have secured the number of credits required by the Volta governing body (EDiSU) for confirmation of their College placement abve the improvements already achieved in 2013/14 over the 2012/13 benchmark.  The College further decided to undertake a general study, in collaboration with the University office for Statistics, on the impact of the College on the academic careers of undegraduate and MSc students enrolled at the University of Pavia. It is envisaged that the results of such study will be available in the summer of 2016.

Examinations 2014-15

The examination results of College undergraduate and MSc students has continued to improve in the academic year 2014/15 over the the previous two years (2012/13 and 2013/14). A summary of the data is shown in the Fig Examination Results 2014/15. The College had introduced small group, informal teaching (supervisions) on a pilot basis in the academic year 2013/14 and in 2014/15 teaching has extended to four Courses (Calculus, Physics, General Chemistry and Biochimestry for the Science).

As the admission procedure has not changed (students are admitted by EDiSU not on academic merit but on financial grounds), the improved performance of College students clearlys reflect both a commitment by students to perform well and the growing impact of College teaching in several key subjects that often cause problems and delays. The College is determined, therefore in further expanding internal teaching and championing the value of College-base teaching in other EDiSU Colleges.

Examinations 2013/14

The number of College undergraduate and MSc sudents achieving - or failing to achieve - the EDiSU threshold for confirmation of College placements is shown in the Fig Examination Results 2013.  percentage of MSc students achieving EdISU requirements was stable: 87% in 2013/14 vs 89% in 2012/13. The major changes in student's performance and statistics across the latest academic year, therefore, concerned undergraduate students. 94% of the College undergraduates study Courses in the Schools of Science & Maths, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicine (the College warmly welcomes students from the Humanities and Social Sciences but few of its undergraduates currently read such subjects) and the second figure on the left shows the percentage of students in each School that met EdISU requirements. This increased from 40% in 2012/13 to 67% in 2013/14 for Sciences & Maths; from 33% in 2012/13 to 80% in 2013/14 for Engineering and from 80% in 2012/13 to 100% in 2013/14 for Medicine. In contrast, the data for Pharmaceutical Sciences appeared stable (75% in 2012/13, 80% in 2013/14). Notably, the students falling behind with EdISU requirements in Science & Maths are students in Maths and Physics, two groups of students closest to the heart of this College. Thus extra steps will be taken by Volta in 2014/15 in order to ensure that all students reading Maths & Physics may complete their undergraduate Courses smoothly.

Collegio Volta expressed critical views last year on the criteria utilised by EdISU bodies - nationwide - for assessing students performance. The College  strongly believes that the procedures for student's assessment ought to change and improve across EdISU Colleges in Pavia and elsewhere in Italy and that, likewise, admission procedures need to put considerably more weight on previous academic career and student's motivations toward College life. This notwithstanding, College is delighted to see that in the short period of a year Volta has achieved a major leap forward in students performance,  attributable to harder work and a series of actions aimed at instituting and developing College teaching.

Examinations 2012/13

At the end of April 2012, 59  undergraduates expressed an interest in having their College placements confirmed in 2013/14. The final number of students eligible for placements under current EdISU rules was 57 and, on 2 August 2013, 36 students had met the EdiSU requirements and 21had failed. In the case of postgraduate students of MSc Courses, 18 students were eligible  for confirmation of placements and 16 out 18 met the EdISU score (see Fig Examination Results 2012). The data on undergraduate students were analysed further by school/ faculty. The results in the second Fig on the left show that the highest failure rates involved undergraduate Courses in Engineering and Science and Maths (67% and 60% respectively) whereas the failure rates for Pharmacy and Medicine were much lower at 25% and 23%. Data for undergraduates in Social Sciences and Humanities are not shown because the number of these students at Volta is too low to analyse. The EdISU scoring system for confirmation of College placements is one that has evolved over the years and has undergone continuous adjustments to the ever changing landscape of the organisation of the Course at Italian Universities, including Pavia.  The system is in need of considerable reform for the following reasons:

(i) A system in which nearly 40% of undergraduates fail to reach the set threshold needs to re-evaluate both the criteria for assessment and the underlying causes of failures, namely the structure of the University Courses and the relevant examinations (too many examinations consist of multiple parts that are set and marked at different dates and students run out of time in the process). The University of Pavia needs to undertake a major review of its teaching.

(ii) The current EdISU system requires students to meet absolute credit figures (for example 35 credits at the end of year 1, 80 or 88 at the end of year 2, etc). The system is cumbersome because many Courses keep changing the goal post (the number of total credits) and, as a result, EdISU has to adjust constantly the credit requirements, often on a ad hoc basis. This problem can be solved by replacing a system based on absolute requirements with a system based on percentage score in which students are required to reach a defined percentage of the total credits on set by the University for the relevant Course and year.

(iii) The assessment of the Courses in Engineering and Science & Maths needs specific criteria. The mission of EdISU is to promote University education across all subjects and current EdISU criteria massively penalise students of Engineering and Science & Maths (Fig above). Collegio Volta, a College named after an outstanding physicist and professor at Pavia, is determined to address this with EdISU and do everything in its power to encourage and support students reading these subjects in future years.

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