THIRD year students registered for the Psych 3001 (Abnormal Psychology) course had their semester test called off and some of them say “departmental incompetence is to blame”.
The test was scheduled for Monday, March 28 after lunch and was called off when it was discovered that there were not enough question papers for each student. The test was then rescheduled for Wednesday, March 30 but changed again to “communicate with students as to when a more mutually agreed time would be to write”.
A psychology student who wanted to remain anonymous said: “How can, at an institution such as Wits, there not be enough test question papers printed for every student.
“The psychology department as a whole is incompetent because even when it comes to receiving assessment results and essay marks they do not stick to their own deadlines.
“There is also ineffective communication because even though the class rep [representative] was SMSed to say that the test would not be on Wednesday as initially said, not every student got the notification.”
Another psychology student, Lunga Thabethe, said: “I don’t blame the lecturer because he hands out the amount of papers he receives from the department.
“The department works under pressure, therefore labelling them as incompetent is an unfair reflection. Also it is the first time this has occurred in my three years at Wits.”
Head of the psychology department, Prof Andrew Thatcher, said: “I see and understand students’ concerns so we will have to agree with the students when the test can be written as it is one of two faculty requirement assessments.
“I was told by admin that 195 question papers were copied as we have approximately 193 registered students.
“We have so far communicated with the class rep and sent e-mails to some of the students whose address we have and we will do our best to deal with students’ concerns”.
In the Wednesday lecture, the course coordinator Prof Karen Milner apologised to students and it was then decided that the test would be re-written on Monday, April 4.
