Forming teaching and learning relationships with students is an inherent part of the education process. The deeper the connection, the easier it is to tailor the content to a student and the better the teacher is able to guide them along the learning journey.

A major problem with this is that it forms biases in the perception of students. Whether we mean to or not, we end up picking out favourites who we subsequently root for throughout the course.

This creates a significant problem when it comes to evaluating students. We are naturally inclined to give our favourites better marks and to score the disengaged students lower. It’s difficult to avoid, even if you’re aware of it.

As I mentioned in my post about updating our exam practices, in our courses we get students to write their peoplesoft number on their exams. This is instead of using the student number (which is formed using the their name and is therefore still recognisable).

I was reminded of the importance of this tonight when marking. I kept wanting to check who the student was before starting the process so I could anchor my marking on this. However, in keeping it anonymous I know my marking is fairer and less biased.

Biases Outside of Academia

In the real world, biases play an active role in so many decisions. As a result, the outcome is often not based on the merit of the situation. Instead, it is tinted by our own perception. And the most concerning thing about this is that we are often unaware of this.

It’s hard, but we really need to take a look at the filters behind how we make decisions.  We need to make every attempt to reduce the biases as much as possible. And in doing so, we take a small step to creating a more just and fair world.

Image is taken at my desk while marking. This has been my view for the last two days