Open Data

Revealed: Durham modules ranked by student attainment in 2021-2022 - Palatinate

Revealed: Durham modules ranked by student attainment in 2021-2022 - Palatinate

The article highlights how accessing institutional data through Freedom of Information requests enables the transparency of academic performance metrics. By revealing detailed attainment statistics, such as average marks and the distribution of degree classifications across various modules, the university allows students and the public to scrutinize educational outcomes. This process underscores the critical role of open data in democratizing information that was previously opaque, fostering a more accountable academic environment. Key findings indicate significant disparities in student achievement across different disciplines and year levels. Physics and English led in overall attainment, while foundation year modules lagged behind, demonstrating that course structure and year level heavily influence results. The data further exposes extreme variations in individual module success rates, ranging from zero first-class grades in certain art courses to overwhelming success in logic and language modules. These insights suggest that specific curricula or teaching methods may disproportionately affect student performance. This revelation is highly relevant to the open_data community as it exemplifies the practical application of FOI laws to improve societal understanding of public services. It demonstrates how raw administrative data can be transformed into actionable knowledge about educational equity and quality. By making such granular performance data accessible, institutions empower stakeholders to make informed decisions. Ultimately, this case study reinforces the value of releasing detailed datasets to promote transparency, enable public scrutiny, and drive meaningful conversations about standards and fairness in higher education.

Source: palatinate.org.uk
Published on 2025-05-05

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