Like many academics (I guess) I'm never that keen on the thought of marking, but when I get down to doing it I generally find it quite pleasurable - and often very rewarding.  I have a general rule of not working on Friday evenings or Saturdays, but I have a pile of third year projects from my option seminar class that were handed in a little while ago. And as the person who pushed through Senate the promise that comments on projects would get turned around within three weeks, I need to keep that new pledge intact myself.  Hence I've settled down after dinner this evening and made a start.

Marking what turns out to be a good piece of work can actually open up new understanding for me, make me think differently, and can tell me things I didn't know.  That's already happened this evening in a project where the student, through some very sensible searching of government data sources, has updated my knowledge of social trends in a key European state.  I've also been treated to some thought-provoking observations on the relevance of a set of social theories for a series of situations that were far outside the realms where those theories have been previously applied.

On the other hand, I've also realised where certain things I've tried to get across in my teaching have not been received in quite the way I had intended, and I've been led to reconsider some of the advice that I need to give the students next time round.  So marking can be both a learning task for the marker, and also a very reflective one.

But my problem at the moment is that although I've made a good start there are still over 20 projects to go.  It looks like I may have to break the other half of my weekend rule, and work on Saturday.

That's all for this blogging month. One more month to go to fulfil the promise I made at the start of the year.