Don't Know The Answer During An Exam? Ask On Ab...

[jim360]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-32531820

[Sqad]

^^^..;-).......with a bit of luck, or in some cases , a lot of luck..........you may well get a relevant answer.

[jim360]

If someone does come on asking for exam question help I will be so tempted to deliberately give them the wrong answer.

"Help, what's the answer to 2*5?" "13, obvs." "Ty!!" "You're welcome *grins evilly*"

[Sqad]

LOL^^

[murraymints]

surely phones etc are not permitted during an exam ?

[sunny-dave]

Good grief - they'll be letting them use ballpoint pens soon ... bring back the quill, I say ...

[jno]

they'll be sorry when they find the answer to 2a + 3 = 7 is 600mg ibuprofen

[woofgang]

One of the things that we had to teach students in my old job (Occupational Therapist, NHS) is how to do research when you are under the gun. Someone is referred for something that you have never dealt with before (Bone, not joint, replacement springs to mind, we gave rehab to the first person in the UK to have one)or for something more common where the usual treatment can't be given. In those circs, its a real skill to be able to sit down at the computer and come up with answers fast. You don't only need IT skills, you need a clinical feel for what a reliable answer will feel like when you find it. I would be happy to see internet research being allowed and tested during some exams provided others also test base skills and knowledge.

[jim360]

I was posting this somewhat in jest but in fact I agree with woofgang -- research skills are far more important, or certainly far more a reflection of typical life, than exam skills are. I hope the idea is at least given some thought, and although I wouldn't necessarily want this to replace exams altogether there's certainly a case for research-based skills to be tested.

[askyourgran]

Did you text sqad for that information jno?

[jno]

no way, I've done my homework, ayg.

[Jackdaw33]

Although it's 40 years this year since I graduated I have always felt that dictionaries should be allowed in foreign language exams. It is structure and understanding of the language which is being tested, not whether you can remember the meaning of an isolated word. In one of my final papers I had to translate a passage from Watership Down, in which rabbits feature rather largely. I could not recall the word for 'rabbit' though I had a vague idea that it was very similar to the word for 'dwarf'. I did not want to take a chance and make myself look stupid, and as I knew the word for 'hare' I played safe and used that instead. Don't know how many marks that cost me, though.

[Peter Pedant]

They started open book exams in the seventies and just demanded higher standards

I was gutted when they started allowing statute books into Law exams as I had no problem memorising statutes .... damn

[askyourgran]

We used to have to recite the times tables, and do mental arithmetic, no pen or paper, let alone a book to help us. I would say having to find answers by looking them up is cheating. What happened to swotting up for exams? Unless it is for a project then I say no googling.

[Jackdaw33]

When doing my law finals I found that I didn't have time to look anything up; I was too busy writing. They are of limited benefit; if you don't know your stuff you won't pass.

[Jackdaw33]

Law is slightly peculiar in this respect, as to gain any credit you must include the referential authority, be it statue or case law.

[Jackdaw33]

^^statute!

[jim360]

I've sat only one open-book exam in my life. It didn't go nearly as well as an equivalent closed-book exam. It may not have helped my the open-book exam that I found out I was sitting it approximately two days before it started.

Preparation beforehand is more important, still -- if you haven't done your revision before an exam you won't know where to look, or what to search for on Google, and for that matter won't be able to evaluate correctly what you find. So this wouldn't necessarily detract from the rigour of exams. You still need to know your stuff!

And, in the end, exams are very far removed from reality. I don't think I've ever had to recall a whole swathe of facts within a short space of time since my last exam. More frequently, if I am asked a question, then I can use a whole bunch of resources to help me answer it, with innate knowledge helping me to work out which resources to trust, etc.

I suppose the risk is that people lose the innate knowledge, which is still important.