By Vic Odarve
Just imagine a quiz with open books and
notes to an engineering class! Students are smiling from ear to ear. But do
students really get perfect scores? At first, students think they can get it
handily, but these are not always the case. At the end only a few get a perfect
score. Why? Engineering professors know best to what extent the degree of
difficulty the quiz should be so that only a few can get away with perfect
score. Professors know what makes an easy, moderate, and difficult problems.
Mathematics is not a memory course, but largely understanding of the principles
and formulas. It is more on understanding of when, how, and why we use the
formulas and its applications in the solution. That is why it works on open
notes and textbooks – a method of a student’s assessment. This is the real
world for engineering students.
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Malayan Colleges Mindanao
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In the end, both professors
and students are challenged and thrilled. If many students get perfect score
the teachers seem defeated, but if only few, professors win the battle. It is
like war, and a war of strategy, a war of nerves… and it’s enjoyable!
What about if in this war a
professor is defeated? He can have his next round. The professor is the one who
controls the war game. It is just like the China’s strategy in the South China
sea against his neighboring countries. It is just like “to give difficult
problems or not to give”- that is the question. So, at the end, the professors
must have their heads high and always come out the winner.
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University Of Immaculate Conception
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Generally, quiz or assessment
with open books and notes is more difficult than traditional closed exams. On
this type of quiz, one or two of the given problems draws higher order
thinking. More often students may not find the answers directly. Lecturers may
offer open books and notes as an accommodation to help and challenge students
to study their lessons.
Experience teaches us that
only those students who have recognized masterfully the math concepts,
formulas, or procedures in a different order and at various levels of difficulty
than they are presented in their textbook or discussed in the class and proof-
read the solutions before going out the exam room may get away with perfect
scores. When lecturers give a quiz in mathematics, one of the problems must be
difficult or required extra/ deeper analysis, at least. So, who wants to get a
perfect score? Only those students who study an extra mile from the classroom
discussion can get the perfect score.
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Madonna University,Africa
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These very few students who
get away with perfect scores out from difficult mathematical problems of the
highest order are a gem to the teacher. They are like our moon, which was born
from a planet sized object which rammed the earth 4.5 billion of years ago. It
provides romantic lights at nighttime. These students, like our moon, give
delight and color to our classroom atmosphere. Imagine? They get perfect
scores. They are showing their level of excellence. This is our real world,
student’s university life, and a reality. We are talking of a real environment
and not wormholes, which arise from our imagination.
So, who wants open notes and
book examination? It may happen once in your student’s life… once in a blue
moon. Try and enjoy your university life for the engineering students!
Thanks for watching.