23 Jun
2004
23 Jun
'04
3:59 a.m.
I'm not sure if I agree with the current trend
toward open book exams
- yes, in the real world, chances are you will have reference
material handy. But the current attitude of most people I've known
who have taken such exams is that they don't need to actually know
anything, because they can just bluff their way through it in an exam
by reading the book and get sufficient marks to pass.
Well, when I did my exam, yes, someone probably could pass the exam
coming into it knowing nothing but armed with books - but it would take
something like two to ten times the time allotted for the exam, and I
tried to ensure it would require actually learning things from the
books in the process.
Besides, someone who could learn the relevant stuff fast enough to pass
that way does effectively know the material and thus should pass.
Wasn't someone just saying that it's more important to know how to pick
stuff up than to have goop memorized?
I went looking for the source to the exam (I wrote it in TeX) but
couldn't find it offhand. If I find it I'll make it available
somewhere and post a pointer.
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