Alternatives to exams...

BhoscaCapall

I suppose if there was a better idea it would be used (well... :rolleyes:).

In an ideal world, the best way of assessing students would be for a supervisor to continuously evaluate them during class discussions, problem solving tasks etc. Obviously this isn't very realistic with large classes though.

Personally I'd prefer if all modules were assessed using various methods, ideally say 40% exam, 40% weekly assignments and 20% coursework (e.g. essay). If you did well in your exam, you'd be on your way to passing, whereas if you struggle with written tests there would be plenty opportunity to display your competence in other areas. Weekly assignments also encourage students not to put everything off til the last couple of weeks.

I realise there are modules assessed in a similar fashion already, but there are also loads that entirely come down to how effectively you were able to remember things at 4 in the afternoon after being up since 7 for a morning exam halfway across the city, for the third time that week.

I also realise that essays and continuous assessment mean lecturers having to do a bit more, which might be the stumbling block here...

Ficheall

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

I also realise that essays and continuous assessment mean lecturers having to do a bit more, which might be the stumbling block here...

Another stumbling block is that students "cheat", as it were...

TheCosmicFrog

I think written exams should be worth 40% maximum. The rest should be made up of 30% continuous assessment and 30% assignment work.

BhoscaCapall

Ficheall wrote: »

Another stumbling block is that students "cheat", as it were...

As in plagiarism and using the internets for help?

Surely in most jobs, if you were asked to do something you didn't already know (or more likely, had forgotten since you learnt it), I'm sure you'd be able to get away with an aul Wikipedia search. It's far more likely than your boss going "sit there in silence and write down everything you know in two hours".

Another thing with exams is that a lot of students tend to just memorise a few topics and hope they come up, turning the exam into more of a lottery/memory test than anything else.

Ficheall

As in copy and pasting another students work verbatim, exhibiting no understanding of the subject material at all. I know I've done it to some extent in the past, but I always at least made an attempt to understand what I was copying... some people are even too lazy to, for example, change their friend's name to their own when forwarding a programming assignment etc. That of laziness is a bit much.

BhoscaCapall

Ficheall wrote: »

As in copy and pasting another students work verbatim, exhibiting no understanding of the subject material at all. I know I've done it to some extent in the past, but I always at least made an attempt to understand what I was copying... some people are even too lazy to, for example, change their friend's name to their own when forwarding a programming assignment etc. That of laziness is a bit much.

Fair point, but doesn't TurnItIn go some way to combating that? Obviously it's not used for things like programming, but lecturers should be able to notice if say, a student is getting full marks every week on programming assignments, but isn't able to tackle a problem in class/in a test.

Lecturers could stop people copying programming solutions off the internet if they were a bit more original with what they set. Although that said, most programming forums seem to be full of sanctimonious nobs who answer questions as obtusely as possible so as not to "do your work for you" - even if a simple answer would help you understand everything a lot better...

Reillyman

BhoscaCapall wrote: »

Although that said, most programming forums seem to be full of sanctimonious nobs who answer questions as obtusely as possible so as not to "do your work for you" - even if a simple answer would help you understand everything a lot better...

This! It's the exact same on any maths forums, people will never just answer a question, they beat around the bush as much as possible.

/Awaits Ficheall telling me that is the right thing to do...

BhoscaCapall

I understand their reasoning. I know that copying down answers doesn't equal learning.. but sometimes it's the best way of understanding something. Like if you can't work out a maths problem, being given the answer and working through it backwards can help.

There's been quite a few times when I've been stuck with something for hours, sought help on a forum, only for some smug twat to be all "sorry I'm not going to just give you the answer". Feck off, I'm not asking for you to do my assignment I'm just looking for help on this one small step.

MrSnuffleupagus

Some sort of middle ground between CA and exams is definitely needed, it drives me nuts being one extreme or the other.

I had one module that was 100% Continuous assessment this semester. At first I thought it'd be great, but quickly realised that any one (of the 6) assignments that I had to do took up about as much of my time as I spent studying for an exam. We had to know the course inside out to get a decent mark overall.

On the other hand I had an exam there last week that was worth 100% of the module. However because it was only two hours we only had to demonstrate knowledge in about a quarter of what was covered over the semester. I'm not gonna lie, I did the majority of my study cramming the day/night before and can't remember most of what I wrote, but I'm pretty confident of a decent mark.

Interesting side note, to meet the former's deadlines I ended up missing a number of the latter's lectures, not being a priority at the time.

I've had more experiences coming out of exams with nothing learned than I've had doing essays/assignments. Maybe that's just because I'm too much of a nice guy to cheat in assignments