

Should we criminalize difficult exam questions? - amichail
http://www.google.com/buzz/amichail/dpVuBFxQ9tC/Should-we-criminalize-difficult-exam-questions-One

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mquander
Question: Should we criminalize proposing something crazy by prefixing it with
"One might say that..." or "One could make an argument that...", relieving the
author of the responsibility of actually substantially defending their crazy
remark?

Answer: No. That author should only be liable in civil court.

~~~
nudge
I love amichail's posts. A few more gems:

"There's quite a lot of pressure to excel in high school and university. I
wonder if getting an education is more dangerous than say smoking. What do you
think?"

"Should games get upset when not played much? For example, a tetris-type game
could show sad faces in the blocks when it is neglected."

And, my favourite (edited for brevity):

"Students should be taught to lie and cheat. These things require
intelligence. Encouraging students to lie and cheat in school would improve
their thinking abilities... You could reward the students whose cheating was
successful with bonus marks. To get these bonus marks, students would need to
fully disclose how they cheated after they got away with it. Their cheating
techniques would then be made known to all students, who could then use them
as ideas for more elaborate techniques... In the end, students may end up
smarter and more honest."

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yummyfajitas
I truly wish this was a joke. An actual exchange I had with a student:

Visibly agitated student: "Your test was badly designed! I only got an 80 on
it!"

Me: "I accurately measured who understands the material and who does not.
Everyone here knows what they know and knows some things they don't know.
Also, you got the 3'rd highest grade and an A. What's the problem?"

Student: "But what about my self esteem? I never got lower than a 90 before."

~~~
amichail
There are many exams given where questions require not just study and
understanding but also a high level of innate intelligence.

So no matter how hard the average student may study, he/she would have little
chance of making progress on such questions.

This could be devastating mentally -- and perhaps science will show that it
eventually results in permanent brain damage.

~~~
c00ki3s
Are you joking? If you aren't smart enough, then maybe you just shouldn't be
in that course. There is no god given right to pass any exam.

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tetha
The major issue with this is finding a good formalization of "difficult" and
especially "too difficult". At this university course, theoretical computer
science or electronical engineering have devastating success quotas. I found
at least the first one easy. I also had to check an exam if it was too
difficult or too long. It took me around 20 minutes to finish. There were
people who needed more than the allocated 2 hours. Thus, I just cannot see how
this could work out.

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jorgecastillo
There is always some one better and some one worse than you at everything,
that's life. Should we deceive students making them believe that they will
always get good grades? Maybe we should just skip this and lower the standard?

I think it's better that we strive for excellence even if we don't achieve
than we strive for a false accomplishments (mediocrity).

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bitwize
Remember when school was hard?

Remember when you had to _study_ for tests?

Remember when you knuckled down and did the work, or else flunked and were
held back?

Yeah, say goodbye to all that and hello to the self-esteem regime. Emitting
busloads of incompetents who _feel good about themselves_. Since the thing to
aspire to nowadays is to get on a reality show, I guess they'll have all the
skills they need regardless.

God bless America, huh?

