Use of internet during exams...lol?

[Bugz]

BBC News - Hi-tech exam cheating increases says Ofqual

The bit that is most interesting is:

"Another approach, tested in Denmark, has been to stop trying to prevent the use of technology in exams and allow pupils to have open access to the internet."

You can find answers to anything & everything up to a-level standard in one-to-two Google pages. Degree standard is a bit different but still...

how is allowing internet access during an exam going to be anything but a) a hinderence (time spent googling etc.) and b) a complete and utter farce to the exam system...

 

[Chilly]

install signal jammers

 

[WPKenny]

M.D.: "OMG OUR SERVERS ARE ALL B0RK3D! WE ARE HAEMORRHAGING MONEY!"

Tech: "Sorry can't fix it... no access to Google!"

 

[Scouse]

S'great innit! Nobody has to learn anything any more! It makes discussions with young people in the pub so, erm, interesting....


...or not. As they can't hold anything in their heads for longer than a few seconds

 

[Ctuchik]

S'great innit! Nobody has to learn anything any more!

ass opposed to when?

school helps but if you REALLY want a job (and not just any job) theres nothing that stops you even with shit/no results from school.

 

[Scouse]

ass opposed to when?

As opposed to just before I did my GCSE's. O-Levels and A-Levels (of the time) were really hard, had no gay 'coursework' and you had to keep two years worth of information in your head, with no retakes if you were shit.

That's learning...

theres nothing that stops you even with shit/no results from school.

Not true. If you've shit results then 99% of the time you'll end up in a shit job no matter how hard you try.

Of course, if you start your own business nobody can stop you - but that's no guarantee of success...

 

[Zenith.UK]

install signal jammers

^^^ THIS!

 

[old.Tohtori]

Well, as i usually do, here's another view on it.

While i agree that usign the itnernet for tests is a bit silly, it might not be as ridicilous as it seems at first. We would have to look at what is the point of exams; should it be about your ability to remember things, or your ability to put that into good use. I find the latter more important and feel that especially basic schooling is way too focused on jamming the info into peoples brains.

A doctor often relies on books for help on diagnosis, a mechanic looks up the transmissions schematics of a ford fiesta and even a cook sometimes needs to check what the right amount of flower is for ze Flarn Bu'Tein.

If i remember correctly, it was a good(if not corny as hell and used a plenty) line in legend of the seeker(paraphrasing); There is a difference in knowledge and wisdom.

As such, if the exams are planned for everyone to know everything, they will also note and grade if someone is simply copy/pasteing answers, or if there's thought in there. The time it takes to take the test is also hindered by googling, which is where those with the knowledge at hand shine through. Added bonus to the scale of talent.

That ofcourse raises the question; are the exam creators wise enough to do so?

 

[Scouse]

should it be about your ability to remember things, or your ability to put that into good use

I think that, up until degree-level, it's definitely about your ability to remember things.

You need to know the basics - and I mean know - before you go on to use them in practical applications.

You can see the difference between the best and worst graduates - the best ones can make the connections in their mind between facts that they already know and figure out the relationships between them. The ones who have to look them up simply can't make those connections - and they're shit. Like the majority of the workforce the world over

 

[old.Tohtori]

I think that, up until degree-level, it's definitely about your ability to remember things.

You need to know the basics - and I mean know - before you go on to use them in practical applications.

You can see the difference between the best and worst graduates - the best ones can make the connections in their mind between facts that they already know and figure out the relationships between them. The ones who have to look them up simply can't make those connections - and they're shit. Like the majority of the workforce the world over

Fair point, they do have an advantage on the others, and most likely will benefit from that. But being poor at remembering shouldn't be the define all meter for a job, some of those who can't remember what incridients go in a cake, could be a lot better bakers then the ones who remember the nutritional value of an egg to the pi.

While remembering things helps, i think it's too centered on it in schools and it doesn't stop at remembering the basics, it keeps on the "remember it" train until some final exams, if that.

That's ofcourse an opinion thing, but hey, isn't this whole subject

Don't get me started on homework...

Oh and i did want to say that the "poor workforce" swing swings both ways; can't say how many times i've met someone who has no idea on how to work otuside the rulebook and what they've learned. It's not always good that you are good at memorising.

You need to learn the basics, learn the finer things by work, learn how to bend and use what you've learned and these things are not always taught and the "cram it!" approach is.

 

[kirennia]

I had one exam at uni with which we had open books, note, and the use of the internet.

Being that it was hand writting SQL (how stupid is hand writting code...seriously), we were given 45 minutes to complete 15 questions ranging from 3-10 lines each. It was basically a case of instantly knowing the answer or moving on and going back to it later as there simply wasn't time enough to think about it, let alone look it up. As a result, those who spent their time on the internet faired the worst, those with notes did a little better but those who just wrote what they knew did better (for the most part anyway... there are always a few who don't know the material AND don't bother with notes).

The problem with disallowing notes but allowing the internet is that there is no real safe guard against a person hosting their own FTP server or something along those lines and getting the same result anyway.


I see very little merit in allowing it as GCSEs/a-levels are there to boost core skills and teach you how to learn as much as anythingelse. If you can't think on your own accord because you've always had the google crutch to lean on... well I'm sure of the learning damage it could do to people.

 

[Chilly]

I enjoyed the exams where I had to hand write code the most, I aced most of them

 

[kirennia]

I absolutely hated them. For one of my first year modules we had to hand write, in the code of our choice, optimised code for various mathematical equations and I hated it. All we'd learnt was c# so I did it in that but you know how it is coding...always making minor adjustments here there and everywhere. My code was a little messy to say the least.

It pissed me off more so when the guy who aced all of it came out with a perfect score for those questions because he used 'psuedo code'. Those bastards! You could pretty much just write the maths behind it and get it right but they didn't say psuedo code was a useable language. Bastards bastards bastards...

 

[Chilly]

you dont expect it to compile, but you do expect it to be "correct". ie variable name typos or a missing bracket somewhere wont fuck you. missing out at i++ or swapping ++i for i++ WILL fuck you.

 

[kirennia]

you dont expect it to compile, but you do expect it to be "correct". ie variable name typos or a missing bracket somewhere wont fuck you. missing out at i++ or swapping ++i for i++ WILL fuck you.

yeah but putting
'loop start to end times' is quite a lot simpler to remember then (int x = 0; x < endCount; x++) when you've just started to program.

Psuedo code is pretty much just writting the question down again in exams, heh.

 

[gunner440]

Hello world

 

[TdC]

hur I'm so shit at scripting languages, constantly mixing my ['s, [['s, ('s, {'s, `'s, ' 's and " 's