Atheism
Politics
Memes
Mind
Matters
String
Random
Interact
Feedback
Links
Debate
Home
Computers in exams?
When I was in school pocket calculators were a recent invention. I did two papers in my examinations for mathematics, in paper one no aids of any sort were allowed to be used. In paper two log tables and slide rules were allowed but electronic calculators were not. They gave some cock and bull justification for this ridiculous idea based around the suggestion that there might be circumstances under which I didn't have my calculator with me but, get this, I did have my trusty slide rule. Yeah right.
Since that day I have made a point of always having a calculator with me and I have never touched a slide rule since coming out of that exam room for the last time. I have very little recollection of how the things worked, but I'll always remember the unusual sounds that could be made with slide rules. While you can made an interesting noise or two with a ruler you can tune a slide rule.
To be fair I have used log tables briefly since that time, in order to calculate decibel losses and gains when I was interested in radio, but that was a long time ago. If I needed to do the same now I would fire up Google with the confident expectation of being able to find an online scientific calculator applet to do the job for me in a much more pleasant way.
It was not long after I left school that examination boards woke up to the reality that pocket calculators were here to stay and as cheap as chips and so the ban on their use on the second paper was lifted. Paper one remained as a test of unaided arithmetical skill and subsequent papers allowed the use of appropriate calculating aids, including electronic calculators. I would like to express my gratitude for the progressive attitudes of my teachers who encouraged us to use calculators despite the nonsensical examination ban. Mathematics with 'Killer' Prince was daunting enough without being stuck in the past wedded to old fashioned technology.
Is it now time to acknowledge that we are living in a very different age? Isn't the internet now as ubiquitous as the pocket calculator? I suggest that examinations in all subjects should be changed to allow candidates to have access to the internet in the examinations. By using computers which recorded all the keystrokes used and all the material delivered to the screen the examination could reveal exactly how well the candidate could use the internet to accomplish a particular task while revealing whether they used online sources legitimately and effectively without plagiarism or getting their parents to do their coursework for them. These days an ability to use the internet is as important a life and academic skill as the ability to write, and I could argue it is far more relevant than penmanship.
Penmanship or handwriting was assessed and taken account of in several of my examinations which I regarded as being totally unfair. Why should I be marked down in geography or history for poor handwriting? It made no sense to me. In what possible way was an ability to form my letters in the approved way relevant to my ability to analyse and demonstrate a familiarity with history? How many historians make their living by dint of their beautiful calligraphy? Madness. Of course it is better to write neatly and legibly other things being equal, but other things are not equal, I resented having good work marked down and receiving lower marks than neatly presented unimaginative and pedestrian drivel. What is coursework all about? To me it seems to be an excuse that allows people to cheat. I suggest that coursework not be allowed to account for more than a third of marks for any academic qualification below the level of a Masters degree. There is simply too much scope for cheating and collusion. In later life there is rarely much prospect of getting your friends and family to do your work for you so children should get used to the reality of doing their own work and being assessed on it. |
In today's world skill at using the internet is critical. I used to try to imagine weird and wonderful scenarios in which I would be stuck inside a sealed box and needed to work out its volume with a metre ruler and of course my trusty slide rule but no pocket calculator. How much more ridiculous is the scenario that you would be locked in a sealed room and have to write a choice of essays, by hand, with no opportunity to consult the internet? Preposterous. What circumstance are “examination conditions” trying to mimic? If they want to put people on the spot and look for gaps in their knowledge and ability why not sit them down and interview them? No, for some reason it is considered more realistic to lock them away incommunicado and yet at the same time give them a limited but real choice of which questions to answer. You can't confer or consult or use any external reference but you can decide which life or death scenario to save yourself from. Barking mad.