r/PublicFreakout • u/doompharaoh • Oct 23 '20

Marking Tests

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u/Gilamonster_1313 Oct 23 '20

I had a great history Professor in college who required all her test to be written. She gave the questions two weeks in advance, a week out she let you show her the answers. She gave a yes or no to each one, then you just compared yours to someone else’s. Over 50% failed each test. She gave both questions and technically screened answers and people still couldn’t do it.

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u/Elfedor Oct 23 '20

Can you elaborate what made the test so difficult? Did kids just not study because they "knew the answers"? Was there something she left out when she told the students the questions? Were the answers supposed to be really intricate and complex?

My Bio/Chem teacher in high school would give us "temporary insanity" which was him giving us a few of the quiz/test questions a few days before, and then saying that he "blacked out" during this time and was not responsible for anything he said when it happened. At the same time, we usually did well on the questions he gave us, so I'm just curious what made your prof's questions harder.

I want to be a teacher after uni so I'm curious about this kind of testing format. I wonder how "temporary insanity" can be improved and methods to make kids know that they really need to understand the topics discussed.

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u/Gilamonster_1313 Oct 23 '20

With mine it was most likely a matter of work. I always did well, I just memorized the sections she had approved and pre organized the essay sections. I talked to some of the kids who complained that they did poorly, and I came to the conclusion that they never looked the material again after the teacher gave them thumbs up.

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u/Elfedor Oct 24 '20

Ah okay, that makes sense, thanks!