timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Timothy J. Lee) (02/02/89)
In article <19810@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes: >on if one is willing to put in enough time. For exams, there is what the >Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one >used by American fraternity houses -- extensive archives of past exams >(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the >same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content). For Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice.
kolb@handel.colostate.edu (Denny Kolb) (02/03/89)
In article <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Timothy J. Lee) writes: >>(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the >>same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content). For > >Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. >Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors >don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. The technique also works for many laboratory courses. When I was an undergraduate Chemistry major, it was well known that the Chemical Engineers had stacks of old P-chem (Physical Chemistry for the uninitiated) lab reports. If memory serves me, one could purchase a complete set for $45. The is some danger in relying on these however. One summer, the people in charge of P-chem lab decided to change one of the laboratories. However, they kept the title the same. Some poor fool didn't really bother to read the new assignment carefully, and handed in a copy of the OLD assignment. According to the fellow who was T.A.ing at the time, it was one of the easiest lab reports he had ever graded! :-) Regards, ========================================================================== Denny Kolb | Computers are my job, kolb@handel.cs.ColoState.Edu | they are not my life. hao!handel!kolb | ===========================================
matloff@bizet.Berkeley.EDU (Norman Matloff) (02/03/89)
In article <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Timothy J. Lee) writes: >In article <19810@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes: *>on if one is willing to put in enough time. For exams, there is what the *>Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one *>used by American fraternity houses -- extensive archives of past exams *>(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the *>same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content). For >Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. I seem to recall seeing exam files in the UCB library. Was that motivated by a desire to equalize opportunity? >Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors >don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. In my observation, most professors who give similar exams year after year don't even realize that exam files exist and are used. Norm
timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Timothy J. Lee) (02/03/89)
In article <19863@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes: |*>on if one is willing to put in enough time. For exams, there is what the |*>Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one |*>used by American fraternity houses -- extensive archives of past exams |*>(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the |*>same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content). For | |>Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. | |I seem to recall seeing exam files in the UCB library. Was that motivated |by a desire to equalize opportunity? I don't know about the Moffitt Undergraduate Library file's reasons for existing. |>Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors |>don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. |In my observation, most professors who give similar exams year after year |don't even realize that exam files exist and are used. Eta Kappa Nu, the Electrical Engineering honor society, maintains an exam file of EE and CS exams. This particular file is highly visible: many students use it, some instructors come by and dump their (used) exams in it, and one instructor who _did_ recycle problems came to have his course's exams removed from the file (his request was honored). Visibility may be due to the fact that HKN's office is in Cory Hall (the EECS building) near many classrooms, the department office, and some faculty offices. It may be of interest to know that the Computer Science division encourages students to purchase collections of old preliminary exams when they are studying for the preliminary exams. Certainly those who write these exams know better than to clone problems.
gordon@eecea.eece.ksu.edu (Dwight Gordon) (02/03/89)
In article <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP writes: >In article <19810@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu writes: >> . . . >>(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the >>same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content). For > >Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. >Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors >don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. I have taught classes where I handed out my key for an hourly to the class, and then repeated the question on the final examination. Some students learn from their past mistakes and work through the key for the hourly. Others just don't seem to care. I tend to get a "normal" distribution of grades on such problems (on the final). In fact, one time I gave the final as open book/note/etc. One of the students raised his (it was a "he") during the final. He had a copy of my key with his notes (acceptable) sitting next to his final examination paper. He pointed at the two and asked if he was "missing something." I told him "no." He looked at me as if I were crazy and did the problem. (I still had pretty-much a "normal" distribution of grades on that problem!) Dwight W. Gordon | 913-532-5600 | gordon@eecea.eece.ksu.edu Electrical & Computer Engineering Department | dwgordon@ksuvm.bitnet Kansas State University - Durland Hall | rutgers!ksuvax1!eecea!gordon Manhattan, KS 66506 | {pyramid,ucsd}!ncr-sd!ncrwic!ksuvax1!eecea!gordon
robert@arizona.edu (Robert J. Drabek) (02/03/89)
In article <19863@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, (Norman Matloff) writes: > *> For exams, there is what the > *>Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one > *>used by American fraternity houses -- extensive archives of past exams > > I seem to recall seeing exam files in the UCB library. Was that motivated > by a desire to equalize opportunity? > > >Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors > >don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. > > In my observation, most professors who give similar exams year after year > don't even realize that exam files exist and are used. Equal opportunity is important plus it keeps us honest if we want. For most of my classes I have prepared preprinted materials which all students buy from the copy center; included within are copies of two semester's worth of past exams. This came about from the awareness that various groups do have copies of my past exams, but the less social student is at a disadvantage. Knowing that everyone has the old exams available also forces me to be more creative when it comes time to write exams. (Forced self discipline, I call it.) And having the exams available has proven to be a great motivator to students to study as they have something concrete to start working with. -- Robert J. Drabek Department of Computer Science University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721
matloff@bizet.Berkeley.EDU (Norman Matloff) (02/03/89)
In article <9427@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Timothy J. Lee) writes: >In article <19863@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes: >|*>on if one is willing to put in enough time. For exams, there is what the >|*>Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one >|*>used by American fraternity houses -- extensive archives of past exams >|*>(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the >|*>same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content). For >|I seem to recall seeing exam files in the UCB library. Was that motivated >|by a desire to equalize opportunity? >I don't know about the Moffitt Undergraduate Library file's reasons for >existing. This would appear to be the reason; interestingly, this is one of the reasons cited by Robert Drabek for making his exams available at Arizona. >|>Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors >|>don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. >|In my observation, most professors who give similar exams year after year >|don't even realize that exam files exist and are used. >Eta Kappa Nu, the Electrical Engineering honor society, maintains an >exam file of EE and CS exams. This particular file is highly visible: Right. I meant the files in fraternities and "archaeology societies." In the case of a highly visible file, that would be different, though I'll bet that there are still some professors who give fairly similar exams each year, i.e. you can count of their exams having problems of certain types. >in it, and one instructor who _did_ recycle problems came to have his >course's exams removed from the file (his request was honored). Of course his request has to be honored, but it is highly inequitable, in my opinion, because it means that some students will get good grades based on the quality of their "network" rather than based on their insight into the subject matter. >It may be of interest to know that the Computer Science division >encourages students to purchase collections of old preliminary >exams when they are studying for the preliminary exams. Certainly >those who write these exams know better than to clone problems. This is entirely different. As far as I know, most graduate programs in most fields encourage this, so of course the faculty are highly aware of it, as opposed to the situation I was described. For the same reason, the grad students don't EXPECT to see the old problems resurface (although once in a while they might); they are not using their access to the old exams as a substitute for insight into the subject matter. Norm
elg@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Eric Green) (02/03/89)
in article <19863@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, matloff@bizet.Berkeley.EDU (Norman Matloff) says: > In article <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Timothy J. Lee) writes: >>Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. > > I seem to recall seeing exam files in the UCB library. Was that motivated > by a desire to equalize opportunity? More probably, professors put them there. There's some professors who will actually give you sample exams from the previous year, in order that, as one professor put it, "you fail the test because you don't know the material, not because you're not familiar with my testing style." I would not willingly entrust my education to someone who uses the same tests every year. It implies a lack of, uhm, commitment I guess would be the best word, when someone won't take the time to do a simple thing like write a new test now and then (wellll.... yes, writing a good test is time-consuming, but nobody ever said being a college professor would be a life of leisure ;-}. -- | // Eric Lee Green P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509 | | // ..!{ames,decwrl,mit-eddie,osu-cis}!killer!elg (318)989-9849 | | \X/ >> In Hell you need 4Mb to Multitask << |
lkirk@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Laura Kirk) (02/04/89)
In article <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Timothy J. Lee) writes: >In article <19810@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes: >>on if one is willing to put in enough time. For exams, there is what the >>Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one >>used by American fraternity houses -- extensive archives of past exams > >Not just fraternities... many other student groups maintain exam files. >Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors >don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice. The same thing goes on here at Mudd. There is just a slightly different attitude towards it here. As a freshman, you go to an upperclassman the night before the first big (fill in the blank here) exam, asking how to study for it. They will give you their copy, often, or refer you to someone who did better than they did in a given class. It is a challenge, trying to find someone who took the class with the same professor, and did relatively well, and then beat everyone else to their copy of the exam. This is probably fairly standard. The difference here is that if you plan well enough ahead of time, you can often get a copy (sometimes with answers) from the professor. I have heard this method given out by professors as a good way to study. Students often take the old exams to profs and ask for explanations of problems. The problems are still often similar between years, usually enough that if you understood the question you looked at, you had it made, but if you just memorized the steps to get to an answer, you were in trouble. Laura -- laura kirk % Reality is a optical illusion % lkirk@hmcvax.bitnet % that happens all of the time % lkirk@muddcs.uucp % % %___________________________________%
byerly@paul.rutgers.edu (Boyce Byerly ) (02/05/89)
Finding old exams is certainly a sport practiced by any serious student, but I don't really think it's entirely fair: 1. There is a penalty for introverted students, freshmen, and parttimers; they probably don't nearly as good sources as many. 2. This practice tends to encourage memorization over understanding, which is never a good thing. I like to make up a "sample test" which is far harder than the real thing, and distribute copies to everyone. The problems should be difficult and require heavy thinking. For any creative answers, like an essay question or writing a program, no answer key should be given. This should make students work together, discussing and defending their answers. This is where "learning" takes place. I usually pull applicable questions from old exams. This eliminates my tendency to get lazy when writing the real exam, and keeps the memorizers from gaining much of an advantage. It also gives all the students an equal starting line for studying. A final advantage is that when the students encounter the real exam, they find it's much easier than the sample, which usually relaxes them and allows them to express what they know. Boyce
dlm@cuuxb.ATT.COM (Dennis L. Mumaugh) (02/09/89)
When I was an undergraduate, I took the Intro to Psychology
class. My roommate was a psych major.
He told me the key to passing the course with good grades [other
than really studying and mastery]:
1. Read the glosssary at the end of each chapter and learn
all the terms thoroughly.
2. Review the past exams and learn the correct answers.
He then gave me about 4 years of past exams with the answers.
All exams were multiple choice with a small penalty for guessing.
The exams were graded by machine. The exams my roomie gave me
had the correct answer to each question marked. The night before the
exam I read the summary and glossary for each chapter covered and read
the appropriate exam sections and understood each correct answer.
It developed that when the Authors of the text book [can you
guess what is coming?] wrote the book, they made up 1000 exam
questions. Guess who was currently teaching psych 1A. They
selected approximately 40 for each exam. With 40 per exam and 3
exams and a final (120 questions) that made for 240 questions a
semester ... etc.
I got a B+ on the course -- I wonder why?
--
=Dennis L. Mumaugh
Lisle, IL ...!{att,lll-crg}!cuuxb!dlm OR cuuxb!dlm@arpa.att.comdlm@cuuxb.ATT.COM (Netnews Administrator) (02/18/89)
In article <Feb.4.12.45.40.1989.17418@paul.rutgers.edu> byerly@paul.rutgers.edu (Boyce Byerly ) writes: Finding old exams is certainly a sport practiced by any serious student, but I don't really think it's entirely fair: 1. There is a penalty for introverted students, freshmen, and parttimers; they probably don't nearly as good sources as many. 2. This practice tends to encourage memorization over understanding, which is never a good thing. When I was a student at CAL (University of California, Berkeley for the unenlightened) the EE Deptarmtent had a rule that all instructors file copies of their exams with the department. Thus the departmental library had exam files for all courses. There were similar files in the Engineering Library. Some instructors with-held exams since they re-used them but most didn't. -- =Dennis L. Mumaugh Lisle, IL ...!{att,lll-crg}!cuuxb!dlm OR cuuxb!dlm@arpa.att.com
bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton) (02/25/89)
In article <2505@cuuxb.ATT.COM> dlm@cuuxb.UUCP (Dennis L. Mumaugh) writes: > >Some instructors with-held exams since they re-used them but most >didn't. Then there's the Spring, '86 Physics III Final at the U of Md where good ol' Dr. Kacser's Fall '84 Final had been passed around from student to student. I personally worked through the thing backwards (questionwise) while walking home from the library on exam-eve. Next day me 'n' my pal Charlie walk in, sit down, accept the Final, and do the tightest take in showbiz history. See, good ol' Dr. Kacser had taken his Fall '84 Final, changed the dates to Spring '86, munged a constant or two, and reprinted it. I scored in the high nineties (but trust me, I would have, regardless; Dr. K. was a pain, but the easiest examiner in education history; he had a low opinion of his pupils' intellect), Charlie did a little better. We never found out if the Fall '84 version was supposed to be in circulation, but it's something of a de facto policy that all forms of assignments at the U of M are expected to end up in the Student Tutorial and Referral (STAR) Center, donated by students in current classes for the edification of anyone with enough xerox-nickels. We can always say that's where we got it. --Blair