ANONYMOUS wrote:
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> Hi,
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> I was just wondering for the final exam, what was kind-of the reasoning behind making this year's exam open book? (for example - was it to make the theory questions more difficult or something else?). I was just asking to see what you guys are trying to better assess so that I could be better prepared.
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> Any help would be much appreciated, and I understand if this is asking too much into the 'content of this year's exam'.
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> Thanks.
I don't want memory to be a larger component of the exam than it has to be.
None of the learning outcomes for this unit require rote memorization, but rather are based on understanding and skills. A book can only remember things, not understand them. If denying access to a book affects a student's mark, then that is due to their memory, not their understanding. A student with a good enough memory could theoretically have just memorized the whole book. I have no interest in assessing rote memorization.
My hope is that most students should not need reference material, but denying access to it does not make the assessment more representative of actual student ability, in my opinion it makes it less so. It is impossible for me to perfectly predict what students will struggle to remember, so I allow you to prepare your own reference materials based on what you feel you might struggle with.
Hope that helps!
Gozz