I am currently writing exams. I even have a paper tomorrow and I tell you with every frankness that I am very ill-prepared.
There world be a lot of other students like myself, who would go to the exam venue having gone through little to no preparation, but guess what? They will be mostly the ones to emerge after the whole process smiling wildly, sharing what their experiences and doings were and would be hailed as smart.
Being smart is subjective, I guess.
Image is mine
I, in my period of going through school and writing examinations, have found this to be the case. These students with all their tricks and formation, have found varying ways to outsmart their lectures and even the system defying every chance of failure even when that should be the case.
And with technological advancements as smart watches, very portable phones, AI with all its precise, simplified help, how do you think it'll be any difficult?
When the chatGPT became rampart, I did not like it so much cause I felt it'll make me too reliant and so did not install it in my phone. In class, even with practical questions, I find students using it to get help. Instant gratification is what I think it offers and for that cause, I appreciate the traditional, old method of study with little to no computer help. That way, students make research for themselves and rather than.be fed already baked information and they learn through all the processes.
However, in this time and age, we need to adapt to the changing systems. Technology does help in making us reliant and spoon-feeding us so we don't do more research, and I don't say this as a compliment, but it's a little backward to rely on crude methods in these times when patterns to approaching students needs and readjusting the system is available.
Somehow, I find that we believe that the old ways of teaching, setting tests and using exams as yardstick for grading students as brilliant or not is still so believed in.
I would laugh if anyone thinks that I am smart for answering questions as I do in the hall. It's all cramming for the moment. I don't recall much not only because I don't study well enough but because some of these lecturers have certain expectations that are uncomfortable and unsuitable for my learning process. I mean, we should by now, have evolved yo accommodating different learning styles.
I mean, even with all the traditional Ness, we have not gotten to be more practical in studies. It's all theories with both workings and no real-life examples and applications as related to digitalization which evidently students are/ would be more drawn to.
As for exams, as much as I see some reason with why it's there, I would not lie that it doesn't get me pissed sometimes(like this past few weeks since I've been writing) but, letting students use their phones should be a no. It's an exam nau, a supposed test to guage how well they grabbed what was taught. I still believe exams work. On me, they sort of do. I still, from the whole study period and after the exams can quietly assess and tell myself on how true I have stayed to studying. It sure does do its work cause although there are loopholes in the system which I might want to lay my drawbacks on, I remind myself thar there are persons who have studied and aced truly.
Thanks for gracing this post.
Greetings!