Psychology Exam Rant
Wednesday, January 18th, 2006 03:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mothwingCrocky is sitting her French Exam at the moment, so keep your fingers crossed!!
For me, there's only one exam to go, then the lectures start again on Monday. Phew, I'm glad that psy is over! MCQ papers suck! My reward centre is in my medulla, and not in my medial forebrain bundle, for me, being rewarded is an autonomic function! Sigh. Teh stoopid.
Well, for most people, it was worse, I guess. At least the beginning.
After having been shooed to our seats by the less-than-friendly janitor (who approaches the waiting students standing in front of the Hunter Halls, takes a deep breath, and keeps yelling: "QUIET please if you have a mobile phone please switch 'i orf and hurry along ter yer seats as queckley as ye can!!!" as he marches in. Friendly, no?), we were told to start.
There were two parts, one essay, and a section of 80 nasty MCQs. The essay questions were nice enough, though. I was still reading the essay questions, gasps and laments arose all around me.
I took a look at the MCQs and behold -
Questions on behaviour. Fine. We have covered behaviour, so at first I didn't notice what caused the dismay, but... reading on... there were just fewer and fewer things I knew - and what I knew I knew from my classes in Germany. We did cover behaviour. But not group behaviour. Nor social learning. Nor... any of the other things.
There was just nothing on Biology and Experiments, which was our topic, but there were loads of questions on theories of Rogers, Piaget, Ellis, Beck, or on mood disorders...
In short, things which we officially had never heard before, at least not in the lectures. I have never seen so many white faces.
After a while, luckily, Prof. O'Donnel noticed what was wrong.
"Uh, may I have your attention, please, it seems that we have the wrong MCQ paper... this is the one for semester two."
I thought that only ever happened in daydreams of ill-prepared students! What a good start!
Well, it could only get better, and it did. I have never had so many questions in a test in which I simply didn't know. Well, the fact that I won't need the mark and that the credit I get for this course is more or less just for fun did not help my work ethos... but seriously! There were questions in there dealing with things I have not ever heard of even once! Ah, well.
Apart from that, British students never fail to amaze me. After the debacle with the papers, our examiners left the room for a few minutes.
I know how German students react to that. They engage in team work and group-based problem solving.
Here?
Not a word. The guy next to Crocky behind me kept busily copying my essay plan, but there was just. no. talk.
Nobody ever even tried to ask the others what they were doing there. Maybe I have been spoilt by my school, but still... weird.
Well, only Friday to go. Pinter, Shakespeare, James and random poet, here I come.
For me, there's only one exam to go, then the lectures start again on Monday. Phew, I'm glad that psy is over! MCQ papers suck! My reward centre is in my medulla, and not in my medial forebrain bundle, for me, being rewarded is an autonomic function! Sigh. Teh stoopid.
Well, for most people, it was worse, I guess. At least the beginning.
After having been shooed to our seats by the less-than-friendly janitor (who approaches the waiting students standing in front of the Hunter Halls, takes a deep breath, and keeps yelling: "QUIET please if you have a mobile phone please switch 'i orf and hurry along ter yer seats as queckley as ye can!!!" as he marches in. Friendly, no?), we were told to start.
There were two parts, one essay, and a section of 80 nasty MCQs. The essay questions were nice enough, though. I was still reading the essay questions, gasps and laments arose all around me.
I took a look at the MCQs and behold -
Questions on behaviour. Fine. We have covered behaviour, so at first I didn't notice what caused the dismay, but... reading on... there were just fewer and fewer things I knew - and what I knew I knew from my classes in Germany. We did cover behaviour. But not group behaviour. Nor social learning. Nor... any of the other things.
There was just nothing on Biology and Experiments, which was our topic, but there were loads of questions on theories of Rogers, Piaget, Ellis, Beck, or on mood disorders...
In short, things which we officially had never heard before, at least not in the lectures. I have never seen so many white faces.
After a while, luckily, Prof. O'Donnel noticed what was wrong.
"Uh, may I have your attention, please, it seems that we have the wrong MCQ paper... this is the one for semester two."
I thought that only ever happened in daydreams of ill-prepared students! What a good start!
Well, it could only get better, and it did. I have never had so many questions in a test in which I simply didn't know. Well, the fact that I won't need the mark and that the credit I get for this course is more or less just for fun did not help my work ethos... but seriously! There were questions in there dealing with things I have not ever heard of even once! Ah, well.
Apart from that, British students never fail to amaze me. After the debacle with the papers, our examiners left the room for a few minutes.
I know how German students react to that. They engage in team work and group-based problem solving.
Here?
Not a word. The guy next to Crocky behind me kept busily copying my essay plan, but there was just. no. talk.
Nobody ever even tried to ask the others what they were doing there. Maybe I have been spoilt by my school, but still... weird.
Well, only Friday to go. Pinter, Shakespeare, James and random poet, here I come.
