And...done. Done marking midterms, that is. No, not the multiple choice ones. Actual long-answer, hand-written, sweat-stained essay exams. Exam on Thursday, done marking on Saturday. Not too bad. I once finished them in one day. Ah, but I was younger then, with eyes that focused and no daughter who always wants to play My Little Pony with me (I get to be Pinkie Pie!).
I try really hard to get exam results back as quickly as I can. As soon as a multiple choice exam is over, I walk it over to TSQS (Test Scoring and Questionnaire Services, of course). Many instructors just go back to their office and have their administrative assistant schlep them off via campus mail. Me, I prefer to have results back as quickly as I can. My best time ever was 2 hours, from exam over to results posted online.
I've heard that there should be a "cooling-off" period, but I don't know exactly why. Heck, I know a prof who has exams on which you scratch off your answer, like a lottery ticket. If you're right, you get full marks. If you're wrong, you get to scratch off another answer. Get that one right, and you get part marks. It's pretty cool, but it's apparently expensive to get the exams made up that way.
I like the nice people at TSQS. They've even helped me out of tight spots, when I've needed results back in a hurry. Normally, they promise 24 hours, but they regularly beat that, except at busy times, like during final exams.
Do you care either way? Would you like to have scratch-and-win exams? Or do you prefer to wait, even if you know the results have been posted?
Why aren't you studying?
The Exam Marking
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Scratch-and-win exams would be an interesting experience. It's a perfect fit for the modern at-my-finertips world.
Personally, I love the old-school style exams. The waiting period gives you that post-exam anxiety with the simultaneous relief. It's the essence of learning. I don't know what I'd do without that uncertainty... I would be completely lost.
I'm not sure I need to know my exam results RIGHT after I hand in my test, but I definitely like knowing sooner rather than later. I find that knowing how I did helps motivate me with the rest of my schoolwork (whether I did well or not)!
I have to say I'm pretty impressed about how quickly the written exams got marked... it was kind of unexpected!
I think the scratch-and-win exams would be kinda fun to do for a one-time thing. Instant feedback on an answer would help you learn something during the test (if you don't know it, you'll probably remember that you got it wrong and thus remember the right answer), and stimulate your thinking to help you on further questions. You would, of course, have to be careful selecting an answer before scratching it.
I don't tend to check my grades if I still have other exams with the next couple of days, because if I did poorly I would become anxious for my next exam, and if I did well I may become slightly overconfident. But otherwise, it's better to have the marks up sooner.
when i was in high school a history teacher once told us that a professor from the university he went to marked his exams by throwing them down the stairs and the ones landed on top of the stairs get a's, and the ones at the bottom would fail....that story scared the heck out of all of us.....=______=
"when i was in high school a history teacher once told us that a professor from the university he went to marked his exams by throwing them down the stairs and the ones landed on top of the stairs get a's, and the ones at the bottom would fail....that story scared the heck out of all of us...."
Hahaha, I wonder if we went to the same highschool/had the same teacher, because one of mine told us the same thing!
Anyhow, I HATE when exams arent given back/results arent posted in a timely manner! If theres too much time between getting your exam back, it almost doesnt matter anymore what you did right/wrong etc and your memory of having writtent the test isnt so great so you are less likely to learn from your mistakes. There is no excuse for not getting marks and exams back asap if it is m.c. and within the week if it is written. Its just laziness on the profs behalf. And I know there are hundreds of students, but profs have TA's, and we are under deadlines all the time, so not having the time is not an excuse. Thats just my personal rant about getting exams back soon.
@anonymous: Geez, are they still telling the story about tossing papers down a stairwell? I remember hearing that one when I was a student. Relax, it's just a legend...or is it? ;-D
hahah my english high school teacher actually did that. umm.. i wouldnt like the scratch tests myself, it doesn't allow me to take advantage of a lot of MC-testtaking skills i've gained :P. plus it'd be so nervewracking if you kept finding out you got something wrong
I would think that the scratch and win tests would be pretty cool, and even if you did get a few wrong at least it would motivate you to try harder on the other ones. The ones you get right would also be motivating for the other ones! Also if it were up to me I would like to have my exams back the moment I handed them in! I really don't like waiting and I have to give Dr. Loepelmann props for being one of the quickest mark posters I've ever had!
A scratch&win exam sounds cool. Often questions overlap and if you know the answer to one of the questions it could help you answer other questions. Getting to scratch another one for part marks is also a plus. On the other hand, if I got a couple questions in a row wrong I would get too anxious and start doubting myself and it would probably screw up the rest of the exam for me.