November 12, 1998
November 12, 1998Alison Mackie
Staff Writer
| There are exactly 30 days until the first
scheduled day of exams. For me and many others, that statistic causes a
serious case of freak-out.
I’ve been doing some mad calculations to come up with the scores that will get me safely to my destination of passed classes. Those pre-exam nightmares are already filtering into my nightly dream sequences. If you have had the dream where the professor hands everyone a nice sharp pencil to fill in those exam bubbles, and you get a purple toothbrush by mistake, you are not alone. But besides being either melodramatic (my problem) or just naturally high strung near test time, a healthy dose of anxiety is normal. The one thing that really fuels my insanity each semester around this time is knowing that there are some professors who have absolutely no intentions of supporting their students in making a good grade. You know the ones I’m talking about. Besides having horns and a tail, they are the ones who act like it insults them to give any sort of direction in attempting to pass their test. Condescending, unavailable, and ANAL may also come to mind. This type, fortunately, only amounts to a handful of professors in the otherwise supportive ASU staff. Another quirk in the exam-o-rama coming up is the skill required to be successful in taking a test. Forget that you know the material in two different languages, the tough part is cranking it out under pressure in whatever form the professor may request. Can you decipher a correct answer as opposed to an excellent answer? Rarely. Can you write a detailed essay in 20 minutes? Almost never. Can you do two back flips on the way into class? This is a possibility. |
Test taking is a skill
that develops solely by experience. Adjusting to each teacher’s method
is difficult, but it’s the only way to whip your exams and surpass your
teacher’s expectations. Sometimes, no matter how tedious your preparations, the results of an exam just don’t measure up to the number you want and need. It’s frustrating to finish a class knowing much more than your grade reflects. And we all know that groveling over points doesn’t help. The test wasn’t fair; most of the students failed it; there was more than one correct answer; the chances that these pleas will affect your professor’s decision are slim to none. I heard someone say that grades may not necessarily reflect what you know, but they reflect your discipline in the course. That confuses me. So, is it discipline that I need to get a good job or the subject matter from my classes? Is our grade point average really a discipline point average? Well, I think it depends on which professor you talk to. Sometimes even your discipline doesn’t reflect your grade. It seems to me that if it is obvious to a professor that certain students attend all classes, put ample time into the subject and come away with a clear and developed understanding of it, that should help them if their grade is low. I think it’s probably a mix of discipline and knowledge in a course that counts in the end, but this combo still doesn’t always result in an A or B. So if you start to lose it near the crunch of exam time and passing seems impossible, you could always resort to butt kissing or cheating. But you should know that these result mostly in bad breath and a super guilty conscience. Otherwise, hang in there. |