Exams

Now the real work begins.

My students wrote their final exam this morning. I have 134 students in my Existentialism class. This is pretty impressive when you consider the class is an elective and only Philosophy majors can take it!

A major difference between universities in Canada and here is the evaluation of students. Here the final exam counts for 100% of the course mark. I have given the students small assignments through the term but these were optional and not for marks.

The exam is it.

All the work through the semester comes down to how well you perform in a three hour period. I'll also point out, that three hour period was from 7:30am to 10:30am on a Sunday morning.

Plus, unlike in Canada, there are no exceptions, no special allowances or dispensations, no alternative dates and times. As one person described it to me, about the only way you can write the exam at another time is if you pass out during the exam; you and the exam will be rushed to hospital and when you wake up a pen will be put in your hand.

You can imagine the stress this places on students. And the security surrounding the exams: drafts are immediately shredded, copies aren't emailed but are hand delivered by senior members of the university, and this morning at the building where my students wrote was a security guard in fatigues and jack boots. I didn't notice if he had a gun, but I think he had a baton.

Another difference is that I was not present for the exam. I showed up at 7:10 to check that the exam itself was correct and then came back at 10:30 to collect the 'scripts'. I only saw a few of my students. But the good news is they thought the exam was fair.

I actually had students come by my office yesterday, on a Saturday, with the expectation (not hope) that they would see me and ask questions about the exam. I declined. But Mawuli, who is my class assistance, one of the National Service guys, and has been sitting in on the class all semester told some students he would lead a study session on Saturday in the office he shares with other NS workers. I saw him when I came in yesterday and he told me about his plan. I said in lieu of actually meeting with students I would wander down the hall and spend a few minutes with them.

Word got out.

Later, when I left my office there was a crowd of students flowing out into the hall, and in total about 25-30 students jammed into the room. I spent a half hour with them. It was actually a lot of fun, more than lecturing in a big hall to 130 of them.

I have just over two weeks left here, and a good chunk of that will now be spent marking.