While studying we also discussed how the exam itself is a game. You do not have to get the best score to win, you just need to get a better score than the majority of the class. Beating the curve is what is important. Everyone in the class is a competitor. I am not sure if this is beneficial because it causes students to compete or if it deters people from wanting to be the best since being better than the majority is just as beneficial.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Game of Studying
Last week I was studying with a couple of friends for an exam I had yesterday. While going over the information, we were trying to guess what questions the professor was going to put on the exam. We made a game out of it. Instead of the person with the most right answers winning, the person who came up with the best questions won. This is how studying is, I think. People try to get into the professor's mind in order to win by getting a good score on the exam.
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Since I'm from holland I don't feel the pressure of 'beeting the curve' and I don't see my classmates as competitiors at all but your blog made me think about a story my international friend from singapore told me. In Singapore they also have a system with a curve. Since the Universities in Singapore are really good, a lot of chinese students want to go there, because of this the smartest, brightest most commited chinese students come to singapore. This is really hard on some of the Singaporeans because of all those smart chinese students (who keep getting straight A's) the students from singapore are basiclly forsed to be as committed and dedicated to their study as the chinese students are or otherwise there is a big chance they will peform bellow the curve.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how hard it is dealing with such a system and I don't understand why univerities keep using this system when it seems to only cause 'hate' and to much stress that can leas to lots of psychological and physical problems for students.
All that I can propose is come to Europe and see how it can be different...
Elise
It's interesting because many classmates study together, yet they don't realize that they are each other's biggest competitors. In high school I used to study with my friend, who with out a doubt was smarter than me. However, I was always better at thinking of ways to remember things...so that was my job. What I didn't realize was that she was effecting the curve and bringing my grade down essentially. I thought we were helping each other, but she was really just hurting me.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you are helping your competition, you're only helping maybe one or two people out of the class. The huge payoff, though, is that you should be learning a ton from your study session with classmates. Although they'll do better, you will, too. Sure you're competing with them, but you're also competing with the rest of the class, and who knows how many of them are mutually helping each other. Overall, it's probably the best strategy to help each other out in small groups if it'll help you get a better grade.
ReplyDeleteWhat if you're clearly the smarter one though, what reason would there to be help your competition then? They say teaching is the best way to ensure that you know your topic, and so I believe you should still practice by teaching your classmates. Additionally, is a friendship's happiness worth less than a class curve of a few points?
I have to say, I have never really thought of studying or tests as a game, and you propose an interesting idea. I agree with your first idea of thinking of possible test questions while you study. while looking over notes, and going through past lectures, thinking of possible test questions is a great way to get your brain thinking about the test. It allows you to put yourself in the shoes of the professor and think of what you would test the students on. I think that this is a great strategy. However, I have to say I disagree with your second point that exams are like games and that you only have to be better than the majority to benefit. Exams are a way of ranking and yes while you do compete against your classmates, you do show off your intelligence, and students should be ranked. For some students getting a C in the class is good enough and they don't necessarily need to be above the majority to reach that goal. In other cases what if a student takes a class pass fail. Just because they don't beat the average, doesn't mean they did not pass the test. I think that these are just a few things to consider about your thought on the idea that exams are like games.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree and never thought of studying/ test-taking this way. As I am studying, I look at my previous exams from that professor and strategize based on their previous questions/ trends. As I read over the material, I constantly think about the likelihood of material being on it, and what I can probably skip over. I think that the competitive nature of the grading system has caused students to not fully learn and engage in the material, but to memorize what they think the professor wants them to know and what they think will be on the exam.
ReplyDeleteI think that another strategy I have seen is meeting with teachers before exams. Students are able to strategically form questions to get more information out of their teachers. We all just want to get ahead of our peers. I have seen students not tell others information that they know so that they do better than them. I think that this system has gotten out of control and changed our learning process. We focus more on our grades, not absorbing the material.
Your blog post was really interesting. I think that the concept of a curve does have negative impacts on the classroom. I don't think that students are deterred from wanting to be the best since better than the majority is just as beneficial because even with a curve, there still technically is a "best." Students still have to work hard to get the best possible grade. They have to beat out the others. I think that this competition is healthy. However, I think that the concept of a curve can hurt students self-esteem. I always hear my friends taking orgo say that the average test score was in the 60's and that the highest was just an 75% or 80%. Earning the highest grade in the class on a test is undoubtedly an amazing feeling. However, when this grade is only a 75%, it doesn't really feel so great anymore. I'd much rather have an A and not have the highest grade in the class. Further, if a student earned a 60% on a test and the curve brought the score up to a 75%, it doesn't change the fact that the student earned a 60%. Even though curving brings grades up, it doesn't mean that the student did that much better. The new grade doesn't actually reflect the student's knowledge. Or, it just shows that the test are too hard.
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