Science Library

I like the idea of argumenting the stupidity…meanwhile the examination format of the university has been so dissatisfying these last semesters; most have been transformed to the series of picking up the most correct option and encircling the answer papers. These indeed make us feel stupid, but this is a different type of stupidity.

I think I prefer to feel stupid because of facing something which in the end has to make me state, “well, I don’t know, but let’s try to do this and see what happens.” rather than feel stupid because I don’t know which option is correct and when I open the textbook I can always find the answer. That part of science…where we have to deal with exams and competition to get as highest mark as possible…is not very entertaining yet unavoidable as it serves as foundation of basic knowledge.

Hopefully the examination in biological sciences can be transformed back to analitical format, because how foundation of knowledge is seeded to every head of scientists-going-to-be really depends on how curriculum format and exam format are constructed.

I think that Thersia is making a good point. I wonder how the obsession with exam-based education is helping us to educate students to become scientists. The Blue Ribbon Commission guidelines seem to be on the right track, but I wonder how well they will succeed with A) crazy huge class sizes B) lack of teaching support and C) people who don’t seem to understand them to the extent that they perhaps could be perceived as possibly undermining them because they have so much invested in the status quo.