Update 113-01
Update 113-01
Finals: OVER
16th December 2006
12:29 AM
Finals are finally over. Huzzah!! Just came back from coffee with friends and my mum's kinda pissed that I came home at 12. Ah well. Finals are over... Here's to two weeks of
vacation filming! I got a couple of gigs this week with regards to that. I'll explain more in a few subsequent posts.
Anyway, I think that for the first time in my life, I can easily say that I have done pretty decently in every subject... Except film, ironically enough. Save for that, this has essentially been one of the best exams ever - And I didn't even study
at all that hard. For the first time also in a lonnnggg longggg history of deprivation, I had this big-ass fresh lobster dinner last night. Was absolutely heavenly. It made sacrificing 3 hours of study time worthwhile (Not that I studied when I got home anyway). Luckily for me though, I finished my sociology exam the next day in thirty minutes.
Speaking of which, this brings me to the crux of this post: Exams in an American university. Although my results have yet to be released, I can state with a reasonable degree of certainty that I'm definitely not going to fail anything (Unlike Singapore...)
Why?
Well, its not because I've grown any smarter since I got here, nor have I became any more hardworking. Rather, it's because of the way the examination system here is structured. First of all, my exams are only based on a quarter system (3 months), so I don't have to study stuff based on entire school year's curriculum (Or two years in IB's case). This effectively means that I can commit everything to short term memory and still score. Furthermore, the tests they give twice a quarter are not cumulative - Meaning once you take a mid-term exam, you won't be tested on its contents again for the finals. How cool is that?
The biggest difference however, resides in the amount of time you are allocated. Ever felt so pressed for time in Singapore? They typically give you about 2 hours to complete a few essays for social sciences or make a literary commentary for English. I bet many of you have suffered from bad planning, decided to write your essay while planning it out in your mind simultaneously, or scrambled at the last 15 min of the exam, furiously writing your final points. Not so in America.
In the US, you are given THREE WHOLE hours. That's right. For every subject too. I can just take my time, write a detailed draft, or plan out everything succinctly down to the smallest detail. You can even take a whole good hour or half to just outline your essay. To top it off, not only do you get three hours, but they typically only ask you to write one or two essays - Unlike Sunny Isle where they make you answer a few dozen SBQs and SEQs for everything. I had so much time that I wrote a ten page essay for US History, and a 7 page essay for Politics. My hands are extremely muscular now. Anyhow, point is: So you can basically write as long as you want - Or as little as you want. Yes you heard me. As little as you want too...
The best part about the testing system here is that although they allocate three hours to the exam, you can take however little time you want. Let's say you're a genius/jackass who completes his paper in 2 hours. Do you have to wait around, stone, and dig your nose for the next hour or so tossing your paper back and forth for 'corrections'? Nope. You can just stand up, hand your paper in, and leave. Some people are so smart/stupid that they only took 15 minutes to hand their paper in and leave. I really love this aspect of the testing system. You are not pressured to either stay or leave. It bestows upon you the liberty over how you want to conduct your own test. Its not like in Singapore where you're forced to be confined to an exam hall for the ENTIRE duration of the test - Even if you're done early. Not so down here. To top it of, you don't have to undergo that entire strict protocol crap that dictates examination rituals. I'm not saying they let you cheat or anything because they most certainly dont, but they dont have that entire bullshit about not allowing correction tape, when you can use the bathroom, or putting your bags in front either.
I think that this system is truly superior to the Singaporean model. Firstly, you're not pressured into writing hastily or executing bad judgment. You dont have to rush anything. You're allowed to sit down, think, and most of all plan how you wanna do your paper. You are never put in a spot where you have to chiong-ing everything all at once. This allows you to excel to your FULL capabilities. Moreover, the timing of the exam is so flexible that you can leave the area anytime once you're done with your paper. If you're ready to turn in your paper, you should be allowed to submit it and leave. I don't get why Singapore forces you to sit in a freezing cold auditorium and doze off for an hour or so waiting for the examination to conclude. There's no rationale in that. So what if they want to force you to check your paper thoroughly? Shouldn't that be your own personal call and be decided by you alone as the test taker? It is for the reasons mentioned above that I truly believe the American system triumphs over the Singaporean system. If Singapore is to eventually reform and rejuvenate its stagnant educational policies, then it has to be more open minded, tolerant, and accepting of each individual's different paces and allow them to excel and take the paper however which way they deem appropriate.
Wow. This has been my first vaguely intellectual post in a long time. Feels good trying to act smart ^_^
