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A grade is supposed to represent your ability and understanding of a topic, but that's only half the equation. Are exams an adequate proxy for ability and under
by ahelwer 9y ago
A grade is supposed to represent your ability and understanding of a topic, but that's only half the equation. Are exams an adequate proxy for ability and understanding of a topic? They aren't for me. When I want to understand something, I create something which requires and demonstrates that understanding - this could be a Wikipedia article, a piece of software, or a lecture. Nothing of value is demonstrated by sitting down for a few hours under extreme pressure and regurgitating my "understanding".
- WalterBright 9y agoI've never understood how someone could master a topic yet could not answer questions about it. I know from my own personal experience that when I bombed an exam, it's because I simply did not understand the material. When I did well on an exam, I had corresponding confidence that I understood it.
- ahelwer 9y agoIt is the difference between knowing "given a task in this knowledge area, I can accomplish it" and uselessly loading up on all that information to perform in a purely artificial situation the likes of which is never seen again.
- axedwool 9y agoSo, good preparation for how interviews work, then?
- plandis 9y agoConversely, I was able to pass (with As) some physics exams without really understanding. That became painfully obvious in my solid-state physics lab class.
- empath75 9y agoMemorizing a bunch of facts doesn’t demonstrate understanding of a topic.
- elihu 9y agoThat's a good point. Sometimes you need large, ambitious projects to both learn and demonstrate that learning. People learn to code well by working on big programs, and learn to write well by writing in depth on some subject. I guess you could sum it up as: the best test of whether a person is capable of creating something of value is to ask them to create something of value and see what happens.