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Uni CS lecturer here: It's not the writing itself that is important, it's the ability to communicate ideas and express one's own thoughts. I use writing on exa

Uni CS lecturer here: It's not the writing itself that is important, it's the ability to communicate ideas and express one's own thoughts. I use writing on exams as a way to determine what the student actually knows about a particular thing. It's not a perfect metric by any stretch, but it's one of the few that we have to test knowledge of a subject (theoretical knowledge) versus a practical demonstration (project or code).

hirvi74 2y ago
Why not use more oral exams? It'd be quite difficult for me to cheat on an algorithms examination if you and I were talking back and forth in real time. I understand time is probably a factor, but I still think such assessments could be conducted. I had foreign-language assessments and musical assessments conducted in such a manner at the university level. Not to mention, when those students apply for many of the jobs out there, they might have gained some useful skills for interviewing, conversing with team members, etc.. I'm not opposed to some writing, but it seems like our education system believes it to be the only medium that matters.
- agiacalone 2y ago
  > Why not use more oral exams? ... I understand time is probably a factor We do this, actually. Usually in the form of project demos when students complete a longer project. But also consider: I have ~200-250 students a semester. Even at 10 minutes a student per semester (and really...how much can I learn about a student in 10 minutes??) that's a whole lot of hours. I also don't get paid hourly. I also don't get paid a lot. Teaching isn't exactly a high-paying job in the state Uni system.