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I never understood why americans do their exams with multi-option tests. Even if you don't cheat, these tests don't actually test knowledge, just memoization.
by golergka 2y ago
I never understood why americans do their exams with multi-option tests. Even if you don't cheat, these tests don't actually test knowledge, just memoization.
For me a proper exam is when you get a topic, spend 30 minutes in a classroom preparing, and then sit down with an examiner to tell him about this topic and answer all the follow-up questions.
We don't do multi-option tests at software interviews, and for a good reason. Why do them in a uni?
- jasperry 2y agoA big reason is that it's quicker and more objective to grade, making the heavy workload of teachers a little easier to shoulder. I don't completely agree that multiple-choice questions can't test real knowledge. It is possible to write multiple-choice questions that require deep thinking and problem solving to select the correct answer (modulo a 25% chance of getting it right with a guess.) It's true that MC questions can't evaluate the problem-solving process. You can't see how the student thought or worked through the problem unless you have them write things out. But again, that's a tradeoff with the time it takes to evaluate the students' responses.