4 ms·

Not the comprehensive physics exams I assigned as a prof. A well set exam takes at least 20-30 min to grade. That's 8-12 hours of work, and in practice, took se

Not the comprehensive physics exams I assigned as a prof. A well set exam takes at least 20-30 min to grade. That's 8-12 hours of work, and in practice, took several sittings over several days. If you are going to set an exam that can be graded in 5-10 min, you are not getting a lot of signal out of it. I wanted to do oral exams, but they are much more exhausting for the prof. Nominally, each student is with you for 30 min, but (1) you need to think of slightly different question for each student (2) you need to squeeze all the exams in only a couple of days to avoid giving later students too much extra time to prepare.

thaumasiotes 9mo ago
> If you are going to set an exam that can be graded in 5-10 min, you are not getting a lot of signal out of it. That's entirely false; this is why we have multiple-choice tests.
- fn-mote 9mo ago
  On the surface, true. Multiple choice tests are a counter example. Thinking deeper, though, multiple choice tests require SIGNIFICANTLY more preparation. I would go so far as to say almost all individual professors are completely unqualified to write valid multiple choice tests. The time investment in multiple choice comes at the start - 12 hours writing it instead of 12 hours grading it - but it’s still a lot of time and frankly there is only very general feedback on student misunderstandings.
  - cedilla 9mo ago
    Is this a new thing or do you think that most professors were always unable to do their job? Why do you think you are an exception? I don't believe that your argument is more than an ad-hoc value judgment lacking justification. And it's obvious that if you think so little of your colleagues, that they would also struggle to implement AI tests.
- ninalanyon 9mo ago
  When I studied for my degree there were no multiple choice tests. In the final every question required a narrative answer justifying the conclusion.
- abdullahkhalids 9mo ago
  I have never, on my own free will, assigned multiple-choice questions in a serious course. And never will. - They have a base marks of 20-25% (by random guessing) instead of 0. - You never see the working. So you can't check if students are thinking correctly. Slightly wrong thinking can get you right answers. - They don't even remotely reflect real life at all. Written worked through problems on the other hand - I still do those in my professional life as a scientist all the time. It's just that I am setting the questions for myself. - The format doesn't allow for extended thought questions. In my undergrad, I had some excellent profs who would set long work through exam question in such a way that you learned something even in the exams. Simply a joy taking those exams that gave a comprehensive walk through of the course. As a prof, I have always tried to replicate that.

thaumasiotes 9mo ago

> If you are going to set an exam that can be graded in 5-10 min, you are not getting a lot of signal out of it. That's entirely false; this is why we have multiple-choice tests.

fn-mote 9mo ago
On the surface, true. Multiple choice tests are a counter example. Thinking deeper, though, multiple choice tests require SIGNIFICANTLY more preparation. I would go so far as to say almost all individual professors are completely unqualified to write valid multiple choice tests. The time investment in multiple choice comes at the start - 12 hours writing it instead of 12 hours grading it - but it’s still a lot of time and frankly there is only very general feedback on student misunderstandings.
- cedilla 9mo ago
  Is this a new thing or do you think that most professors were always unable to do their job? Why do you think you are an exception? I don't believe that your argument is more than an ad-hoc value judgment lacking justification. And it's obvious that if you think so little of your colleagues, that they would also struggle to implement AI tests.
ninalanyon 9mo ago
When I studied for my degree there were no multiple choice tests. In the final every question required a narrative answer justifying the conclusion.
abdullahkhalids 9mo ago
I have never, on my own free will, assigned multiple-choice questions in a serious course. And never will. - They have a base marks of 20-25% (by random guessing) instead of 0. - You never see the working. So you can't check if students are thinking correctly. Slightly wrong thinking can get you right answers. - They don't even remotely reflect real life at all. Written worked through problems on the other hand - I still do those in my professional life as a scientist all the time. It's just that I am setting the questions for myself. - The format doesn't allow for extended thought questions. In my undergrad, I had some excellent profs who would set long work through exam question in such a way that you learned something even in the exams. Simply a joy taking those exams that gave a comprehensive walk through of the course. As a prof, I have always tried to replicate that.