Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Dear students: During the quiz is a heck of a time to try to learn queuing theory.

9 comments:

  1. Do you allow lecture notes during exam ?

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  2. A high-school teacher said, "Never cram. If you don't know it the night before the test, you're not going to know it the morning of."

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  3. Which is wrong...
    But it is right as the thing you cram will not stay long.

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  4. Were you actually testing on it, or were your students having trouble forming up in optimal lines?

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  5. Olivier Malinur Yep...open book, open notes. (Closed Internet, closed neighbor)

    Bob Lai I have an anecdotal experience that disproves this. I was in my 3rd year, undergrad mechanical engineering, cramming for a Thermodynamics II final exam the night before, and suddenly, I had an epiphany and completely understood everything we had been discussing the entire semester. There was an audible (IIRC) click in my brain and it all made sense. I closed the book and went to bed. Earlier in the quarter, I had struggled to even pass the midterm due to just not grokking the concepts, but the last-minute cramming finally made it all sync up. I got a 100% on the final exam and an A- for the class (due to the prof letting us allocate the weights to our tests). So, I'm a fan of using available time for review, but I also recognize the value of sleep to help the mind work effectively.

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  6. Craig Froehle The instructor's remarks were largely directed at the gentlemen sitting in the hall before the test, still trying to review the material.

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  7. Bob Lai Ah, yeah, moments before the test is not a time to cram, but rather a time to relax, collect oneself, and focus.

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  8. Our exam of stratigraphy was very simple: we had a huge spreadsheet with chemical and mineralogical analysis of 2 core samples on both side of the South Atlantic ridge.
    The question was simple as well: "from these sample analysis, retrace an history of southern Atlantic from Cretaceous"
    The notes were allowed. Notes were just there to support your deductions. They might in fact slow you down if you are not aware of what to search for.

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Now I'm doubly intrigued!

Now I'm doubly intrigued!