Friday, February 29, 2008

The Testy Test

I had a test last night. My preparation for it was not so great. I did glance through the notes but always managed to find something to distract myself with. My itchy fingers would be clicking the mouse going through random songs, surfing the net, blog tweaking, anything but to pay long enough attention to my notes to absorb them into my teeny tiny brain which is already partially filled with junk that academic stuff like this needs to force their way thru. Phew…

The test was for the subject called Facilities Engineering, Transportation and Storage. That’s quite a mouthful. Now, let’s break down the subject name. Facilities… hhmmm can be improved tremendously here in uni. 2 very important improvements would be our internet connection AND our mobile service provider reception.

The internet because I would truly appreciate a faster connection, I would love to download all the songs I want, watch youtube since Keropok has been supplying me loads of links or basically do whatever I want involving the internet.

The Service Provider (specifically Maxis) connections: because (hello!!!) I have a life outside of uni!! It really sucks that I can barely hear anything when I answer a call in my room.

Or that I need to walk out of the block to get better reception.

Or that I get bitten by a million mosquitoes when I’m outside on the phone.

Engineering – we’re all engineering students so I think this is self explanatory.

Transportation – I want wheels of my own!!

Storage – if you consider the boot of a car as temporary storage, I can fit 2 of me in Ah Sha’s car. Plus there is ample ventilation in her car boot, its extra special. You’ll know what I mean when you see it.

So going back on track to my post – the test. It was suppose to start at 8pm, however the lack of answer sheets got the test delayed to 8.30pm. I don’t think I did too well; I couldn’t answer all the questions and resorted to loads of random shooting (tembak-ing).

Once the test was over, Mdm Princess insisted we all stayed back and remain seated. And then The Lecture began. While the test was going on, the lecturer, Mdm Princess was prowling the test room with her 2 side-kicks and caught a substantial number of students with notes which they did not successfully hide from her bionic vision. Well, that and they were not smart enough la.

Mdm Princess was testy. So all of us had to listen to her going on about how bringing in notes is considered cheating and this should not be taking place, we’re final semester students and we should know better… this went on for a good 10 minutes. She lectured us the way a teacher would to a 10 year old child.

I like the part when she mentions that a lot of students signed up for this course (a grand total of 207 students, we cheered) because it has a reputation of being easy. We all instantly gave a horrified look and said, Easy??? No way!!! The test was prove that the subject is hard. Right, who am I kidding? I heard the exact same thing from my seniors and that’s why I signed up for the course.

Well, I have 2 opinions in this incident.

First: I believe she had a reason to tell us that she is unhappy with the fact that we cheated. And yes, we are at the very tail end of our undergraduate stint here, we know better. In no place of education I know, cheating is allowed, acceptable nor look highly upon. 5 minutes is really nothing, I have endured far worst before. So she did have a point. We should not cheat, if we were not prepared, then we pay the price of not doing well. Sounds fair, after all, no pain, no gain.

I have copied once during a test, got caught and failed. That test contributed 15% of my coursework. It was a horrible experience, one I will never want to repeat. But in failing me, the lecturer also taught me a good lesson in integrity. So for that, I thank you.

Second: we are freaking 20++ years olds, you could spare us the lecture. Or just hold back those who cheated and lecture them instead.

Meantime, she has yet to decide on the punishments for those caught cheating. I would say, give us non-cheating students bonus marks, a 10% bonus would be just nice :). For those who cheated, well, fail them! *evil laugh*

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha nice one....hey fail those who cheated?? Isn't that just mean :P...final year la cut them some slack :)

Ganymede said...

So much for the guilt speech bla bla ra ra ra...

Ohkulala said...

Lady D: yeah, i think the lecturer would be cruel to fail them for this course. imagine the horror of staying back for an extra sem just to complete one subject.

QR: hahaha... well, i did say 2 different opinions.