well I mean oral exams tests are kinda like written exams with a lot of open questions except that you talk instead of writing. It's not like you automatically pass in oral exams either, I've got 2 classmates and they both got an F in biology. One of them got an F in english, and hilariously it wasn't the one who kept mispronouncing bitches.

Dandel Ion

Austria17960 Posts

May 29 2015 12:03 GMT

#101982

the idea behind it is that written exams can't properly show understanding of a subject and if you have to explain it verbally it's easier to see if you understand it or not. since the final exams are supposed to show that you are ready to go into the world as a mature adult and shit (rofl)

ofc it's also bullshit but so are written exams
ofc it's basically a lottery but so are written exams
ofc you're fucked if you're bad in spoken settings, but what about people bad in written settings? That's part of why you do both written and verbal, so you have to show you can do both. theoretically anyway

honestly final exams are bullshit either way so might as well keep going with what you have lel

Numy

South Africa35471 Posts

May 29 2015 12:06 GMT

#101983

Ye finals exams are bullshit but I just don't see how an oral exam is the same as a written for science stuff. Do you go through how you'd solve a problem? It's been awhile but physics in highschool is mainly Newtonian stuff in 2 dimensions so do the guys then go through a problem orally and you tell them how to solve it? So is any problem solving in physics/chemistry etc. just not done at all. I don't know how you can go do STEM stuff without showing your ability to solve systems/problems lol.

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

May 29 2015 12:09 GMT

#101984

I mean in newtonian stuff you'd probably solve a problem or 2 if you got something like electric current in liquids and gases you'd probably just talk about concepts.

Numy

South Africa35471 Posts

May 29 2015 12:15 GMT

#101985

Wouldn't that mean the exam is really inconsistent then? One person can be solving a problem which requires a different set of skills to another guy just going through a concept yet both could get the same mark subject while being tested in widely different ways? This is breaking my mind.

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

May 29 2015 12:16 GMT

#101986

well yeah, what you have to do is you have to sacrifice a goat and use its blood as lubricant to placate RNGesus so you can lottery the question you want.

Numy

South Africa35471 Posts

May 29 2015 12:20 GMT

#101987

Dam you could have told me this before my exam yesterday. Does it have to be a specific kind of goat?

Dandel Ion

Austria17960 Posts

May 29 2015 12:20 GMT

#101988

solving a problem doesn't prove anything apart from your ability to solve that specific problem

if you can't do that then in theory you won't graduate anyway since that's already what you have to do on tests all through your school career

final exam that qualifies for university is supposed to test real understanding so the unis know you're not just a tool that's able to memorize things well.

again that's just the idea, I'm not saying I agree with that shit

like the random questions - it's supposed to show that you could have answered any question since you could have gotten any and theoretically should prepare for them all
but you always have the people that only learn for 4-5 questions and then luck out and pass anyway making it look real silly

it's shit but i haven't seen a meaningful final exam format anywhere in the world, so no real desire to get it changed exists

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

May 29 2015 12:23 GMT

#101989

call me a girl but I like the dress up aspect of it

I get to roleplay someone who looks intelligent

Prog

United Kingdom1470 Posts

May 29 2015 12:24 GMT

#101990

My oral science final was more like explaining theories and explanatory relations in them than "solving problems". For physics I remember having to explain some relativity stuff (with standard thought experiments) and a basic quantum mechanical account of superconductivity (which was something that I wrote a paper on as part of my finals). But I didn't have to do any actual math. For chemistry it was similarly about explaining how certain bondings work in organic chemistry. Again no concrete problem to solve at all.

There was no general standard for oral exams though, which may be different nowadays.

Numy

South Africa35471 Posts

May 29 2015 12:26 GMT

#101991

On May 29 2015 21:23 Scip wrote:
call me a girl but I like the dress up aspect of it

I get to roleplay someone who looks intelligent

Haha dressing up is cool. Doing our project presentations in fancy suits at uni was really cool. Although I had to wait like 4 hours for my partner to show up because he had to take his mom to the hospital last minute.

It just seems to me the more "unfair" format as it isn't consistent across the testing base. Even if written exams are bullshit at least they are bullshit for everyone taking. Having both is prob the best compromise atm.

edit: FUCK YOU BLIZZARD AND YOUR LOREWALKER CHO. I was so excited to see the yellow.

Dandel Ion

Austria17960 Posts

May 29 2015 12:27 GMT

#101992

my little brother is going to have the standardized exam next year, the feedback is "it's a joke now lol"

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

May 29 2015 12:28 GMT

#101993

oh yeah, the oral exams are super RNG heavy and everyone knows it. Even in the opening speech or smt they wished us to get good questions LOL

well like it depends, I could probably lose a grade on either literature or physics if I picked the worst question, but for people who suck or don't study everything equally little the difference can be worse.

jcarlsoniv

United States27922 Posts

May 29 2015 12:45 GMT

#101994

@mordek - I feel like no one acknowledged it, but sad days for not getting an interview =(

I assume it was for gaming industry?

Alaric

France45622 Posts

May 29 2015 13:43 GMT

#101995

Y'know, Scip having the Eve portrait rather than Skarner or Rammus makes more sense now that he talked up the "dress up" aspect of things.

GhandiEAGLE

United States20754 Posts

May 29 2015 13:46 GMT

#101996

Hey Scip!

ComaDose

Canada10357 Posts

May 29 2015 13:52 GMT

#101997

my mind is also broken by this. You get to choose some subjects to be in your final exams. so like, do you get a grade in each course but you don't have to "write" an exam in each of them? So you can try and boost a low mark or pick a good one? The entire idea of answering just one question in 15 min to determine a large part of a science class grade obviously makes no fucking sense. Or do you just get one grade. what if you choose no science but then apply to a science school... Compared to the system here where you write a specific exam for each course 1.5-2hrs long worth like 20-40% of your grade in that class. So your physics exam would cover everything you covered in that course ideally. Other classes only have it cover what you have learned since the midterm. Your way seems to fall really short of actually evaluating someones knowledge. But grats on doing well!

JonGalt

Pootie too good!4331 Posts

May 29 2015 14:28 GMT

#101998

Hai guys

ComaDose

Canada10357 Posts

May 29 2015 14:33 GMT

#101999

who is that?

On May 29 2015 23:34 jcarlsoniv wrote:
So I'm thinking I need some new pillows, and definitely need to get some pillowcases. What do you guys use/normally look for in those things?

Note - I greatly dislike tempurpedic things.

personally $20-30 pillows from wallmart get a new one like every year and throw out the floppiest one. keep 3 in bed. i generally change my pillow case every other day in my ongoing battle with adult acne so I have cheep ones there too but the thread count is generally the only quantifiable quality metric.

jcarlsoniv

United States27922 Posts

May 29 2015 14:34 GMT

#102000

So I'm thinking I need some new pillows, and definitely need to get some pillowcases. What do you guys use/normally look for in those things?

Note - I greatly dislike tempurpedic things.