I'm marking end of half-term exam papers for my A Level Biology students. I had to come and play with the computer for a few minutes to vent my feelings... I am finding it extremely frustrating to note that so few of the students concerned have bothered to listen to anything I told them...(Little things like "Now, you need to know the general structure of an amino acid, so make sure you learn it by heart, because you may be asked to draw it in the exam..." and "You must be able to identify the R-group on an amino acid, because that often comes up in exams...")
My one consolation? They obviously haven't listened to the Head of Biology either, because they got his questions wrong too...
Then these urchins act surprised that you are so prescient re: what would be on the exam. "My God, it's a wonder 'Miss' hasn't won the lottery yet, she's so clairvoyant!"
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting this. I experience the same thing with university students. I'm wondering whether our culture of teaching to the exam has now gotten so bad that many avergae but poptentially good students are just entirely passive. In a room of twelve undergraduates this morning, only two of them had read any French at all this week. 'So, you're going to learn by telepathy, are you?' I said. 'Ho, ho ho,' they all said, highly amused, before going off to spend the rest of the day on Facebook no doubt.
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