Exams Also Teach

Barring rain, snow, hail, sleet, gloom of night, or incompetence in high places, every student will soon see his grades. But the man who wants his bluebook back may find that some departments won't let him do more than peck at it.

Nobody can quite explain this situation. Some course officials cite a "college ruling" that says departments should keep bluebooks. There is no such regulation. This refusal to let students get exams back has become law only by force of tradition.

Instructors don't want to give up examination papers until after turning in grades; if there is then an error or discrepancy with later records, an immediate check can be made. For this reason several departments hold the books as long as two years. But, to avoid later controversy, instructors could require that students taking their books sign slips confirming the grade. Thus there is no technical reason why departments should not return examination books to students wanting them.

This confusion points up a still larger problem. The emphasis in the college is on final examinations. In some cases they count for almost an entire course grade. No matter how well he learns the course material, the man who cannot write a good blue-book cannot get good marks. This is especially true in Social Relations, and the field of History, Government, and Economics, two of the largest fields of concentration.

Some graders complain that their marking is too subjective an operation for explanation. They are not being fair to the student who is certainly entitled to know why he received a C plus instead of a B minus. But if the graders will not tell him why, or at least let him fully examine his booklet--take it home if he wants--the student cannot be expected to know how to do better the next time. The student should get a chance to learn something from the examination process that will help him when finals next come round.

Several courses have attempted to give students this help. Social Sciences 1, for example, hands all bluebooks back at section meetings for discussion. History 61a and Government 155a set up conferences on Hour tests. Other courses should follow this lead.

If the College is going to continue stressing the final examinations' importance, students should be given every chance to learn whereby the chosen are selected from those merely called.