The Artisan
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Why are exams timed so that you can barely finish?
- Thread starter MoG EclipsE
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CosmicQueso
Member
Gotta keep up with the meta, OP.
RedAssedApe
Banned
you can pass the controller using share play so one of us can help you beat the level
MoG EclipsE
Member
This is a recurring dream (almost nightmare) of mine. I sit down for an exam for a test I can ace. Never get to finish it.
Never happened IRL though.
This will be a recurring nightmare of mine from now on. Worst feeling.
Time to completion isn't universal. Often you'll see people finish a test or an assignment long before the time deadline. Someone else will likely take the entire period to complete it. Someone else will likely not finish in time.
Instructors can only reasonably give so much time, if it's a legit problem of knowing the material but being unable to finish due to time constraints, email your prof and let them know it's a problem for you. They might be willing to work something out with you so you can get extra time.
Instructors can only reasonably give so much time, if it's a legit problem of knowing the material but being unable to finish due to time constraints, email your prof and let them know it's a problem for you. They might be willing to work something out with you so you can get extra time.
chrominance
Member
To be honest, you might be writing exams with the wrong approach. For the questions you do answer, it's possible you're putting too much detail into the answers. Anything that's largely equation-based shouldn't require any prose at all, just write the equations down and be done with it. If you're still taking too long, try to reserve some time at the beginning or end to glance over every question and at least write something intelligent down, even if it's not the answer. There's no real reason why you should be giving up half your marks because you left questions entirely blank.
(I am assuming a great deal of things with my advice, I realize; if it's literally impossible for you to write the numbers down that fast, or if it takes you a while to arrive at what you think is the full and correct answer, I suppose that's different. In the latter case I would still suggest trying to put down partial answers where you can.)
Math, science and coding exams almost never gave me any trouble and I routinely finished them with a significant percentage to spare. It was history, film and English exams that killed me because by the end I would have a stack of exam booklets from the amount you had to write. You want to talk about exams that test your writing speed, those are definitely the ones!
(I am assuming a great deal of things with my advice, I realize; if it's literally impossible for you to write the numbers down that fast, or if it takes you a while to arrive at what you think is the full and correct answer, I suppose that's different. In the latter case I would still suggest trying to put down partial answers where you can.)
Math, science and coding exams almost never gave me any trouble and I routinely finished them with a significant percentage to spare. It was history, film and English exams that killed me because by the end I would have a stack of exam booklets from the amount you had to write. You want to talk about exams that test your writing speed, those are definitely the ones!
Time limits are there to assess that you are capable of recalling what you learnt in an acceptable timeframe. Of course if you think about things really hard you'll remember them eventually, but they want to test you on knowledge you have learnt and can recall immediately.
It's partly matter of time management though too, sometimes you have to write faster, sometimes you gotta keep your answers shorter. Your main goal should be working towards making sure to manage answering the whole exam in at least some way.
Stumpokapow once he comes back from being AFK.
It's partly matter of time management though too, sometimes you have to write faster, sometimes you gotta keep your answers shorter. Your main goal should be working towards making sure to manage answering the whole exam in at least some way.
Stumpokapow once he comes back from being AFK.
EekumBokum
Member
I seriously hate when professors pull this shit and I am convinced it plays a large reason as to why I score pretty low on some exams. There were times where I got a D on an exam because of stupid little algebra errors, when without those errors the score would have come out to a high B or A. It is so important to be able to have the time to check over your answers for exams involving calculations
nabe_shogun
Member
Sadly the answer is write faster. I've had classes where we were required to write 2 essays in 50 minutes. I was able to do it, but my hand writing looked like garbage, and my hand hurt a bit after, but I did it. Only needed to be just good enough to read.
Stuggernaut
Grandma's Chippy
Seriously just go talk to your professors, or school counselors, or someone. Start that ball rolling now. Don't wait and hate on the system.
If you are as competent as you say, your professors will know this based on other work and class participation.
I hope it all works out for you.
If you are as competent as you say, your professors will know this based on other work and class participation.
I hope it all works out for you.
MoG EclipsE
Member
but why though? why they do this -_-
Also same here. If it works, you have full points. If it isn't commented or has bad variable names, you lose points off the full score.
I actually experienced mostly the opposite in uni. 90 minutes was far too long for most exams and it sucked being finished then not allowed to leave for 45 mins. Those that were still working at the end of the test were most likely just guessing at that point.
The one class I had where the exams were long was 2nd year Physics and those there was an 90 minutes alotted but they essentially let you stay all day working on it if needed. I always turned in an 90 mins earlier becuase I learned quickly after the first exam that if I didn't finish in that amount of time I didn't know it and was just torturing myself by sitting there staring at a question for 30 mins or more.
The one class I had where the exams were long was 2nd year Physics and those there was an 90 minutes alotted but they essentially let you stay all day working on it if needed. I always turned in an 90 mins earlier becuase I learned quickly after the first exam that if I didn't finish in that amount of time I didn't know it and was just torturing myself by sitting there staring at a question for 30 mins or more.
MoG EclipsE
Member
Damn I wish. I wonder if I ask my teacher tomorrow, he will let me continue on it. Most likely not lol
Real response: I hate tight time limits with exams too, especially when I have to write essays. It always blows my mind when people finish early, I always take the entire exam period to write, and if there's extra time I just check over my answers over and over.
Unfortunately, if you're feeling pressured by time, the only thing you can do is... learn the material better, so you can write the exam faster. It's shitty ("I KNOW the material, I just don't have enough time!") but that's just the way it is.
Unfortunately, if you're feeling pressured by time, the only thing you can do is... learn the material better, so you can write the exam faster. It's shitty ("I KNOW the material, I just don't have enough time!") but that's just the way it is.
Checking your answers over and over actually tends to be bad in most cases I've had. Second guessing resulted in changing from a right answer to a wrong answer far more often then the other way around. Usually the only cases where it worked out was where I had skimmed some part in the answer or question that caused 2 answers to seem right when only one was.
Bare Grills
Member
You're suppose to guess b or c when you're running out of time on a multiple choice exam
To separate those who know the material well from those who can flounder through it.
If you know the stuff but write significantly slower than your peers, then you'll have similar results to the latter group. Which sucks, and if there's a way you can get accommodations by all means give it a shot.
It's also possible the exam in question wasn't intended to be completed, or was just poorly created. Ask your classmates whether they had enough time to finish. Maybe you're worrying about nothing. Maybe your mastery of the material wasn't as thorough as you thought. Or maybe it is some sort of learning or writing disability.
FoxnHurley
Member
I find taking tests that are primarily formated as multiple choice take me more time to complete than ones that are short answer and/or essay based
In my past courses, professors who used multiple choice has sets of oddly written answers that were paraphrased information and we were asked to choose 4 out of set of 10 answers. Of course only 4 were correct, and you had to read through all the bullshit that was written to throw you off with a minute detail that was essentially changed to falsify particular facts. Now multiple that task by 30 question or so!
Short answer lets you get straight to point. Either you know the information or not.
I found essay questions to be enjoyable as well because I could put the answer in my own words.
In my past courses, professors who used multiple choice has sets of oddly written answers that were paraphrased information and we were asked to choose 4 out of set of 10 answers. Of course only 4 were correct, and you had to read through all the bullshit that was written to throw you off with a minute detail that was essentially changed to falsify particular facts. Now multiple that task by 30 question or so!
Short answer lets you get straight to point. Either you know the information or not.
I found essay questions to be enjoyable as well because I could put the answer in my own words.
Because they're looking for that spread of grades. Having everyone at 90%+ isn't a good look for the professor, nor is having everyone at <30%. Set an easy exam but pack it full of questions is an easy way to prevent that, people who understand the content extremely well and have a quick mind are the only ones who will score well.
Outside of that, the only way is to write faster, or study to the point where you can do the question in a quick manner.
Outside of that, the only way is to write faster, or study to the point where you can do the question in a quick manner.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
I feel like this is only true with the SAT's. I had plenty of time for all my others while I was in school.
Having written a lot of exams myself, there are basically 3 scenarios that lead to exams where students are pressed for time:
1. The professor knows students will be pressed for time and wants them to be. The professor has intentionally designed the exam to make you pressed for time either because he/she believes that speed is a reflection of mastery of material or to model a real-world time-limited scenario. In this case it is expected that some or all students will not finish.
2. The professor knows students will be pressed for time, does not want them to be, but is logistically limited. You mentioned that your exam period was 3 hours long; that's about as long as you can realistically hold an exam without breaking it into parts.
3. The professor does not know the students will be pressed for time. This occurs when the exam has been inadequately tested in advance to gauge its length.
Actually I found that the SAT was relatively easy to finish within the time limit compared to the ACT. The ACT was much harder to finish on time because of the volume of (admittedly easier) questions they threw at you in one hour.
I didn't really have trouble finishing either but was able to take a 15 minute bathroom break during the ACT.
ha, everyone always tells me this. In my experiences, that just hasn't been the case. In fact, there's been times where I'm just totally lost with a question/unable to reach that final step and I have a EUREKA moment with 10 minutes to go on the exam after staring at the question for 30 minutes. I can't remember the last time where I had the answer right, then changed it to the wrong answer after looking it over countless times.
BigJonsson
Member
Did you tell the school you have trouble writing? If you have a valid reason they may have been able to help accommodate you
MoG EclipsE
Member
I will definitely try this.
RadicalVelocity
Member
One of my last undergrad courses was (undergrad level) introduction to complex numbers. 'Twas taught by a topologist who actually did the course as a (graduate level) complex analysis course. That means that we were learning and applying theorems at the very same time we were proving them all, rather than the learning/application (introduction) one semester and the proofs (analysis) another semester.
Starting with the first test, the professor stated he made it too hard and would decrease the difficulty of the next test. The second was harder yet, and he stated the 3rd would need to be easier. The third was the most difficult. These were all 2-4 hour tests. The best part was that we only 'covered; about half the material for any given test, less usually. The rest involved being introduced to new theorems, then having to prove them with little to no guidance.
I've never learned so much DURING a test as that course. Literally more than any one, sometimes two, lectures from the course. Well, there was also a modern physics take-home test (open book/notes, nothing else) that I blazed through... at 20 hours. I learned a lot there too! I look back on that math class fondly, though, because I'm a glutton for punishment. First time I saw a B curved to be between mid 60s to high 80s.
Not truly relevant, but I felt inspired. I recommend following the advice I'm sure has been posted in here and get tested for a disability. Test anxiety and numerous other classifications warrant extra time on tests, and you should be granted it.
Starting with the first test, the professor stated he made it too hard and would decrease the difficulty of the next test. The second was harder yet, and he stated the 3rd would need to be easier. The third was the most difficult. These were all 2-4 hour tests. The best part was that we only 'covered; about half the material for any given test, less usually. The rest involved being introduced to new theorems, then having to prove them with little to no guidance.
I've never learned so much DURING a test as that course. Literally more than any one, sometimes two, lectures from the course. Well, there was also a modern physics take-home test (open book/notes, nothing else) that I blazed through... at 20 hours. I learned a lot there too! I look back on that math class fondly, though, because I'm a glutton for punishment. First time I saw a B curved to be between mid 60s to high 80s.
Not truly relevant, but I felt inspired. I recommend following the advice I'm sure has been posted in here and get tested for a disability. Test anxiety and numerous other classifications warrant extra time on tests, and you should be granted it.
TheBaldEmperor
Member
As someone with a degree in Educational Psychology, I would say this post is spot on. Makes no sense to me that education continues to do a lot of things the wrong way even though we know better.
ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
I'm just starting as a tutor and I want to be a professor some day, could you send me some good links about Educational Psychology? I want to not be shit at this stuff.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I was always a slow writer in school. You have to learn strategies to get faster. That's the only real answer I can give you besides just trying to work out a solution for time with your profs. A lot of the time it just depends on the exam and the professor. Regardless of who finishes first or last it has no bearing on how well they did on the exam so that's not really an issue, I've had exams I straight up couldn't finish and exams where I left relatively early. For me it just became a matter of knowing the material so well I could do it with my eyes closed and knowing it well enough that I knew where I could save time by skipping explanations or writing things down.
I do feel your pain though OP. I had a course where the final exam was 3 hours 50 short answer questions and I wrote none stop for 3 hours and I did not finish (left 3-4 questions unanswered). We had international students in our class who didn't have good english skills. I can't even imagine how they could have finished the exam in that time period.
I do feel your pain though OP. I had a course where the final exam was 3 hours 50 short answer questions and I wrote none stop for 3 hours and I did not finish (left 3-4 questions unanswered). We had international students in our class who didn't have good english skills. I can't even imagine how they could have finished the exam in that time period.
MoG EclipsE
Member
Those are bad too, but only finishing 50% of an exam when you know you know the material really burns.
This is the right answer. If you're panicking about time in your exams, and you've already tried everything else you can do on your own, get help.
I never had an issue finishing exams, usually with plenty of time to spare. Is your issue that you are slow at formulating your thoughts that you want to put down or physically slow at writing? Might have also helped that my handwriting is crap so whether I took my time or wrote quickly it looked the same.
Thing is though that the majority probably finished, or got damn close, the exam in the 3 hours that were allowed.
Also if this is graded on a curve you may be in luck.
How long have you been in college?
He said he was also slow at entering things into his calculator.
MoG EclipsE
Member
Slow at writing and plugging shit in my calculator (always have to do it 2 or 3 times to make sure) etc... I have a bad habit of putting detail in my work a lot of the time. A mix of this. When I was writing this particular exam, I never sat for more than a minute or two to gather my thoughts.
Yeah but why?
keep up, you're being tested here
BeatResetsTheWorld
Banned
3 hours seems pretty standard for midterms/final exams and as someone who's TAed and just been through college the vast majority of exams are timed as being "doable" in less time than allotted...
Now some have their share of questions that the professor doesn't expect everyone to be able to answer, but I very much doubt they're made with the intention of most people not being able to finish (as in, get through all the questions that are doable and at least attempt the reachers)
Now some have their share of questions that the professor doesn't expect everyone to be able to answer, but I very much doubt they're made with the intention of most people not being able to finish (as in, get through all the questions that are doable and at least attempt the reachers)
MoG EclipsE
Member
My coordination? I'm not sure honestly. People just seem to be much faster then me. I am not trying to write neat at all. For example, even when I am taking notes in class, my friends will always be way ahead of me even though I would be chowing down at that shit.
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