Read, once in a while...

Well, listen AND read (for context, see the previous post).

You have no idea how much this peeves me (well not really, but still). So due to the sheer size of the course, there is a page (on the front of the exam) for students to circle their lecture section to more easily sort exams. Instructions are displayed on the first page of the exam indicating that students must circle a lecture section, and failure to do so will result in lost marks (I think 5 was the case). So not only are instructions explicitly written down, we also do the courtesy to read out those exact instructions.

So during the mid-term exam, while collecting signature forms (basically stating that you were at the exam, and that you are who you claim to be on your photo id), I decided to spend a few seconds for each person and check that they circled their lecture section. About half of the people I checked did not. I'm sure they can do the math; losing 5 marks (on a section of the exam that's worth 20 marks), is a really big deal.

No seriously, we assume you are at least half literate, so READ.

When it came to final exam time, I figured that these people probably know their lessons by now, but I'll still read out this specific set of instructions. And luckily for people who handed in their exams early (of which I could check if they circled, as opposed to everyone rushing to pile in their exams at the end), I caught a few that neglected to circle. I even chased one of the students who was outside the classroom to get him to fill it out.

You may think this isn't a big deal, but there are two major reasons to follow said instructions:

1. To not lose marks:
   Note that the exam indicates that you'll lose marks (5 in my case), but when we actually mark your exams, somehow, we get too soft and end up only deducting 2. Either way, you still lose out.
   
2. Making TA's lives and your lives easier:
   Realise that there are ~1500 exams and TAs need a systematic way to mark them. By writing down your name and lecture section, we can categorize and allocate exams accordingly. In addition, when it comes time to inputting your marks into the system, all the exams are nicely ordered. So if you neglect to write down crucial information, you waste our time attempting to figure out what lecture you belong to and will delay the return of your exams and marks.

So if you can read carefully and follow instructions correctly and write (well legibly, we do try our best to decipher what you write, but try not to give us a hard time doing so...) you are already off to a good start.

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Dead Week/Hell Week/Reading Week

Oh, here we go once again!

I'm going to be way too familiar with this by the end of this year.

It's that time of year again for most college and university students, MIDTERMS!

Gosh, this term is turning out to be my most hectic one (even thought this is only my second term). Although reading week is coming up, most of my exams and quizzes are after it. And in addition the TAs may go on strike, which means that most of our quizzes, labs and midterms won't be marked (unless our professors want to do it).

Anyways, I've heard that some colleges and universities in the States have certain traditions or "rituals" during reading week. At UTSC, I know of no such thing so I'm interested in on what things you do during reading week. Let me know in the comments below!

I do not own or take credit for all of the above images & videos, if you would like them to be taken down, please message me.

Exam Season

This week is the last week before exams, so I'll be studying and do some last minute craming. As an effect, the frequency of my blog posts will drop over the next 2 weeks (Possibly to 1 post every 2 days).

Not much of a post for today, but I'll do another post in regards to a Japanese game shows for tomorrow.

In the mean time, check out some of my older posts about games, food and more. I'll be studying.

Any tips for studying? How do you prepare for your exams?