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ExamSoft 5 - 17 Dec 2008 - Main.KateVershov
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So I thought this was one of the more appropriate forums for bringing up one of the major issues I have had with CLS throughout my first year and a half here: SoftTest? . Personally, I think that this program is absolutely ridiculous. I understand that CLS does not want us to be cheating during exams, but that is what an honor code is for. Why is it that we are forced to use what is, to be perfectly honest, a horrible program that routinely seems to screw up students' computers (and which for some 3L students who might have wanted to buy a new Mac before law school, forced them to buy a PC) in order to keep us honest during our in class exams? Moreover, I feel that the use of SoftTest? actually punishes students who have taken good notes throughout the term. The reason for this is simple. If you have taken solid notes through an entire term in a 3 or 4 credit class and want to use them during an in-class exam you have to print out what is likely to be around 100 pages and then sift through them during an exam where you don't have much time. However, during an 8 hour take home in which you are allowed to use your notes you can simply search through them on your computer using the "Find" function. How does this make any sense? It seems ridiculous that SoftTest? makes the same exam artificially harder for people taking it in class than people taking it at home (this is especially true for 1L exams where different sections of torts, contracts, etc have different exams, some of which are take homes and some of which are in class). Indeed, it seems to me that the use of SoftTest? for in class exams might actually have a serious and substantive effect on student grades, and I cannot fathom that this is what the CLS administration wanted to happen. | | | Take-home exams have the added benefit of allowing those who prefer running open-source operating systems to stay Windows-free.
-- AndreiVoinigescu - 17 Dec 2008 | |
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SoftTest is a small problem. Getting no feedback is a bigger problem. Further still, getting no feedback during the course - when there is still time to ask questions and get a better handle on the material and change one's approach to a subject - is the biggest problem of all. But, this goes to the heart of what seems to be the traditional lecture class, which isn't at all driven by giving student the tools to analyze real-world problems. The real issue is that no exam I have taken so far is really graded based on the quality of the advice given to a potential client.
-- KateVershov - 17 Dec 2008 | | | |
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