Why do I care what other people think!

The fraud that was, The fraud that is!

I just finsihed my first set of examinations in Sweden today. And I am not relieved but saddened by it. Its not that I performed bad and hopefully I shall pass in both of them but it is the general feeling that has sunk in. Written Examinations are a fraud , everywhere. PERIOD.
The part of the reason is that if they are too easy then you are feel sad for being let off too easily and if they are too tough then you do not do well in them and hence the sadness. They have to be done like pasta. el dente. And paper setters are never great cooks and hence never get it right.

Most of the exams I have given in India are either too simple but long or either too tough. Most of the time you are left with the feeling If I had more time I could have done better. I had thought that would be impossible in Sweden with 4 hours for the exam. But today I did not realize how 4 hours flew by. The exam I was taking was Artificial Intelligence : Principle and techniques and It was like a full day assignment to be done in 4 hours. I did it the Indian way i.e. what ever comes to the mind at first write it down. The first quesiton was a knowledge representation and modelling question and the remaining quesitons were all based on this question . So may be I will do very well or not pass at all. So not fair at all.Written exams can never check how much you know. All courses should have tough assignments, labs and practicals but no exams please. The other course I took Inbygdda System atleast had tough lab part but not so difficult a paper. So Swedish examination is not better. I would say worse because the agony is for 4 hours and not 2 hours.

The second thing is that we should not expect a lot when we go to a new place. When I came to IIT , I had heard it was the best technical university in India but some how I had expected more. They are not better in terms of teachers ( I am not talking of my department alone but in general), though some of them are really good . It is wrong of us to expect all of them to be good. IIT may be the best coz they can provide you with more facilities at a lesser price ( it is subsidized DAH). The same thing a swedish friend had told me that when he had come to KTH he had expected more out of it because it was the among the best in Sweden. But he said this great line, " if the best feels like this to me, how would it be in the universities which are not considered to be among the best"? That is all , I had expected more, May be i still got it but not in the form i expected it to be.

posted by inhas @ 12:42 AM