Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Exam Time



These students of mine were doing their mid-term test. They look very serious, do they?

Written tests or exams are a common educational practice today, but it has not always been so. The first written tests known in history were conducted by the Chinese in the 6th century CE. In the West (read: Europe) tests used to be given orally and were conducted in Latin. According to historical records, the first written exams in Europe were conducted at Cambridge University, England, in 1792 (that's only slightly more than two hundred years ago).

I took this photo with my 2 megapixel camera phone, Nokia 5320 ExpressMusic, which I just bought about two weeks ago. I desatured the colors a bit in my image editor program, so the colors you see in this photo are not the original colors captured by the camera.

14 comments:

Mahmud Yussop said...

Oh Yes,hopefully they come out with correct answers.

Photo Cache said...

I think they are sitting way too close to each other. I remember back in school, our seats were arranged a few feet apart from each other :) Cheating must not be a concern where you teach.

Great snap.

Anonymous said...

I hated taking exams when I was in school! What do you teach? i like the desaturated affect!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that I didn't have to take any exams in latin. GG. They do look very serious. It is difficult to make a good exam that really tests what you want it to and I am sure you do that Eki. Thank you for your kind comments on my blog.

Layrayski said...

they do look serious!

P.s.

I like the chairs.

Ryan Achadiat said...

what do you teach in that class, sir?
they look so serious.

nice shot, sir

Anonymous said...

I loved exams week. And it's not because I knew all the answers.

Jane Hards Photography said...

They are close togehter and they are very studious looking. It takes me back many years veiwing this scene.

Unknown said...

Excellent information about written exams. Amazing chinese have them in the 6th century!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree with photo cache, in our university our seats & tables are also arranged a few feet apart. ;)

Our exams can get really stressful because 500+ students in one hall taking Mathematics is a killer! The atmosphere is intense. We have invigilators constantly walking around to supervise us. Sometimes I think their supposedly level of 'security' is over the top but understandably with 500+ students in a hall, things can get bad. :P

Dina said...

This is really interesting history about testing. A written test is bad enough, but
I would hate to do an oral exam.
Great picture with your new gadget. Enjoy it!

Mike said...

I am glad I am done with the exam years :)

Catherine said...

Funny, to note that your students are entirely concentrated, they didn't pay attention to you.
What do you teach as professor, if it isn't indiscreet?

Anonymous said...

Remind me of my exam years