All or Nothing

Was going to bed, then saw this caption "All or Nothing" on someone's blog, and that triggered this entry....

One of my modules, has this 'All or Nothing' mcq assessment. There are 5 of them, so each mcq is worth 1%. There are 4-5 questions per session, and it is a 'All of Nothing' quiz, which means what it means i.e. you either get all correct, or you get zero even if you get only one wrong.

I am really annoyed with this method of assessment, though of course I do know the teacher is 'All-powerful' to dictate any method of assessment. For adult learners, will things change if parents write in to complain????

I am bad at mcq, for a variety of reasons, but definitely not because I am dumb!!!!

First of all it is an online quiz, and since we dont have time to take it in the day time, by the time i get to take it in the night, it is usually quite near the finishing time. Ok, granted, I usually only revise 'as conscientiously' as i can about half an hour or so before undertaking it, but well, i make the attempt.

ok, and granted that i am usually not careful enough (sigh!), but the main stumbling is, i 'over-think': does it mean this? Or does it mean that? There are linguistic subtleties and interpretation of circumstances.

And then, I dont quite take online quiz that seriously....then again, I am never one that takes exams too seriously...its not sieriously me.

So, ok, i got 3 out of 5 and that means I got zero! This is NOT a one to one function!

It is NOT nice to get zero for your first quiz you know! So, yesterday, during the break of the evening lecture, I went to my lecturer.....

and asked him, I got 3 out of 5, that means I got zero?

And he said, thats correct.

So I said, it means if i attempt it, and got some, but not all, correct, i get zero; if i dont attempt it, i also get zero; so i get the same mark whether i attempt it or not?

And he said, thats correct.

So I said, well, then, maybe there is no point attempting it?

And he said, well, I think, it is good that you still attempt it.

I nearly wanted to ask, why....I didnt, cos i know as a teacher, I would say, learning is more effective when one learns from ones mistakes. Why did i got up to him, when the answer is obvious to me? Because I am a student, so I am entitled to ask these questions to 'bring home a message' ??? Whatever, it just gives me some 'pleasure' to make my point.

Sigh.... i am almost resigned to losing this 5%. Getting a perfect score just isnt me! I got a B+ in the module prior to this, and did hope to upgrade one level for this module. Now the hope is really slim cos the essay is harder, and so would be the exam! I have to hope my grade is not the pronunciation of my name!!!! :( :(