Fun with Students
Tabs please !
When you don't know which box to tick, the longest answer is most likely to be the correct one. Teach that to a monkey and they will score 60%.
When we did our Jetstream 31 course 'somewhere in Surrey' - we had a very switched on Jock Instructor down from Prestwick.
He was very quick to latch on to any knowledge weaknesses amongst his 'students'.
The first day our 2 senior Inspectors sat right at the front of the class but kept getting asked questions
Next day they sat right at the back - but it made no difference - the instr just went round the class anyway asking questions,he was one of those good teachers who said ''If I mention it more than once - it is probably in the exam''
I was very pleased to get the top mark to beat one of the senior inspectors who was a back stabbing tw@t !
The guy who usually looked after the Jetstream on dayshift got the bottom mark - then again he was not very bright and we others did most of the tech work.
The intricacies of the Prop control system got the brain cell warmed up on this ex single trade 'rigger'
He was very quick to latch on to any knowledge weaknesses amongst his 'students'.
The first day our 2 senior Inspectors sat right at the front of the class but kept getting asked questions
Next day they sat right at the back - but it made no difference - the instr just went round the class anyway asking questions,he was one of those good teachers who said ''If I mention it more than once - it is probably in the exam''
I was very pleased to get the top mark to beat one of the senior inspectors who was a back stabbing tw@t !
The guy who usually looked after the Jetstream on dayshift got the bottom mark
- then again he was not very bright and we others did most of the tech work.The intricacies of the Prop control system got the brain cell warmed up on this ex single trade 'rigger'
Gentleman Aviator
Slightly off thread but .......
I was examining a CFS(H) FHT, which required a full brief - as per a Mass Brief to a Course - followed by the instructional flight.
The questioning technique taught for the Mass Brief was "Pose, pause and pounce". One didn't say "Bloggs, what is.......?" cos everyone who wasn't Bloggs would switch off. So it was : "What is ....... (sweeps room with eyes).........Bloggs?", thereby keeping everyone's attention to the question.
So this was a one on one Mass Brief of whatever exercise, with the examiner (moi) as the only student. Keeping to the brief, the FHT candidate asked EVERY question thus: "What is......(sweeps [otherwise empty] room with eyes) .... Teeters?"
It was quite difficult keeping a straight face throughout the Brief ........ but he did pass the FHT!
I was examining a CFS(H) FHT, which required a full brief - as per a Mass Brief to a Course - followed by the instructional flight.
The questioning technique taught for the Mass Brief was "Pose, pause and pounce". One didn't say "Bloggs, what is.......?" cos everyone who wasn't Bloggs would switch off. So it was : "What is ....... (sweeps room with eyes).........Bloggs?", thereby keeping everyone's attention to the question.
So this was a one on one Mass Brief of whatever exercise, with the examiner (moi) as the only student. Keeping to the brief, the FHT candidate asked EVERY question thus: "What is......(sweeps [otherwise empty] room with eyes) .... Teeters?"
It was quite difficult keeping a straight face throughout the Brief ........ but he did pass the FHT!
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: One Three Seven, Disco Heaven.
Age: 65
Posts: 2,540
Likes: 0
Received 34 Likes
on
17 Posts
Two stories of my personal exploits on Multi Guess exams.
At St Athan on my electrician's fitter course we had a monthly test on the main topic that we had covered that month. It was well known that the tests were the same as all the previous courses had done, so there were plenty of cheat sheets going around. For one of these tests there were only the answers for the first 80% of the questions and one over achiever duly marked these on his paper and blindly entered anmswers for the remaining questions. Of course he ended up with 100%. I don't think the instructors were unaware of these sheets, as at the 3 month test a lot of these people were found out as the exam questions were chosen from a large range of questions and there were several different test papers and you didn't know which one you would get. I also got !00% on one of these tests, the one on induction, and I was given looks from the rest of my course as to why I hadn't shared the cheat sheet with them. None of them believed I had actually done it without one, but I like to think the instructor knew the truth.
2nd year at secondary school and we're taking exams to see what we could do for 'O' levels for the following 2 years. Sitting the physics exam I was sitting next to someone who was also good at the electrical side of the subject and I had actually partnered for some of the experiments. When I say partnered, he took on the role of knowing and doing everything and I cleaned up afterwards. Part of the physics course back then along with electrical theory, was mechanics and waves, something this character wasn't so good on. Come the exam and we just happen to be sitting next to each other. Memory fails me a bit here, but I think there were a set of 5 topics to be answered, 2 related to electrical and mechanical and one on waves. and we could chose to answer any 4 of the topics to answer the questions on. A no brainer for me, the 2 electrical topics, the waves then the mechanical, ( I wasn't so hot on the mechanical side of physics). So duly doing the 2 electric parts, no problem and onto the waves. I happened to look over to this olther guy and he's copying my answers and the evil little barsteward in me starts to put the wrong answers in the boxes which he duly copies and then heads up to the teacher to hand in his exam, probably the first to do so. Meanwhile I went back and altered my answer sheet to what I thought were the correct answers.
A few weeks later the results are in, I passed and was able to do 'O' level physics, (thank you wave theory). Matey however has failed and I had the questioning looks from him and I just knew he was dying to ask how I had passed as he'd copied my answers. His mother and father come to the scool to see "The Heady" and get him onto 'O' level physics, but the headmaster was having none of it. I did meet him years later in the RAF, where he was an Aircraft Electrician.
At St Athan on my electrician's fitter course we had a monthly test on the main topic that we had covered that month. It was well known that the tests were the same as all the previous courses had done, so there were plenty of cheat sheets going around. For one of these tests there were only the answers for the first 80% of the questions and one over achiever duly marked these on his paper and blindly entered anmswers for the remaining questions. Of course he ended up with 100%. I don't think the instructors were unaware of these sheets, as at the 3 month test a lot of these people were found out as the exam questions were chosen from a large range of questions and there were several different test papers and you didn't know which one you would get. I also got !00% on one of these tests, the one on induction, and I was given looks from the rest of my course as to why I hadn't shared the cheat sheet with them. None of them believed I had actually done it without one, but I like to think the instructor knew the truth.
2nd year at secondary school and we're taking exams to see what we could do for 'O' levels for the following 2 years. Sitting the physics exam I was sitting next to someone who was also good at the electrical side of the subject and I had actually partnered for some of the experiments. When I say partnered, he took on the role of knowing and doing everything and I cleaned up afterwards. Part of the physics course back then along with electrical theory, was mechanics and waves, something this character wasn't so good on. Come the exam and we just happen to be sitting next to each other. Memory fails me a bit here, but I think there were a set of 5 topics to be answered, 2 related to electrical and mechanical and one on waves. and we could chose to answer any 4 of the topics to answer the questions on. A no brainer for me, the 2 electrical topics, the waves then the mechanical, ( I wasn't so hot on the mechanical side of physics). So duly doing the 2 electric parts, no problem and onto the waves. I happened to look over to this olther guy and he's copying my answers and the evil little barsteward in me starts to put the wrong answers in the boxes which he duly copies and then heads up to the teacher to hand in his exam, probably the first to do so. Meanwhile I went back and altered my answer sheet to what I thought were the correct answers.
A few weeks later the results are in, I passed and was able to do 'O' level physics, (thank you wave theory). Matey however has failed and I had the questioning looks from him and I just knew he was dying to ask how I had passed as he'd copied my answers. His mother and father come to the scool to see "The Heady" and get him onto 'O' level physics, but the headmaster was having none of it. I did meet him years later in the RAF, where he was an Aircraft Electrician.
When writing the tick tests at Halton, if a sum was involved, I would work out what foul ups a students could make (e.g. incorrect transposition of a formula) and make sure each of the distractors contained the "right" wrong answers. 
When writing the tick tests at Halton, if a sum was involved, I would work out what foul ups a students could make (e.g. incorrect transposition of a formula) and make sure each of the distractors contained the "right" wrong answers.
Radar101 (Exams Officer, Cosford early 80s)
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: One Three Seven, Disco Heaven.
Age: 65
Posts: 2,540
Likes: 0
Received 34 Likes
on
17 Posts
Ninth, I would normally round out numbers to make the mental arithmetic easier and chose the multi guess answer that was nearest. This has worked out well in tests over the years. On one multi guess the answer I came up with was one of the options, however luckily I noticed that another answer was close as well, and doing the maths properly I got the correct answer. (The difference was 2.5V so my suspicions were raised on that occasion). Even today although mains voltage in the UK is 230V, I still use either 240 or 250 as they are easier numbers to do mental arithmetic with.<br /><br />
And remember, if in doubt...answer "C". Amazing how many times that one was true.
And remember, if in doubt...answer "C". Amazing how many times that one was true.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Somewhere flat
Age: 68
Posts: 5,563
Likes: 0
Received 45 Likes
on
30 Posts
Ninth, I would normally round out numbers to make the mental arithmetic easier and chose the multi guess answer that was nearest. This has worked out well in tests over the years. On one multi guess the answer I came up with was one of the options, however luckily I noticed that another answer was close as well, and doing the maths properly I got the correct answer. (The difference was 2.5V so my suspicions were raised on that occasion). Even today although mains voltage in the UK is 230V, I still use either 240 or 250 as they are easier numbers to do mental arithmetic with.<br /><br />
And remember, if in doubt...answer "C". Amazing how many times that one was true.
And remember, if in doubt...answer "C". Amazing how many times that one was true.
Thread Starter
As Captain of a small ship conducting Phase One of the Navigating Officer course, I am getting briefed in the Ops room and the first stude, a gent with distinct East Coast accent reads the met brief fax which is basically clear and a million. I stop him mid sentence and tell him to go look outside. He comes back and I ask him for a short summary of the "actual weather". His response "well if I was a bird I would be swimming home as the fog is so thick I wouldn't be able to see my Arse end if I turned my head around !".
Multiple choice have their place - basically to check you have taught the students the last phase to the point where it is worth going on to the next phase!
His solution to being forced to use multiple guess papers? He would deduct a mark for each wrong answer
Not sure if this qualifies in this ‘fun with students’ thread, but on my last type rating ground school, one mid-week evening the course of 8 of us plus our ex RN instructor (hence my excuse for butting in on the mil forum!) went to the local ‘Spoons, just for a beer and a burger before back to hotel for more study. Well that was the intention. At 1130 that night, our instructor was standing on the table, at attention, belting out ‘God Save The Queen’ in a beautiful Welsh baritone. We all joined in, while one part of my brain was wondering if the result was going to be getting thrown out, or a massive punch up….Pleasantly surprised when the entire pub applauded!
Next day, the door to our classroom kept getting opened, another instructor would stick his head in, breath in the methanol fumes we were all exhaling, mutter ‘Jesus!’ then retreat. Obviously they’d heard about us, and were coming to check for themselves. I think we were supposed to be covering performance that day, but don’t think it was a particularly productive day.
Next day, the door to our classroom kept getting opened, another instructor would stick his head in, breath in the methanol fumes we were all exhaling, mutter ‘Jesus!’ then retreat. Obviously they’d heard about us, and were coming to check for themselves. I think we were supposed to be covering performance that day, but don’t think it was a particularly productive day.
I recall there having been some 'fun' arranged by Cranwell students for an unpopular staff member at the Stable Bar at a certain watering hole at Leadenham.....
Chatham House rules, but I understand that the staff member in question was subsequently posted rather sooner than he'd expected.....
Chatham House rules, but I understand that the staff member in question was subsequently posted rather sooner than he'd expected.....
