The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Why we should have open book exams – Part 2 Posted: 28 Sep 2013 04:20 PM PDT
In Part 1 of this article, I addressed the flaws of memorising for a closed book test. In Part 2, I will dwell more on why open book exams are the way to go. When you start working, you may be tasked with writing a proposal. If you don't already know, writing a proposal requires researching information and coming up with ideas, namely solutions to a problem. Being trained through open book exams prepares a student for the real world. And this applies from school days right up to university days. As an example, I remember how important Malay Reading tests were for the SPM (Lisan). At my ex-school, students were all given photocopied texts on how to answer topical issues. (Because students need to be spoon fed, right?) I did my part, but as anyone who sat for the test knows, not everyone can remember everything in those photocopied texts. It turned out that the topic I was given was "Sports". Now, "Sports" wasn't something I had memorised from the photocopied text we received. And yet, I did well, as at that time I was a voracious reader of the sports section of the daily newspaper. In the end, students actually complained they weren't given "schematic answers" to memorise certain topical issues and so the test was unfair and they couldn't be blamed for not doing well enough. I admit – in that test, I was probably just plain lucky. But it goes to show that students are relying too much on "schematic answers" to get by. I learnt from this that teachers should spend more time encouraging students to read the newspaper to learn about topical issues rather than give a photocopied text to memorise. Now, if students were given a copy of the day's newspaper to read and asked how a certain published news report affected society – that would be an accomplishment! Don't believe me? In one of my classes when I was teaching, I gave everyone a photocopy of the day's front page news. My questions included asking the students what can be gleaned from the news report. I cringed as students remarked, "What has today's news got to do with us?" (Mind you, the news I picked still remains one of our nation's historical headlines and not just about some robbery – not that it should matter). I dare go so far as to say that some textbooks can be burned in exchange of making reading the newspaper compulsory for students (and I'm thinking of that god-awful Moral textbook). And so, reading is highly encouraged but memorising is not always right. Open book exams tests students on their ability to read between the lines, deduce, form opinions and find arguments to support their opinion. Open book exams don't in any way denote that students will merely copy answers from the text book. The Indian Bar Exam is open book, yet one in three students fail it every year. Go figure. Of course, a few courses require a fair bit of memorising at some point – you don't want a doctor who looks up a book when treating you. And there is the fact that you need to memorise your multiplication tables before you can do mathematics. But the key is to not over do it the way we're doing now. In most cases, when tasked with critical thinking questions in regular open book exams, one invariably ends up remembering the facts one had painstakingly researched – often for a longer time compared to mindless regurgitating exercises. You'd notice that a student can memorise for an A in PMR History but forget it the following year – unlike multiplication tables that you remember for life because it's pertinent to everyday living and the constant use of it encourages further memory. So the question is – what should be memorised and what is an A from glamourisation of memory? And while most education systems still practice closed book exams, quite a number of courses should start opening up to the open book exam system now – or at least implement dual system, both closed book and open book exams. Malaysia's own Open University encourages essay presentation and/or a slideshow presentation after two weeks of open book research in their undergraduate degree course, forcing students to articulate their thoughts in public speaking from their own designed presentation. In that instance, there were still the textbook zombies who copied and pasted from the internet – you could tell when they mumble their way through a presentation- reading off the copied materials and unable to apply what they had learnt to real world context – and rightfully earn lower marks for not using more thinking skills. (Just goes to show that rewarding people who memorise their way through facts without being able to apply them to real world context is a joke). If you notice, students pursuing a Masters often write a thesis, with weeks of preparation and the freedom to think, research and write supporting materials to defend a view point. Why is it that we save the thinking skills for students doing a Masters – as though these are not important skills for "lower" qualified graduates? Maybe that's why we're now complaining about the quality of degree holders? Mind you, even overseas graduates are not spared of this; at least from some of what I've seen. The question I ask is; how can we ensure our teachers ask the kind of questions that require researching the textbook as opposed to copying from it? And for that matter, if our education system has not embraced it – should our students participate in rote learning to gain all the fringe benefits associated to being an A student at the cost of employability or engross themselves in "unconventional" learning and strive to be more relevant to the world at the risk being punished by the education system? And that, is an open book question. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider. | |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2013 04:17 PM PDT
Khabar angin kenaikan harga minyak RON 95 sebanyak 10 sen Jumaat lalu begitu menggusarkan rakyat bawahan. Dikatakan Kabinet sudah membincangkan perkara itu dan bersetuju untuk memotong lagi subsidi RON 95 yang digunakan oleh majoriti pengguna kenderaan di Malaysia. Stesen minyak penuh dengan pengguna di sebelah petang dan malam kerana takutkan harga bahan bakar itu benar-benar naik walaupun Timbalan Menteri Kewangan, Datuk Ahmad Maslan sudah menafikan khabar angin itu. Kegusaran orang ramai ini menyebabkan Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin terpaksa membuat penafian kerajaan akan menaikkan harga RON 95 dalam jangkamasa terdekat. Katanya, dakwaan itu tidak benar malah tidak dibincangkan dalam mesyuarat Kabinet pada Jumaat. Di kedai-kedai kopi rungutan tentang kesan kenaikan RON 95 sebanyak 20 sen awal bulan ini masih belum lagi pudar. Jika dinaikkan lagi, sudah tentu barah akan menjadi lebih parah. Kegusaran orang ramai tentang khabar angin kenaikan RON 95 memberi petanda kehidupan majoriti rakyat terjejas setiap kali "penyelasaran subsidi" dilakukan. Rokok Selain RON 95, di laman-laman sosial tersebar juga harga rokok akan turut dinaikkan. Dikatakan bermula 30 September, harga sekotak Dunhill akan dinaikkan daripada RM10.50 ke RM12.00. Khabar angin tentang kenaikan harga rokok ini setakat ini masih belum ada yang menafikan. Mungkin khabar angin itu benar. Tauke-tauke kedai runcit yang ditemui juga tidak menolak kemungkinan harga rokok akan dinaikkan. Hari ini golongan perokok sudah menjadi semakin minoriti. Apatah lagi dunia hari ini ditadbir oleh golongan "anti smoking facist", maka kenaikan harga rokok tidak ramai yang peduli. 6 September lalu polis merampas 141 karton rokok seludup di Jalan Mersing, Kluang. Suspek lelaki dan wanita warga tempatan berusia lingkungan 30-an itu dicekup dalam sekatan jalan raya, kira-kira jam 4.40 pagi. Ketua Polis Daerah Kluang, Asistan Komisioner Abdul Majid Mohd Ali berkata, polis menemui pelbagai jenis rokok dalam bonet kereta suspek, disyaki dibawa masuk ke negara ini tanpa cop pengesahan daripada kastam. Katanya, kes itu disiasat di bawah Seksyen 135(1)(d) Akta Kastam 1967 dan jika sabit kesalahan suspek boleh dikenakan penjara sehingga tiga tahun dan denda 10 hingga 20 kali nilai rampasan atau kedua-duanya. Berita sebegini akan terus kita dengari jika kerajaan akan menaikkan lagi cukai rokok. Rokok seludup akan terus laku setiap kali cukai terhadap rokok "halal" dinaikkan. Teori ekonomi mudah selagi ada permintaan di situ ada penawaran. Jadi siapakah yang sebenarnya untung setiap kali harga rokok naik? Kerajaan atau tauke rokok seludup? GST Cukai barangan dan perkhidmatan (GST) hampir pasti akan diperkenalkan dalam Bajet 2014. Apatah lagi selepas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sudah sah tidak dicabar bagi jawatan presiden dalam pemilihan Umno bulan depan. Maknanya, bagi penggal ini Najib masih lagi sah akan terus menjadi perdana menteri walaupun keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 lalu, lebih buruk daripada apa yang Tun Abdullah Badawi lakukan pada 2008. Media arus perdana seperti TV3 sedang cuba mengolah persetujuan rakyat agar tidak terkejut apabila benar-benar dilaksanakan nanti. Dalam Buletin Utama baru-baru ini, stesen televisyan berpengaruh itu mengatakan satu struktur cukai baru akan diperkenalkan semasa pengumuman Bajet 2014 nanti. Bagaimana pula reaksi orang ramai nanti? Sudah bersediakah mereka untuk berhadapan dengan GST? Apakah akan berlaku penentangan besar-besaran? – 29 September, 2013. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider. |
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