Don't You Love It When You Get More Than 100% On An Exam?
Got my first Molecular Evolution exam back today, 26.4 points out of 25. Not bad I suppose, but I only 1.5 out of 2 points on te extra credit question:
"What is a gene? Explain how the concept of a gene has evolved through time and how recent discoveries in whole-genome expression data changed the definition of what a gene is."I also missed 0.1 point for what I think are rounding errors (the correct answer for calculating nucleotide substitutions under the Kimura model was 18.9. My answer? 19.2... doh!). Otherwise, I could have had 27 out of 25 point dammit.
Seriously though, I'm really stoked. I've never done this well on an exam since I took a class on Darwin in Spring 2004 (one of my two A+'s as an undergrad, the other was in Physics I). I do not consider myself a smart person by any means, but I work hard and have a good memory for science stuff. Maybe its a sign that I need to do less ecology and get more into evolution?
Congratulations, Kevin! Must have been a great feeling.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally hand out and extra point or two if the work is of a standard surpassing that of other students. When someone really makes the effort, they deserve a reward!
Nicely done, Kevin!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I'm a bit more confused by the concept of fractional points than I am by exceeding 100%. I mean, that's why it is "extra" credit, right? But what, exactly, does it mean to miss a tenth of a point? I guess it's just because a "point" is such an arbitrary measure.
Snail, thanks, I personally don't believe in extra credit with my own students. I adopted my advisor's testing philosophy of making the exam hard but grading easy.
ReplyDeleteWill, I don't get it either. I think they just couldn't let me get away with a perfect score ;p
But there were 5 questions worth 5 points each, usually with multiple parts or multiple calculations that you had to get the answer.
Congratulations, you deserve recognition.
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