Start record:
Last month - 3rd April to be precise - I climbed up the Tirumala mountains along with some of my colleagues. It was a near 3.5 hour walk. The darshan took only 6+ hours though!
And the previous night, I had an amazing darshan at Tiruchanur.
Had ill-effects of the 6 hour wait in the form of a strained back for a couple of days after returning.
This was my 3rd climb up the hill, the first one being in 1997 along with my buddies, with the precise prayer to Venky asking him to make me pass my Final Semester in Engineering.
The second one was in Feb 2006 as part of attending the wedding of my roommate in Los Angeles. I climbed up with a couple of my friends from my previous company.
End record.
Showing posts with label exam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exam. Show all posts
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Monday, December 08, 2008
ஆத்தா நான் pass ஆயிட்டேன்
That was the name of a movie that was released many years ago. It was one of those village themed ones that were quite popular and almost mandated by every movie producer in the late 80s.
The phrase has been used exceedingly by students over the years, when they return home after seeing their exam results in school or college. And I have used it many times myself, the last occasion being this evening.
As I may have ranted in these earlier posts of mine, my employer warrants that all employees must take up a few certification exams every year, failing which their promotions and increments are impacted. I cleared only 1 out of the 2 mandated for last year and I had to clear 2 this year.
I had already given a few attempts at one of these certifications, but the result was always the same - Failed. It didn't help that the pass percentage was set as 70% whereas in my student life, I managed to cross that number only in my practical exams.
Anyways, this morning, I took up one of the certifications for this year. This was relatively an easy one considering that it involved a lot of banking knowledge. Any person who has been following the recent economic crisis would be able to quickly relate to mortgages, second liens etc. And that was basically the syllabus for the exam I took up today.
And the best thing was that I actually studied the material for this exam on Sunday evening. I resisted the urge to watch movies and surf the net and instead, studied for this exam. Even this morning while driving to work, I asked my friend to question me on some of the topics from the material!
I said many a prayer before I left home and my mother also did her exam ritual of applying viboothi on my forehead. At the exam centre at work, I logged into the system and before clicking the confirm button to take the test, I said another round of prayers.
I started answering the questions and found that the paper was relatively easy. There were 60 questions in all and I could say that I was unsure of at least 8 questions. And since I am bound to make mistakes due to my tendency to read fast, I must have screwed up another 4-5 more.
I submitted the paper and once again prayed for a good result and Voila!!! The screen said that I had score 72%. The sick sadist who designed this online exam system has tried to play a neutral tone and the result never announces whether one has passed or not. It only shows the score you obtained.
I came out and checked with my friends who all unanimously said that 70% was the pass-mark. One person even said that it was 65%. In any case, it was clear that I had passed this exam.
When I came home and announced to my mother "ஆத்தா நான் pass ஆயிட்டேன்", she was quite ecstatic. I don't think she was this happy even when I cleared a career altering certification in my previous employment. She was quite eager that I pass this one and has been saying her share of prayers. Guess all that worked in my favor today.
In terms of illogical reasons of why I passed, I can also include the fact that the material that I studied from was originally printed by a friend of mine and it was then passed on to me by another friend. Both these people clear their exams quite effortlessly and I guess their luck rubbed on to me a little.
Any which way, I am one happy man considering that one of my 3 exams are done. The next lot is on the 16th and I am actually going to be writing 2 in a single day. God bless me!
The phrase has been used exceedingly by students over the years, when they return home after seeing their exam results in school or college. And I have used it many times myself, the last occasion being this evening.
As I may have ranted in these earlier posts of mine, my employer warrants that all employees must take up a few certification exams every year, failing which their promotions and increments are impacted. I cleared only 1 out of the 2 mandated for last year and I had to clear 2 this year.
I had already given a few attempts at one of these certifications, but the result was always the same - Failed. It didn't help that the pass percentage was set as 70% whereas in my student life, I managed to cross that number only in my practical exams.
Anyways, this morning, I took up one of the certifications for this year. This was relatively an easy one considering that it involved a lot of banking knowledge. Any person who has been following the recent economic crisis would be able to quickly relate to mortgages, second liens etc. And that was basically the syllabus for the exam I took up today.
And the best thing was that I actually studied the material for this exam on Sunday evening. I resisted the urge to watch movies and surf the net and instead, studied for this exam. Even this morning while driving to work, I asked my friend to question me on some of the topics from the material!
I said many a prayer before I left home and my mother also did her exam ritual of applying viboothi on my forehead. At the exam centre at work, I logged into the system and before clicking the confirm button to take the test, I said another round of prayers.
I started answering the questions and found that the paper was relatively easy. There were 60 questions in all and I could say that I was unsure of at least 8 questions. And since I am bound to make mistakes due to my tendency to read fast, I must have screwed up another 4-5 more.
I submitted the paper and once again prayed for a good result and Voila!!! The screen said that I had score 72%. The sick sadist who designed this online exam system has tried to play a neutral tone and the result never announces whether one has passed or not. It only shows the score you obtained.
I came out and checked with my friends who all unanimously said that 70% was the pass-mark. One person even said that it was 65%. In any case, it was clear that I had passed this exam.
When I came home and announced to my mother "ஆத்தா நான் pass ஆயிட்டேன்", she was quite ecstatic. I don't think she was this happy even when I cleared a career altering certification in my previous employment. She was quite eager that I pass this one and has been saying her share of prayers. Guess all that worked in my favor today.
In terms of illogical reasons of why I passed, I can also include the fact that the material that I studied from was originally printed by a friend of mine and it was then passed on to me by another friend. Both these people clear their exams quite effortlessly and I guess their luck rubbed on to me a little.
Any which way, I am one happy man considering that one of my 3 exams are done. The next lot is on the 16th and I am actually going to be writing 2 in a single day. God bless me!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Multiple Choice Questions
I have been for long, a proponent of the Multiple Choice Question format. The main reason is that it saves me from having to write a lot and simply give the answer.
In our school days, all our Maths teachers insist that marks would be given for the steps used to arrive at an answer, even if the final value was wrong. Similarly, in college, the mantra was simply that the more number of pages that you consume in a semester exam, the greater are your chances of clearing that exam.
Going by my academic records, it is very evident that this format has not really suited me. Agreed that I do come across as someone who writes a lot, but then quite often it borders on rambling. Which may be okay with the average reader of my blog, but is obviously not what an examiner (or is it evaluator?) wants to see.
And there was the eternal confusion anyway. Do I write 10 sentences for a 2 mark question? If so, how many do I write for a 20 mark question? Should I use a direct proportion or should I use some exponential equation? Should I underline the key words? Should I draw more diagrams? How much margin should I leave? How much header and footer space? Is it okay to use a "Pillayar Suzhi"?
That’s why I used to love all these entrance exams for admission to Colleges and Universities. They were (and most probably still are) Multiple Choice Questions. And I simply had to shade the answer paper at the appropriate place.
But then, for most of these exams, there used to negative marks. That was a bummer. It was however a small price one had to pay for the bigger comfort that it gave me.
And if you were one with a gambling streak in your blood, you wouldn’t mind answering all questions irrespective of the outcome.
But that posed a challenge to you. How would you answer a question for which you didn’t know the answer? Again, the advantage of Multiple Choice Questions comes to the fore. Since you only have to select an answer and not justify how you arrived at that selection, you pick an answer at random.
The average Indian, while selecting the random option, uses the "Inky-Pinky-Ponky" strategy. If by any weird chance, you are not aware of Inky-Pinky-Ponky, it is a small limerick used by kids while selecting the catcher in the "Catching Game" or "Hide and Seek" (not to be confused with the biscuit; its a game also known by its pronunciations "ice-boys") or "Lock and Key" or any such game. The kids stand in a circle and one of them recites the poem and points to a kid for each word in the poem. This goes in sequence until the last one is left. The poem goes something like
Inky Pinky Ponky
Father had a donkey
Donkey died
Father cried
Inky Pinky Ponky
So, the person against whom the last Ponky was sounded, was either the catcher or was eliminated. In the latter case, the process would be repeated without that kid and the cycle would continue until the last kid standing would be designated as the catcher.
Extrapolating the same strategy, Inky-Pinky-Ponky is used to select the random answer in a Multiple Choice Question paper. You start the limerick with one option; point each word at the next option and cycle around till you reach/eliminate an answer.
On Tuesday, I had to take an examination at work (mandated as part of my career progression in the company) and the question paper consisted of MCQs. It was a technical paper and I had no clue about the questions. Using some residual memory and my knowledge of English, I was able to answer some 6-7 questions. It was a test with 50 questions and I was woefully short on numbers. So, I had to use the Inky-Pinky-Ponky route.
But I found that it was getting very predictable. Since there were always 4 options in each question, it turned out that I was landing up with the same option number. Faced with this humongous challenge, I came out with an outstanding solution. Why should I stick with only Inky-Pinky-Ponky? Why not put the popular nursery rhymes to this task?
I did. So I went ahead with the following rhymes to choose my answers:
1. Twinkle twinkle little star
2. Jack and Jill went up the hill
3. Humpty Dumpty
4. Piggy on the railway
5. Pussy cat pussy cat where have you been
6. Hickory dickory clock
Needless to say, I didn’t clear the exam.
Perhaps, I need to try other nursery rhymes. Or even movie songs.
In our school days, all our Maths teachers insist that marks would be given for the steps used to arrive at an answer, even if the final value was wrong. Similarly, in college, the mantra was simply that the more number of pages that you consume in a semester exam, the greater are your chances of clearing that exam.
Going by my academic records, it is very evident that this format has not really suited me. Agreed that I do come across as someone who writes a lot, but then quite often it borders on rambling. Which may be okay with the average reader of my blog, but is obviously not what an examiner (or is it evaluator?) wants to see.
And there was the eternal confusion anyway. Do I write 10 sentences for a 2 mark question? If so, how many do I write for a 20 mark question? Should I use a direct proportion or should I use some exponential equation? Should I underline the key words? Should I draw more diagrams? How much margin should I leave? How much header and footer space? Is it okay to use a "Pillayar Suzhi"?
That’s why I used to love all these entrance exams for admission to Colleges and Universities. They were (and most probably still are) Multiple Choice Questions. And I simply had to shade the answer paper at the appropriate place.
But then, for most of these exams, there used to negative marks. That was a bummer. It was however a small price one had to pay for the bigger comfort that it gave me.
And if you were one with a gambling streak in your blood, you wouldn’t mind answering all questions irrespective of the outcome.
But that posed a challenge to you. How would you answer a question for which you didn’t know the answer? Again, the advantage of Multiple Choice Questions comes to the fore. Since you only have to select an answer and not justify how you arrived at that selection, you pick an answer at random.
The average Indian, while selecting the random option, uses the "Inky-Pinky-Ponky" strategy. If by any weird chance, you are not aware of Inky-Pinky-Ponky, it is a small limerick used by kids while selecting the catcher in the "Catching Game" or "Hide and Seek" (not to be confused with the biscuit; its a game also known by its pronunciations "ice-boys") or "Lock and Key" or any such game. The kids stand in a circle and one of them recites the poem and points to a kid for each word in the poem. This goes in sequence until the last one is left. The poem goes something like
Inky Pinky Ponky
Father had a donkey
Donkey died
Father cried
Inky Pinky Ponky
So, the person against whom the last Ponky was sounded, was either the catcher or was eliminated. In the latter case, the process would be repeated without that kid and the cycle would continue until the last kid standing would be designated as the catcher.
Extrapolating the same strategy, Inky-Pinky-Ponky is used to select the random answer in a Multiple Choice Question paper. You start the limerick with one option; point each word at the next option and cycle around till you reach/eliminate an answer.
On Tuesday, I had to take an examination at work (mandated as part of my career progression in the company) and the question paper consisted of MCQs. It was a technical paper and I had no clue about the questions. Using some residual memory and my knowledge of English, I was able to answer some 6-7 questions. It was a test with 50 questions and I was woefully short on numbers. So, I had to use the Inky-Pinky-Ponky route.
But I found that it was getting very predictable. Since there were always 4 options in each question, it turned out that I was landing up with the same option number. Faced with this humongous challenge, I came out with an outstanding solution. Why should I stick with only Inky-Pinky-Ponky? Why not put the popular nursery rhymes to this task?
I did. So I went ahead with the following rhymes to choose my answers:
1. Twinkle twinkle little star
2. Jack and Jill went up the hill
3. Humpty Dumpty
4. Piggy on the railway
5. Pussy cat pussy cat where have you been
6. Hickory dickory clock
Needless to say, I didn’t clear the exam.
Perhaps, I need to try other nursery rhymes. Or even movie songs.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
I have an exam tomorrow
In my company, there is a policy that if one does indeed desire to see hikes in pay, changes in roles etc., then one must take up certain certification examinations in a year. These are typically in the area of technology and domain. These certifications are either external or internal depending on individual choice. But since I belong to a horizontal unit in the organization, we also have to do a certification in the process area. My exam tomorrow is on the process or practice area.
Of course, unlike any Olympian spirit of participation, one actually has to pass these exams to be eligible for hike and promotion.
I have my first tomorrow. And up until this point in time, I completely forgot about it. Some spike in the neural circuit upstairs has now made me remember it. Damn....
So, if I do any mall hopping today, it will have to be with a li'l guilt conscience.
The material I have to go through is a 50 page PPT. It should be enough to keep me occupied during my odyssey to office tomorrow morning. I will probably skim thru it sometime today before I go to sleep.
What will be the outcome if I fail the exam tomorrow? Nothing really. Probably, I will reduce the passing percentage of people who take up that exam. But thats anyway my target for the exam on technology.
We are given time to take up re-exams. So, even I fail (which I am almost sure I will), there is some more time to finish it off. The only problem with not clearing is that I will be stuck in this same role with the same pay for another year.
But, if I look at the bright side, maybe this studying habit will help me kick-start the long-distance MBA course that I signed up for a couple of years ago. The one where I have received some 4 packages of books and have opened the first one and taken out only one book from that!!!
Of course, unlike any Olympian spirit of participation, one actually has to pass these exams to be eligible for hike and promotion.
I have my first tomorrow. And up until this point in time, I completely forgot about it. Some spike in the neural circuit upstairs has now made me remember it. Damn....
So, if I do any mall hopping today, it will have to be with a li'l guilt conscience.
The material I have to go through is a 50 page PPT. It should be enough to keep me occupied during my odyssey to office tomorrow morning. I will probably skim thru it sometime today before I go to sleep.
What will be the outcome if I fail the exam tomorrow? Nothing really. Probably, I will reduce the passing percentage of people who take up that exam. But thats anyway my target for the exam on technology.
We are given time to take up re-exams. So, even I fail (which I am almost sure I will), there is some more time to finish it off. The only problem with not clearing is that I will be stuck in this same role with the same pay for another year.
But, if I look at the bright side, maybe this studying habit will help me kick-start the long-distance MBA course that I signed up for a couple of years ago. The one where I have received some 4 packages of books and have opened the first one and taken out only one book from that!!!
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