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- The University , Education , Student , Campus
- 16/04/2018
TU/e prepares for mega-examination
This morning the examination with what may well be the biggest turn-out ever will be held at TU/e. Between 09.00 and 12.00 hrs no fewer than 2,297 first-years will sit the examination for the basic course Data Analytics for Engineers, spread across four locations on campus.
With student numbers as high as they are, it is becoming increasingly common for multiple locations on campus or even further afield to be put to use for examinations. Only last week the Beursgebouw in Eindhoven became the last-minute examination location for the course Physical Sciences, says Ron Tempelaars, TU/e's examination coordinator. “That examination was scheduled for four hundred students, but it later became apparent that many students had not passed it previously and were planning to resit. That bumped the numbers up to more than eight hundred and we had to react pretty quickly. Fortunately, the Beursgebouw was available.”
Now this morning almost 2,300 students will turn out for the Bachelor's basic course Data Analytics for Engineers. They will sit the examination in the hall of the Auditorium, in the three halls of the sports center, in Vertigo, and in the Paviljoen's canteen. At the first two locations, the rented tables and chairs were set out in readiness yesterday evening. “Although they won't all show up, 2,300 students have registered,” says Natalia Sidorova, one of the course lecturers. “I can imagine that the physical preparations for examinations are a massive undertaking. This is one of the five big basic courses; it is taken by all Bachelor's students.”
113 invigilators
To run the examination, TU/e has called upon all the invigilators on its list. “There will be 113 invigilators patrolling at the four locations,” says Tempelaars. “In the hall in the Auditorium we need to use extra invigilators to ensure students leave quietly and don't hang around in the corridor to discuss how the exam went.”
Major operation
It is a huge job to organize the examination, but getting this new course itself up and running was also a ‘major operation’, tells docent Sidorova. “We taught the course with five lecturers, in eight lecture streams, and using eighty lab session groups. In order to supervise the lab sessions we had to find and train just as many student assistants. Here at TU/e we are not used to these huge numbers of students. It really is a lot of work, for lecturers, but also for the co-workers who assist and support us.”
After the Christmas vacation, the five lecturers started writing the examination, even before the course actually started. “With a course like this, you start preparing everything much earlier. It is so big and so new. It requires multiple rounds of discussion and feedback,” says Sidorova. “We did it with all five of us in order to guarantee the quality of the examination.”
My tips for students: Don't read the exam too quickly, pay attention to every word, and take your time
Sidorova appreciates that for their part the students have also worked hard on the basic course and that this morning they will need to do another stint of hard work to achieve the 5 ECTS that the course is worth. “Make sure you stay calm, that's the most important thing. The examination is multiple choice. Don't read it too quickly, pay attention to every word, and take your time,” are the tips she has to give at this late stage. “We aren't going to overwhelm you will lots and lots of questions that you have to rush through. You will have enough time to think and to show us what you know. Use that time!”
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