Well, the time had actually arrived. I took my pre-calculus test last Saturday. Before I let you know how I did, I must tell you the story of how I came to take a 2.5 hour test twice almost back to back.
In my previous post I was going on about assessment and self-esteem, of how I would feel if I did worse in the exam that I thought I deserved. My conclusion was that it would be hard to do badly but the most important thing is that I know I have learned. I had also made a point about tests being a tool to mostly measure teacher performance rather than student performance. In other words, the tests scores will give more information to the professor about what worked in class than I would to a single student about their performance. Fast-forward a week and you would find me sitting with my laptop, iPad, textbook and notebook ready to start my test...at 3:30am.
Why in earth would I be up at three in the morning to take my final? Simple, I had misread my watch and thought it was 4:30am. I was going to start the test at five, but when I had to check on my baby daughter, after she got out of bed, I decided to start the test early...that as you will see was a lucky mistake.
The final test was worth 80% of the class grade, so all those exercises I had been doing throughout the 10 week course (about 140 items) would count for 20% only. So, if O failed the test I would fail the class. The only solace I had was that the test could be taken twice at any time from Friday to Monday. My plan was to take it early on Saturday, then study up on the segments I had done badly. If I liked my score the first time around, I would take it once. My goal was no only to pass with the required 65% but to get a certificate of completion with distinction. I needed an 85% in the course to qualify for that.
After I have all my tools set, I start the test. The countdown read 2 hours 30minutes and started to descend a little faster that I wanted. I had 35 exercises to finish. My first wake up call came at question number 1. I had no idea what it was asking me to do. I flip through my notes and look through my reference pages to jog my groggy brain into gear. It occurred to me that an hour of sleep would have been welcome. But I soldiered on, I skipped the first couple of questions until I reached one that made sense. I picked up my pencil and calculated away. It would be a long two hours and a half. I could tell.
Halfway through my time I notice I am not hallway through my test yet. I start to get the feeling O will not finish all the questions, which would be bad because I wanted to use my first attempt as a reference and needed all answers graded. At least I had saved an HTML copy of the test in,y hard drive, so even if I do not finish all the items, I would know what they asked.I wanted to make a static PDF copy of the test, but found out my laptop did not have that capability. That would come and bite me later on.
As the clock winds down to the last 5 minutes I still have 4 or 5 exercises to go. I feel tired from all the calculations, and checking my notes, and finding reference pages to use. But at least I would get the majority of the except cowed marked one way or another. When the time stops I wold my breadth for the result.
I scored 15.67, just under 44%.
Feeling a little down, but not that much considering I had practiced very little for test, I proceeded to open the HTML copy I had saved in order to print the questions for review. And that's when disaster struck. As I looked at the HTML copy of the page I had saved, I saw something that made my heart stop. There was a clock at bottom counting down from 2 hours 30 minutes. It seemed I accidentally triggered my second attempt of the test.
On impulse I close the page. Then I freak out thinking I just lost my chance to take the test again. So I do the only thing a sleep deprived, exhausted human being would think of doing, I opened the page again. The clock started counting down from 2 hours 30 minutes once more. However, I could not know if this new clock was real or if the true countdown would be the one starting when I first opened the HTML file. Fully awake now, I figured I had to options: either hope it was a glitch, study all day for the test and retake it the next morning risking not having a second attempt to do; or suck it up, take the test again and try to finish it before that first countdown wound down.
Desperate, and not wanting my grade of this course which I had pit so much into, I decided to take the test again right then and there. Knowing full well that it might all be for nothing, since nothing could guarantee that upon hitting submit after completing all 35 exercises I would not get a message saying:"We are sorry but it appears you have already attempted this test twice." Regardless of that possibility I barreled on. It was already 6:00am.
The new test was slightly different from the first. It had the same questions but the variables and constants changed in most of them. Still, the second time around I was sufficiently awake to start remembering all I had learned in the class. Still, I knew my nervousness and agitation could make me make mistakes. And there was no fixing mistakes this time. It was now or never.
About an hour and a half into the test, at around 7:30am, my baby daughter awoke. She would be hungry and very curious about what daddy was doing. It was an eventuality I knew I would face. My plan was to leave the test were I was and get her breakfast. While she ate I could do some more exercises. Then my wife woke up. She instinctively noticed my predicament and told me to go on with my test. She would make breakfast. My wife is an angel. She woke up early on the day she could get to sleep late to help me pass a test that was, in the grand scheme of things, insignificant. All because she knew it was important for me. Thanks to her I was able to finish the test with 17 minutes to go. With trepidation I hit the submit button. I hoped against hope that the system would accept this attempt. It did.
My second score was 24.5 out of 35, exactly 70%.
I sighed with relief. A day ago, that score would have been a let down. But that day after 4 and a half hour of testing, and scribbling, and checking, and answering, I was exhausted and happy. My technical difficulties were overcome. I had passed the class. While my wife and daughter ate their pancakes, I raised both arms in triumph and gave a muted cheer. They cheered back.
I was done with my pre-calculus review. I would receive my statement of accomplishment a week later. Now, in the distance, through the wall I had just taken down , I could see a sign over the horizon that read: Beyond, there be Calculus.
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