Test Files
 

i heard the best piece of news the other day. i heard that frats and sororities have test files...answers to alot of tests for those impossible classes. is it true?

Not to sound hateful Ace, but no smart person would answer that question here. A university can view this page too.

Easy E

My (Canadian) university had SOME old tests that you were welcome to photocopy and practice off of. These were kept in the Advising Center. The answers were not supplied but it was great practice and not considering cheating. Nothing sneaky or immoral going on there.

while some houses maintain files of old tests, notes, etc., it's not as if the professors don't know this is happening..... i have never heard of a prof who gives the exact same test year after year or even 2 semesters in a row. it's not as if you can just memorize the answers off an old test and get a perfect score. cold tests are most helpful to show you what sort of questions and format to expect from that teacher, not to function as a "key" for the actual exam.

some students will even raise their hand in class and ask the prof if cold tests are fair game. at my school, their use is almost never considered cheating, and the profs and administration know exactly what is going on. i suppose, though, it might be an unfair advantage for greeks, since independents don't have access to that sort of thing http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif , but i guess that's all the more reason to go greek! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by -sketchball- (edited August 04, 2000).]

i think that test files are a great way to take a class. It is nothinhg but a study giude and if you don't know anything to start with they wont help anyway

Anyhow, we all know that when you have a new professor, you always say that the first test is to find out what kind of testing that professor does. So ussually you end up mucking up the first test, because each professor does testing differently.

So I love being able to find test files to get to know what kind of testing to expect for the class

Before I came to UCSD I thought tests banks in sororities and fraternities were just flat out cheating.

But here, I either get old tests from my sisters&friends or BUY IT FROM THE STUDENT COUNCIL. They get enough of my money from my tuition; I'm not going to give them more if I don't have to!

Any prof with half a brain would not give a student a graded test to KEEP and think that they aren't going to share their answers.

Here, if a prof doesn't want his or her test questions out for the world to see, they will simply show students the graded tests and take them back. If a student gets to keep their tests, it's fair game.

Actually, test files are hardly needed here-- it's common practice to have freedom to roam the old test files of any prof, in their offices for that matter, at least in the departments I've had experience in.



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Lizzie
Theta Sigma Chapter
Delta Delta Delta

At Rose, almost all, if not all of the houses have files. These are just old tests. Some profs use them over again. Some never use them again. Most of my profs tell us to use files. Many of them keep a file at the library of old tests and homework, and give them out at study sessions. There are classes that are straight file though, that you can take someones file from the last quarter or last year, and basically just turn it in to be graded again. I know of a guy that did that, and forgot to change the date on the lab report from 2 years before. The prof circled it, but I think still gave him a decent grade, maybe took it down a letter.

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Steve Corbin
Lambda Chi Alpha
Theta Kappa Chapter
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech.

If you get a test exactly the same, be sure to miss a couple on purpose. Otherwise it looks suspicious. ;)

I've never found test files too be much more than a study guide. Most profs constantly change their tests.

This is realy old, but we have a pretty extensive test bank.

Test files are very common on my campus and my IHQ actually recommends utilizing them. The major rule we have is that test files should never reenter the classroom. If someone is caught trying to turn one in, they get fined pretty heavily.

As a professor, I change my tests all the time for various reasons. Professors did so when I was a student as well. However, the test files are invaluable because you can see what kind of tests the professors give. When I took calculus, I had this impossible-to-understand Iraqi instructor. Thank the Lord that he had a few tests in our file so I could follow his style; otherwise, I'd still be sitting at Auburn trying to pass cal.

Thanks for reminding us to keep changing our exams and to keep making sure our students aren't able to take exam copies with them.

Athletes use them, GLOs use them, GDIs use them, graduate students even use them in some departments at some schools....

If used at all, testbanks should be used to get a general idea of a professor's exam style. Not to study verbatum, instead of actually learning and studying the material, with the expectation that the exam won't change.

Shoot, at law school the school library maintained the test banks. Every professor encouraged students to look over his or her old tests so that students would have an idea of what to expect.
Exactly.