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From: matloff@bizet.Berkeley.EDU (Norman Matloff)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Exam Files
Message-ID: <19863@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 2 Feb 89 22:34:23 GMT
References: <1461@trantor.harris-atd.com> <19554@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <27541@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <15993@joyce.istc.sri.com> <429@laic.UUCP> <19810@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
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Reply-To: matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff)
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In article <9388@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> timlee@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Timothy J. Lee) writes:
>In article <19810@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes:
*>on if one is willing to put in enough time.  For exams, there is what the
*>Taiwan students call the "archaeology method," which is basically the one
*>used by American fraternity houses  --  extensive archives of past exams
*>(it's really quite amazing how many professors will give essentially the
*>same exam year after year, at least in terms of general content).  For

>Not just fraternities...  many other student groups maintain exam files.

I seem to recall seeing exam files in the UCB library.  Was that motivated
by a desire to equalize opportunity?

>Perhaps the visibility of some such files ensures that instructors
>don't give the same question (or variation with different numbers) twice.

In my observation, most professors who give similar exams year after year
don't even realize that exam files exist and are used.

   Norm