I've realised (OK, again) today just how much of an unsympathetic bastard I can be. Students are, again, complaining that an exam question was "unfair" ... because:
"... some 'command words' - the words that indicate how you should answer the question - were different from what pupils had been taught to expect, so they did not know what was being asked."
Have they tried reading the actual question?
I know how hard teachers work to prepare students for the exams, and I know that the students can know the maths, and I know that a question should allow the students to demonstrate their mathematical knowledge, but ...
It's an exam. Read the question, don't just go looking for 'Command Words'.
Or are they actually unable to read? Is that the problem?
Should I be more sympathetic?
-- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx21j20l9wlo
#rant
Colin the Mathmo
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2026-05-13 10:46:48 UTC
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