New Zealand high school students have demanded examiners ignore that they don’t know what the word “trivial” means, after it appeared in a final-year exam and left many confused.These students are roughly the equivalent of American high school seniors.
Some students who took the year 13 history exam claimed the “unfamiliar word” was too hard, and the exam should now be marked according to each student’s different understanding and interpretation of “trivial”.
The exam asked for students to write an essay on whether they agreed with a quote from Julius Caesar which reads: “Events of importance are the result of trivial causes”.
An online petition claims the word trivial “caused much confusion” in the Wednesday exam and many students “were not particularly familiar with” the word.
More than 2,500 people have signed the petition, calling on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority [NZQA] to “recognise the true potential of the students and mark the essay based on the student’s own content and understanding of the event, many of which were different to what the word actually means.”
I find the quality of their vocabulary to be "trivial". I find their complaint "trivial". I hope the chances that anyone will act on their complaint to be "trivial".
These kids' education has been trivial, if they request that the essay be marked on the students' own content and understanding of the event.
ReplyDeleteRelativism doesn't keep bridges from falling down.
Awesome post.
ReplyDeleteThe use of social media has greatly degraded average students' vocabularies. I have had to completely rewrite tests and material t to conform to this "new normal". They are also quite proud of their lack of knowledge.
ReplyDelete