Back-to-back impromptu tests

Ah, impromptu tests, the ultimate adrenaline rush in the lives of university students. We've all experienced that heart-stopping moment when our lecturer walks into the classroom, wearing an enigmatic smile (or big frown for the sadistic types) and holding a pile of test papers. You know what I'm talking about, right? They just walk into the class and say "Tear out a sheet of paper, we are having a test today".

And then they proceed to ask you questions that are either too hard, too vague, or too irrelevant to the course. I don't know about you, but I hate these tests. They are unfair, stressful, and sometimes they don't even measure your actual knowledge or understanding of the subject. They only measure your ability to cram and regurgitate facts. They don't give you any feedback or opportunity to improve your skills. They only make you feel like a failure.

Personal experiences

During my time in high school, I don't think I ever encountered an impromptu test or I have probably forgotten about them. But in the university, I have come across so many impromptu tests (starting from 100 level) that I have even lost count. The worst period of impromptu tests happened last semester which ended last month and out of the 8 courses I did, 5 of them did impromptu tests.

The first one is a female lecturer that loves marking notes. She dictate her lecture note during lectures and everyone is expected to write because one day, she will come to class and ask us to submit our notebooks, this is what she use to do her test. But the problem is that she can be very fast when dictating and a lot of people aren't able to keep up with her. And nobody ever knows when she will ask us to submit our notes.

But last semester, she did something different: she gave a group project which we all did, and also did a presentation based on the project topics. She said that was our continuous assessment, so everyone relaxed because we assumed she was not going to use our notes as an assessment, but we were so wrong. One day after she finished teaching, she suddenly said "Submit your notebooks!"

Everyone was shocked because we never saw that coming. She then explained that continuous assessment in the university is 30 marks and exam is 70 marks. The group project she gave is 10 marks, lecture attendance is 10 marks, then our notes are also 10 marks. The majority of the class wasn't prepared for that and their notes weren't up to date but luckily for me, mine was. Only about 3 of us had the complete note, so we got the highest mark.

Now, this same female lecturer is in charge of another course and when it was getting to the time when she will be done with the course, everyone assumed she was also going to pull a surprise "note marking" test. My notebook for that course wasn't complete, so I spent my entire weekend trying to fill up the empty spaces. In her next class, she announced that we are going to be having a test but everyone was ready for her and we all have completed our notes.

But the next thing we heard was "Tear out a sheet of paper, write your name and Mat number". The whole class turned upside down and everyone was visibly shocked. This woman has never given a written test but that day, she did. I was completely blank during the test and I managed to write a couple of things just so that my answer sheet won't be empty" Well, the next time we saw her, she said nobody got more than 3 in that test. 3/20! (attendance is 10 marks).

From there, 3 other lecturers did impromptu tests as well, including one that explained the course for the very first time. He dropped some materials earlier in the semester but never came to class. Towards mid-semester, he showed up to finally give a lecture and explain the course and after that, he gave a test! Nobody was prepared for that and most of us haven't even read the materials he dropped, nobody got up to half of the total marks in that test.

I missed one of the impromptu tests because I wasn't in the class that day. The course is very boring and luckily, the lecturer didn't make attending his class compulsory, so I could decide not to go to the class. On one of the days I missed his class, I suddenly saw a message in my class WhatsApp group that day that said the lecturer did an impromptu test and it was so easy because he made it an open test (everyone was free to check their notes or the internet for the answers!). He definitely did that as punishment for people that didn't come to class that day.

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