DEV Community: Adams Agula

I do badly at tests

Adams Agula — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 06:54:57 +0000

I am an Information Technology major, a sophomore. I'm writing my second semester exams now, and today I wrote an exam on computer architecture.

Now, while studying the material for the course, reading stuff online about concepts like pipelining and parallel processing, I enjoyed every bit of that.

Understanding the concepts were intuitive, I understood them on an empirical level. Some conventions in a C plus plus course I take and concepts became clearer as well.

Problem is, I wasn't able to put in writing what these concepts mean in computer science jargon. I got into this mental block. And there was no way I could use "explain-like-i'm-five" grammar in this exam. It was clearly stated in the instructions that jargon was to be strictly used to answer these questions to get full marks.

What caused my mental block? I was a nervous wreck overthinking how to present my thoughts in needy jargon.

I'm used to writing and speaking "explain-like-i'm-five" grammar from my experience in content writing and ghost writing.

Maybe it's because I'm going to be graded, I felt trapped in my head. I reenacted many Prison Break episodes in m head, I won an Noble prize for Science in another universe in my head. All while exams were ongoing.

On the other hand, swapping definitions of concepts and practical scenarios where they were implemented with my roommate in pidgin English was more interesting and refreshing.

I don't do well on tests might not be a suitable title for this post, but I wanted to use a Suits reference.

I do badly at tests

Adams Agula — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 00:13:53 +0000

I am an Information Technology major, a sophomore. I'm writing my second semester exams now, and today I wrote an exam on computer architecture.

Now, while studying the material for the course, reading stuff online about concepts like pipelining and parallel processing, I enjoyed every bit of that.

Understanding the concepts were intuitive, I understood them on an empirical level. Some conventions in a C plus plus course I take and concepts became clearer as well.

Problem is, I wasn't able to put in writing what these concepts mean in computer science jargon. I got into this mental block. And there was no way I could use "explain-like-i'm-five" grammar in this exam. The lecturer implied, during lectures, that jargon was to be used to answer exam questions to get full marks.

What caused my mental block? I was a nervous wreck overthinking how to present my thoughts in nerdy jargon.

I'm used to writing and speaking "explain-like-i'm-five" grammar from my experience in content writing and ghost writing.

Maybe it's because I'm going to be graded, I felt trapped in my head. I reenacted many Prison Break episodes in my head, I won an Noble prize for Science in another universe in my head. All while exams were ongoing.

On the other hand, swapping definitions of concepts and practical scenarios where they were implemented with my roommate in pidgin English was more interesting and refreshing.

I don't do well on tests might not be a suitable title for this post, but I wanted to use a Suits reference.