SAP (Simultaneously Answering Pattern)
A
Novel Way of Evaluation in the Class of Thirty Students at a Time
--Dr. Rajamouly Katta
Professor and Head Dept. of English,
Ganapathy Engineering College, Warangal
---------------
This is the age of crowded classes
and healthy competition in educational institutions. The teacher must be sharp,
shrewd, and competent in this age to deal with the crowds in the class. He
teaches his subject, conducts examinations, and assesses the performance of
students’ performance in the examination. He, at the same time, has an
opportunity to assess the quality of his own teaching as a teacher.
The conduct of examination and the evaluation of answer scripts of
his students are the primal part of education. He is fit to be a teacher when
he is competent in teaching, regular in evaluating their performance in the
examination he conducts from time to time.
It is a well-known fact that the classes today are crowded with
students in large numbers. To examine orally and evaluate the performance of
thirty or above students in a class is a difficult task. To test the students
of such classes, he evolves his own easy methods to evaluate them. Keeping the
present classroom situation in my view, I have evolved a new way to evaluate
the performance of students in large numbers in a pleasant and comfortable way.
In a batch of thirty students the teacher asks thirty questions.
Every student gets one question each to answer directly, and others get
twenty-nine questions to answer indirectly. The question asked is the question
for all the thirty students to answer and award marks. The student, called by
Mr. Computer as per the roll number, answers the question aloud with full
details and awards 40 marks to him or her when the answer is correct. The
others also award 2 Marks each when they know the correct answer to the
question. The marks are awarded in the award marks lists supplied to them. The
students find the pattern of examination funny as all the thirty or more
students are asked questions, and they display their respective talents in
answering them at a time. All the students are involved in the activity. In the
oral answering pattern, students display their spoken skills. There is another
way to attach questions to the students through the systems in the lab. In this
pattern, they exhibit written skills.
For the conduct of examination, two extra personnel—teaching faculty
to conduct the oral examination and the lab assistant, called Mr. Computer, to
assist by asking all the students questions as per the roll number, are
required. It is surely funny for the
students involved in answering the questions asked.
What are vital
and crucial features in enabling students to obtain communication skills? It is
very important and prominent on our part to adopt new and innovative methods to
impart communication skills by means of play-way techniques. The thorough involvement
and active participation of all the students in the class plays a vital and
pivotal role in the enrichment of their communication skills. They obtain
knowledge in their subjects as they are exposed to others’ views in the
play-way technique.
It is better to introduce new
play-way methods and activities for the involvement of all the students in
enriching their communication skills. In the process, they are to be involved
in the oral activity. The activity, which involves all the students in the
class and all the participants in the competition, is the right one to be
followed in promoting communication skills and career abilities and the
knowledge of students.
In the conduct of an oral examination, students promote their
communication skills that play a vital and pivotal role in all walks of life
and all fields of competition in the modern scenario. There are ample opportunities for them to
enrich their proficiency and efficiency, accuracy and fluency in communication
and presentation skills. They participate in the activity so interestingly as
they do in other oral activities like JAM (Just A Minute), group discussion, debate,
information transfer, telephone conversation, interview skills, describing
objects, situations and persons, and role play that are practiced at the
undergraduate level especially in engineering and technological colleges. They feel the necessity of communication
skills to interact successfully with fellow beings across the world. As per the
traditional or usual process, one may not feel conducive and convenient to ask
questions one after the other in a class of thirty or more students. The
process is time consuming and laborious. The teacher is to invent and evolve
new methods and adopt novel techniques in the field of evaluation of students’
performance in the examination in larger classes.
There are ways for students’
learning not only communication skills but also obtaining knowledge in the
subject of their choice. At the same time, there must be ways for evaluating
their skills and knowledge by means of oral examinations. Through written
examinations teachers cannot assess their spoken skills by valuing their
written answer scripts. It is only the oral examination that can assess
students’ communication skills and subject knowledge. Here is the SAP session
to question all the students simultaneously and assess their skills and
knowledge.
My newly evolved ‘SAP’
(‘Simultaneously Answering Pattern’) is unique and specialized in its approach
and novel in its objective. It involves all the students of the class in the
testing process. It is the process of simultaneously questioning all, and students
are to answer and award marks to themselves. All the activities go at a time.
The procedure I evolved is to enable every student of the class, involving all
the students at a time in the testing and answering activity. This is the
objective of the SAP session. The procedure is that the teacher of a class of
sixty students in the engineering stream divides the class into two batches
with thirty students each for the convenience in testing them at a time. The
procedure goes in the following ways.
For the conduct of the SAP Session,
the teaching faculty and Mr. Computer, lab programmer or leader, along with
thirty students are essential personnel. First, Mr. Computer distributes or
attaches copies of the marks list to the students. They can also have laptops
(systems) with the questions for them to answer. He hands over the
Questionnaire and the award lists of marks to the students of SAP session.
Mr. Computer conducts the SAP
Session in a class of thirty students. As per the roll number, Mr. Computer
shoots one question that is called the face-to-face question as per the roll
number and the student of the number is to answer the question aloud. Like
that, all students of the batch get a chance to answer their respective
face-to-face question aloud. Everyone gets a face-to-face question in turn to
answer it aloud and others also award marks for themselves for the answer if
they know the correct answer for it. In the process, the leader repeats all
questions with four options for the clear comprehension of students. One of the
options in the multiple choice of answers is correct; two of the options are
not correct and the last one is misleading and misguiding.
Question “The Father of the Mation”
with answers in multiple choice:
A.
Sardar Patel B. Babu
Jagjivanram
C. Mahatma Gandhi D. Jawaharlal
Nehru (C)
Answer with full
Details: ‘C’
Mahatma Gandhi
The Father of the Nation
A brief note about him in correct sentences
A student responds to Mr Computer on
his call as per the roll number and answers aloud the face-to-face question
directly and the other twenty-nine students answer indirectly only by ticking
the option in the marks list but not by answering it aloud. They are to wait
and award marks until the right answer for the question is announced by the
leader. If their expected answer is correct, they get two marks each. They can
award marks honestly when they know the correct answer. They are to award two
marks honestly for the question in the award marks list.
The question which is asked directly and answered aloud with full
details: ‘C’, Mahatma Gandhi, ‘The Father of the Nation’ along with a brief
note about him carries forty marks. Every student gets a chance to answer a
face-to-face question to get forty marks when answered with full details using
apt communication skills. For the face-to-face question of one is the ‘Indirect
Question’ for others to get two marks. They are to record two marks honestly
for that question if they really know the correct answer. Every student gets
one face-to-face question to get forty marks for the answer with full details
and twenty-nine students answer and award 2 marks each in their respective
marks lists if the answers in their minds are declared ‘Correct’ by Mr.
Computer under the supervision of the teaching faculty. The process of
evaluation is as follows:
i)
The student should answer the
Face-to-face question with all details. For example, the answer to the
question: ‘Who is the Father of the Nation?’ and the correct option is not just
to say ‘C’ as per the questionnaire.
ii)
He should add to ‘C with ‘The
Father of the Nation is Mahatma Gandhi’ and a brief note about him in correct
sentences to get 40 marks.
iii)
With half details, ‘C’:
‘Mahatma Gandhi’ the student gets 30 marks.
iv)
With just ‘C’, the student gets
20 marks.
Every student has a facility to seek the help of a student of the
same class to guide him or her to have a correct answer. When guided correctly,
he or she secures only 10 marks for the correct answer but the student, who
helps him or her. will get two marks only for the answer. Each student can help
once only. If he does not answer correctly, he gets zero even for the question.
There are no minus marks for wrong answers, the student directly or indirectly
answers. For the 29 questions answered indirectly, the student is to award 2
marks each honestly when he or she knows the correct answer.
For decency and decorum in the SAP session, two marks are allotted
each. If any student makes any disturbance, he or she will lose two marks.
Teaching faculty is vested with a right to cancel his or her performance as a
participant in the session when his disturbance is beyond limits.
The teaching faculty’s decision is final in all respects. All the
other participants are to follow his or /her instructions scrupulously.
Mr. Computer declares marks 40, 30
or 20 to the candidate as per the levels of his or her own performance and 10
marks for the answer got in the guidance of another student. Other students will have to post plus-two
marks each in the marks list honestly for the correct answer after the
announcement of the correct option by Mr. Computer.
If any student’s performance is doubted by other students, as a
challenge they can question him or her bare-facedly to test his or her honesty
by asking him or her to answer certain questions. When he fails to answer the
question (s) he asks, he loses all the performance and gets zero. It is a kind
of punishment to the student to award marks dishonestly.
To avoid the getting of zero marks, he or she tends to be sincere
and honest in awarding marks in the marks sheet. Whoever is proved dishonest
and insincere in posting or entering marks in the marks list will have to come
to the stage confess his or her faults by saying ‘I have got zero marks for my
being insincere and dishonest in awarding marks in the marks list.’
For the assessment of every student’s performance, all should follow
the instructions of the leader of the SAP session. The powers vested with the
faculty of the class are final, and none can question his authority. The
decency and decorum of every student is also observed only to be suitably
rewarded and awarded.
The model performance of student K.
Rakesh in the marks list is as follows:
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name of Student: K. Rakesh
Class studying in: B. Tech (ECE Section): Roll No: 06
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Marks in SAP Session
Marks Secured Max. Marks
For the Main Question, Face-to-face question,
the leader asks and he answers aloud with details,
as shown above.
40 40
29 Questions
|
1) +2 2) 0 3) +2 4) +2 5) 0 6) +2 7) +2 8) +2 9) +2 10) 0 |
11) +2 12) 0 13) + 2 14) +2 15) +2 16) 0 17) +2 18) +2 19) 0 20) 0 |
21) +2 22) +2 24) +2 24) +2 25) +2 26) +2 27) +2 28) +2 29) +2 Total: (+44-0=44)
44 |
Discipline and decency:
02 02
………………………………………………………………………………………
Grand Total:
(40+44+2)
86 86
………………………………………………………………………………………
There are thirty questions for the students.
All students answer the Face-to-Face question to secure 40, 30, 20 or 10 marks
as per his or her performance. They do not answer the other twenty-nine
questions aloud. He can award two marks each for the correct answers of 29
questions. K. Rakesh (bearing the Roll Number: 6) awards 40 for the
face-to-face question, 44 marks for other 29 questions, 2 marks for discipline
in the SAP activity. He gets 86 for all correct answers and discipline. None
has challenged him saying that he is dishonest in awarding marks.
The model performance of student R. Suresh seeking the help of
another student for the face-to-question. in the marks list is as follows:
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name of Student:
R. Suresh Class studying in: B. Tech
(ECE Section): Roll No: 25
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Marks in SAP
Session
Marks Secured Total Marks
For the Main
Question, Face-to-face question,
the leader asks
and he answers aloud with details,
as shown above.
(With the guidance of another student) 10 10
29 Questions
|
1) +2 2) 0 3) +2 4) +2 5) 0 6) +2 7) +2 8) +2 9) +2 10) 0 |
11) +2 12) 0 13) + 2 14) +2 15) +2 16) 0 17) +2 18) +2 19) 0 20) 0 |
21) +2 22) +2 24) +2 24) +0 25) +2 26) +0 27) +0 28) +0 29) +0 Total: (+36-0=36) 36 |
Discipline and
decency:
02 02
………………………………………………………………………………………
Grand
Total:
(10+36+2)
100 48
………………………………………………………………………………………
The model performance of student George to get zero for the
face-to-face question as follows:
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name of Student:
George Class studying in: B. Tech (ECE
Section): Roll No: 29
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Marks in SAP
Session
Marks Secured Max. Marks
For the Main
Question, Face-to-face question,
the leader asks
and he answers aloud with details,
as shown
above.
0 0
29 Questions
|
1) +2 2) 0 3) +2 4) +2 5) 0 6) +2 7) +2 8) +2 9) +2 10) 0 |
11) +2 12) 0 13) + 2 14) +2 15) +2 16) 0 17) +2 18) +2 19) 0 20) 0 |
21) +2 22) +0 24) +0 24) +2 25) +2 26) +2 27) +0 28) +0 29) +0 Total: (+34-0=34) 34 |
Discipline and
decency:
02 02
………………………………………………………………………………………
Grand
Total:
(0+34+2)
36 36
………………………………………………………………………………………
Of all, K. Vinay
awards 96 marks for himself, the highest score for his correct answers and
discipline in the activity. The leader declares Vinay ‘Mr. Perfect.’ The
teaching faculty congratulates his success, by complimenting him duly. The
student getting the highest marks and due compliments serves as inspiration to
other students. Hence the SAP is the most suitable way for the evaluation of
students’ performance in the examination.
SAP session is a new way of
evaluation in the class to prepare the students for all kinds of interviews,
competitive examinations, GK tests, viva, TOEFL, GRE, objective type questions,
etc. All are exposed to the comprehensive questionnaire to check up their
thorough knowledge on a subject and communication skills. There is no other
session to involve all the students of a class in all activities except the SAP
session.
Published: Edutracks Vol 23 No 6
February2024
