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| Junior's new cartoon series |
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
National Testing Scheme
The powers that be, we hear, have set up a committee to "fix" entrance examinations for tertiary (read, college) education in science and engineering in India. It claims to be motivated by "the principle of inclusion for a collaborative excellence rather than exclusion through competitive excellence".
How one can avoid exclusion in an entrance examination is unclear. Isn't that, you know, the point of the whole thing? The Hatter put aside his initial misgivings, and read the proposal in detail. It does seem that a good amount of thought has gone into it, but not nearly enough.
It is all very well to reduce the number of redundant entrance examinations, but it's interesting to note that board exams (class 12) are being considered as replacements for entrance exams.
No amount of "statistical analysis" and "multi-parametric grading" can change a basic fact - when you have a college with such low accept ratios as IIT, you must have tests with extremely good discrimination between the 99th and the 99.1st percentile of ability. Yes, that good, even if that means making it impossibly tough for someone in the 90th percentile of ability. Any exam that can distinguish adequately between the 20th and the 30th percentile of ability will find it difficult to distinguish between 99th and 99.1st. Using board exams as an indicator is practically ruled out, since board exams are taken by everyone in the educational system, and cannot be targetted at the top few percentiles of ability. One way to avoid this issue is to increase the accept rates to much higher levels. That means setting up tens of IITs and a couple of hundred NITs, not just in name but in quality, overnight. That's not very likely, is it? Well, if that isn't going to happen, we have to live with needing high levels of discriminatory power in tests.
One can talk about two levels of examinations, but one can never use the same test that decides whether you pass or fail your qualifying grade to select candidates for IIT. In engineering parlance, the signal-to-noise-ratio at the high end of scores in board exams is insufficient. There's no way out other than having a tough examination, stressful as it is.
The one factor I really wish could be addressed is the effect of coaching shops on entrance exams. Even a couple of decades ago (when the ancient Mr. Hatter took his JEE), access to a good coaching center was considered important, and so was being in a "good" school in a metro. It was estimated that being a "small-town" kid with only access to "postal coaching" lost him a couple of hundred ranks at the minimum. These days, things have gotten even worse. Changing the examination pattern doesn't help this problem in the least.
The ideal selection test would be a tough exam that no-one prepares for. That, unfortunately is an impossibility.
How one can avoid exclusion in an entrance examination is unclear. Isn't that, you know, the point of the whole thing? The Hatter put aside his initial misgivings, and read the proposal in detail. It does seem that a good amount of thought has gone into it, but not nearly enough.
It is all very well to reduce the number of redundant entrance examinations, but it's interesting to note that board exams (class 12) are being considered as replacements for entrance exams.
No amount of "statistical analysis" and "multi-parametric grading" can change a basic fact - when you have a college with such low accept ratios as IIT, you must have tests with extremely good discrimination between the 99th and the 99.1st percentile of ability. Yes, that good, even if that means making it impossibly tough for someone in the 90th percentile of ability. Any exam that can distinguish adequately between the 20th and the 30th percentile of ability will find it difficult to distinguish between 99th and 99.1st. Using board exams as an indicator is practically ruled out, since board exams are taken by everyone in the educational system, and cannot be targetted at the top few percentiles of ability. One way to avoid this issue is to increase the accept rates to much higher levels. That means setting up tens of IITs and a couple of hundred NITs, not just in name but in quality, overnight. That's not very likely, is it? Well, if that isn't going to happen, we have to live with needing high levels of discriminatory power in tests.
One can talk about two levels of examinations, but one can never use the same test that decides whether you pass or fail your qualifying grade to select candidates for IIT. In engineering parlance, the signal-to-noise-ratio at the high end of scores in board exams is insufficient. There's no way out other than having a tough examination, stressful as it is.
The one factor I really wish could be addressed is the effect of coaching shops on entrance exams. Even a couple of decades ago (when the ancient Mr. Hatter took his JEE), access to a good coaching center was considered important, and so was being in a "good" school in a metro. It was estimated that being a "small-town" kid with only access to "postal coaching" lost him a couple of hundred ranks at the minimum. These days, things have gotten even worse. Changing the examination pattern doesn't help this problem in the least.
The ideal selection test would be a tough exam that no-one prepares for. That, unfortunately is an impossibility.
Happy Fathers' Day
Happy Fathers' Day, Daddy!
"Thanks Junior, what are you getting me?"
I couldn't have, and didn't expect much. Junior Hatter has a career in the Greek finance ministry waiting given the way he spends his pocket money.
A big hug. It's the thought that counts, isn't it?
"Awww. Remind me to return the gift for your birthday."
Not my birthday, feel free to return it on Children's Day.
You teach children logic, and they use it against you. Happy Fathers' Day!
"Thanks Junior, what are you getting me?"
I couldn't have, and didn't expect much. Junior Hatter has a career in the Greek finance ministry waiting given the way he spends his pocket money.
A big hug. It's the thought that counts, isn't it?
"Awww. Remind me to return the gift for your birthday."
Not my birthday, feel free to return it on Children's Day.
You teach children logic, and they use it against you. Happy Fathers' Day!
Friday, June 03, 2011
He Ram(dev)!
Baba Ramdev, of "Yog" fame has the whole country's knickers in a knot over his threat to fast against corruption. A wholly commendable aim, one would think.
Except, this are his list of demands. Some of his lesser known demands are:
If you remove the stuff about the Lokpal and bringing back unaccounted money, it does bear more than a vague resemblance to an election manifesto from a loony bin somewhere in the cow-belt.
Sometimes, I'm amazed at how little things have changed over the centuries. Adi Shankaracharya - or his disciple Totakacharya, take your pick - once said (Bhajagovindam, Verse 14):
Loosely translated as:
Touche.
Except, this are his list of demands. Some of his lesser known demands are:
— Replacing the British-inherited system of governance, administration, taxation, education, law and order with a swadeshi alternative
— Increasing substantially the Minimum Support Price of grains
— Making wages of different categories of labourers uniform across the country
— Promoting Hindi at the expense of English.
If you remove the stuff about the Lokpal and bringing back unaccounted money, it does bear more than a vague resemblance to an election manifesto from a loony bin somewhere in the cow-belt.
Sometimes, I'm amazed at how little things have changed over the centuries. Adi Shankaracharya - or his disciple Totakacharya, take your pick - once said (Bhajagovindam, Verse 14):
जटिलो मुण्डी लुञ्छितकेशः
काषायाम्बरबहुकृतवेषः
पश्यन्नपि चन पश्यति मूढः
उदरनिमित्तं बहुकृतवेषः
Loosely translated as:
Watch out for Sadhu Baba types who're just out to fill their bellies.
Touche.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
What Is Common To ...
What is common to coffee, pickled vegetables, perineal use of talcum powder (seriously, I kid you not), gasoline exhaust, diesel fuel, and ..... mobile phone use?
Yes, you guessed right, the WHO considers all of them "possibly" carcinogenic.
Hmm ....
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