My Political Economy of African Development exam.
I wanted to ask hard questions, so they get them three weeks in advance. The students are strong, and up to it.
They can be thankful, at least, that I am not taking the Tyler Cowen approach.
International development, politics, economics, and policy
Follow me on:
A fairly difficult exam http://t.co/dTsXp4Bo
@cblatts Nicely done. Interesting way to do things. Initial instinct is positive. Have you done it before? #teaching
@cblatts Love that first criterion is did they answer the question. Whatever their first job is, they will need to follow instructions!
@cblatts Hilary Putnam was doing this decades ago. “Philosophy Final Exam: 1. State a good question. 2. Answer it.” Lazy, but to the point.
@cblatts question 10, part iii has a typo “like”
Exam Time: The Political Economy of African Development http://t.co/qi4lSj7B @cblatts
I miss grad school days. Strangely, I wish I was preparing for this exam. http://t.co/8UDxCDFP
They have to write them longhand??? Why not just require a feather and quill? Maybe they could carve their answers on stone tablets.
@cblatts If I’m going to do this exam, I’d hope for 4,6,9 and 10.
Interesting questions. Will you share the best answers?
Great questions. Do they have to answer all of them? cc @MahaRafiAtal @dharma_grrl RT @cblatts: A fairly difficult exam http://t.co/K22Rdxv9
.@cblatts just posted his final exam for Political Economy of African Devt – interesting questions for wonks to ponder http://t.co/6zsGHiu9
@cblatts forgot you were at Columbia. I’m leaving NYC tomorrow but if I get back from Yale in time do you fancy a drink/coffee this evening?
@cblatts Would love to see some of the best answers
Nerdtastic: @cblatts’ final exam for ‘Political Economy of African Development’ course at Columbia http://t.co/u6f4Fq2t (h/t @leighblue)
@cblatts Love this approach to final exam. I only give my students one week…probably means my questions are too easy!
@cblatts if possible, would love to see the best answers. Especially Qs 2,3,6,11 & 13. Hell, all of them!
I think it’s interesting that students are encouraged to use subheadings and may even use bullet points. I did my undergrad and postgrad at same UK university, and we had quite a lot of North Americans on my Masters course (in International Health). I would never think of using subheadings in anything under 4000 words long and think writing a single essay continuous prose is a skill – using plenty of sign-posting and logical progression, but no subheadings. Some of the North Americans couldn’t quite get their head around that. I think it’s a UK thing, or maybe a really-old-UK-uni thing.
After having worked for two years in the Malawi Ministry of Finance, I’d like to think I could ace questions 2 and 3.
Do you have model answers? Or could you share top student responses?
Reading this exam had me just itching to break out a pen and paper-and to take this @cblatts course http://t.co/4lfWvY4a
These are very similar questions to those asked in Oxford exams for donkey years – interesting. Faculty I’ve spoken to who moved from the US to Oxford or Cambridge have always said their students would be completely lost if faced with these sort of questions (though they would fare better on technical drills). Very interested to hear how they do.
@cblatts http://t.co/iGTD4Q9z is the syllabus for this class online? I feel like finding the answers out myself… thanks for posting!