And I hope you all feel fine. Word is that my paper was enjoyed by most of the candidates. Students have performed such that I have had to award marks ranging from 9-37/40.
The final papers weren’t as great as most candidates think they were. People made some tremendous mistakes. I’m uploading the model answer paper for the exam so you can download and see what your mistakes are. There are a lot of answers that people have written that are different from what I’ve proposed in my model answers. This model answer paper is just a guideline. I have awarded credit to any candidate who has come up with a different concept and justified it as I have justified answers in the model paper.
Fibre Science, Final Exam, Spring 2008, Question Paper
Fibre Science, Final Exam, Spring 2008, Model Answers
As a general outline numerous students weren’t able to accurately answer the question on spider silk, which I was expecting to get a high proportion of correct answers on. Some students lost a huge chunk of marks on the question related to surface modification of wool fibres. Students who suggested that felting can be reduced by changing the direction of fibres lost 5 to 8 marks.
A lot of students who attempted the bulletproof jacket section of the last question lost marks because they did not specify the construction of the jacket in terms of fabric or how the fabric would be able to prevent the bullet from causing harm to the human body. Answers on artificial lungs were generally disastrous. Except for perhaps two or three good answers people who tried to make artificial lungs did not know how they would work. Geotextiles for road lining was a safer bet but not too many people selected this option. Those who did select this were generally able to score at least three marks. Out of the entire lot, only two candidates selected clothing for dust free rooms and out of those two one candidate wrote an excellent answer.
Most students who messed up such chunky questions suffered at least one drop in grade. Marks were deducted due to additional absences as per the attendance policy but only one unfortunate soul suffered a drop in grade from B to C due to loss of 2 precious marks because of 5 absences. No one else lost a grade due to absences. An overall curving of 3 marks saved a lot of your grades but some people have still missed grades by very small margins which I couldn’t do anything to change.
It is most unfortunate that I have had to distinguish my class with grades. At the end of this course I feel that most of you have done an amazing job. Although I do feel that we could have had much more interesting discussions had you people read up before coming to class, nevertheless it’s been an amazing experience teaching this lot. You people have stimulated my thought process on many occasions and I hope that I have been able to do the same for you and been able to enhance your understanding in the subject and left you looking for more knowledge. Some candidates may have missed out on grades by very small margins but that doesn’t mean that any of you lack in intelligence. After an entire semester with your class if anyone needs an honest recommendation based on performance in my course I would be more than happy to write one for you.
With this I wish you the very best for your results. Hope you have a great summer. I’m leaving the floor open for comments.
