Tag: Exams

Finals Stress | 6 Ways to Reduce Anxiety During Final Exams

Finals Stress | 6 Ways to Reduce Anxiety During Final Exams

Once upon a time when I was a student, even still I am, I remember a place called Examination Hall and once in every year, a ritual called ‘Final Exams’ were practised in that hall. Students were mandatory to take participation in that ritual. The ceremony was so sacred that only the righteous and courageous who passed the ritual could promote it to the next level, just to appear again next year and become a part of that sacredness. Ok, I confess that it was a poor attempt to start this article. My apologies ;-).

Nowadays, students are so engrossed in preparing for their finals that they hardly even look after their health. I remember that the situation was similar to mine when I happened to be a school student.  ‘Exam in Progress’ – the sign outside the examination hall always gave me an impression of a one-way trip to ‘Mordor’ from the LOTR, where Frodo Baggins has to go to complete even without his will the task given by his master Gandalf. The only differences were that the examination hall was Mordor, the Principle was Gandalf, and I was the poor Frodo. Continue reading “Finals Stress | 6 Ways to Reduce Anxiety During Final Exams”

Why Do Students Cheat in Exams? | The Concept of Predictable Irrationality

Why We Cheat? | The Concept of Predictable Irrationality

Yesterday one of my students, who is now in high school, came to me, sharing the good news about his achievement in a school exam. As the conversation proceeds, he asks me, ‘Sir, why do we cheat? What difference does it make if a person succeeds by cheating and a person who did not cheat? This question is not new to me as the pupils usually ask when they are caught up doing cheating in exams or observe any cheating in the classroom. However, this question reminds me of a year old TEDx video of Dan Ariely, who shared his hospital experience when he was severely burnt and talked about the concept of ‘Predictable Irrationality’.

What is Predictable Irrationality? It means a person is very well aware of their decision(s) and its repercussions; still, the person wants to make that decision. Cheating is one of the kinds of decisions that students and adults make when they want to achieve something or when things are getting ‘wrong’. One may ask, what encourages us to cheat? According to Dan Ariely, it is all about duration and intensity, i.e. how much time we have to complete any given task or target and at what strength we are working. Continue reading “Why Do Students Cheat in Exams? | The Concept of Predictable Irrationality”