Once that you have made an efficient time table, there are
lot many advantages in it. Also the exam pattern and the grading system at VIT
completely depend on the time table that you make. This article will explain
you about the exam pattern, marking system and grading system at VIT.
Exam
Schedule
There are 3 types of theory exams:
The Quiz
The CAT (Continuous Assessment Test)
The TEE (Term End Exam)
Distributed among the whole semester, there are 6 exams
altogether – 3 quizes, 2 CATs, 1 TEE. Generally, every course is divided into 5
units (5 chapters). By the time your professors complete the 1st
lesson, the quiz dates approach. The 1st quiz is generally within
3-4 weeks of the commencement of a semester. It is been conducted throughout a
given week. It is a class test and unanimously decided by the students and
teacher that on which day of the week will the test be conducted. The portion
is normally the 1st unit.
The 1st CAT usually comes 2 weeks after the 1st
quiz. This exam is big friends, stretched through all 7 days of the given week;
it has a proper exam like environment with seating arrangement and proper exam
timetable. The portion is generally both the 1st and 2nd
units. We have 7 days for 7 slots. It starts from Sunday when the exam for A1
slot is in morning and A2 is in evening. Similar is the process for the
remaining days. Whichever subject of yours is in that slot will have its exam
in the same slot. I hope you now realize why not to choose a combination of
morning and evening slots. You will end up having 2 exams on a single day.
After CAT 2, within couple of weeks is the Quiz 2, generally
3rd unit being in the portion.
2-3 weeks more and it’s time for CAT 2, with 3rd
and 4th units in the portion. If it is the odd semester, then
ideally a diwali vacation come within a week after CAT. Go home for a week and
you are welcomed back to VIT with Quiz 3. Quiz 3 has the 5th unit in
portion and is ideally 3 weeks after the CAT 2.
In another 2 weeks time, you will have all your term end lab
exams. This marks the beginning of the END. The last 2 instructional weeks of a
semester are for term end lab exam. This is followed by the TEE.
TEE is 2 week long final exam of the term. It covers the
whole syllabus. Perhaps those are the last 2 weeks of your semester and at the
end of it a month long vacation awaits. TEE starts with A1 on the 1st
day followed by A2 on 2nd day, B1 on 3rd and so on till
G2 on last day.
Thus the advantage of making a complete morning or evening
time table is that you will have sufficient time to prepare for all your
subjects. The best part is an early finish. If your last slot alphabetically is
E1, you will finish your TEE in the first 9 days and can have a 5 day extra
vacations. But don’t make a fool out of yourself by choosing 5 subjects in A1,
A2, B1, B2, C1 just to finish your exams at the earliest.
The marking
system
There are so many exams to write in, then definitely there would
be a lot of marks to play for. Well that’s not the case at VIT. Because your
total marks for a subject at the end of the semester will just be from 100!!!
Here is the break up
- Quiz:
5 marks each; MCQ type questions; total= 3 x 5 = 15 marks - 1 assignment = 5 marks
- CAT
50 marks subjective paper; 1.5 hours to write; 50 marks are reduced to 15; total= 50 x 0.3 x 2= 30 - These are your internals; total = 50
- TEE
100 marks 3 hours subjective paper; 3 hours; 100 reduced to 50; total = 50 - Grand Total = 100
As you see the semester long efforts are paid very cheaply. Also
the funny thing is that some kind of exam is going on in VIT at any given point
of time.
But the policy of VIT is different. It’s not about scoring heavily
in your paper, it’s about scoring sufficiently enough when others can’t score.
VIT uses the very famous Relative Grading System for judging the students.
Relative
Grading System
In the new competitive world, it is not important to be perfect.
All you need is to be better than the rest. This forms the basis of the
relative grading system. Fasten your seatbelts fellows as things are going to
get a little mathematical now.
Your grades are allotted to you by dividing the 100 marks into 7
slabs. These slabs are named S, A, B, C, D, E and for those who have failed it
is F.
S is for an extra ordinary performance
- A for a good score
- B for an above average score
- C for an under average score
- D for a bad score
- E for a close shave
- F for failed.
Continue reading for the mathematical analysis of these grades.
Well so these grades have certain numeric value
- S = 10
- A = 9
- B = 8
- C = 7
- D = 6
- E = 5
- F = fail (0)
Say u get a A in 1 subject, a B in 2nd, s in 3rd,
etc. then the grade points of a subject is given by
Grade point GP= Grade x No. of credits
The total no. of grade points are the sum of grade points in every
subject of that semester.
These are averaged out by the total number of credits to give a
Grade Point Average
GPA = total Grade points / total credits
This will give you a factor out of 10 and that’s your score to
boast/cry about at the end of semester.
There is also a term called as CGPA (Cumulative GPA)
CGPA= GPA of sem1 x credits + GPA of sem2 x credits… / total no.
of credits completed.
The CGPA of all 8 semester is what that matters in the world. Try
maintaining it at least above 8 if not more.
The math behind the grades
Amongst every class, that is, under every faculty, there are 65
students. The average (µ) of these students is taken. Say it turns out to be
72/100. Also another factor the standard deviation (σ) is calculated. Say it
turns out to be 15. The grades are awarded as
- S: marks > µ + 1.5σ (with min 90)
- A: µ + 1.5σ >marks > µ + 0.5σ
- B: µ + 0.5σ >marks > µ
- C: µ >marks > µ-0.5
- D: µ-0.5 >marks > µ - σ
- E: µ - σ >marks > µ- 1.5σ
- F: marks < µ - 1.5σ
This is the amount of math that goes into the relative grading
system. It is a really fantastic system; remember “even if you a Squint amongst
the blinds, you are still the KING.”
Do join us for the post on the much awaited critical review
-Post Courtesy
Shaun Periera
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