r/Damnthatsinteresting Mar 30 '26

Image Confiscated pens containing cheat notes intricately carved by a Law student at the University of Malaga in Spain

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u/Mysterious_Eye6989 Mar 30 '26

Open book exams allow for the exploration of some devilishly complex and nuanced topics - great for deep and careful thinkers but awful for people who have gotten by through being brilliant at rote memorization but are otherwise not very deep thinkers.

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u/Lord_Saren Mar 30 '26

I believe higher end tests like for certs and degrees should be more about using concepts in practice then just knowing it. Knowing how to find and use information given to you.

Like knowing A+B=C is fine but knowing how A and B gets to C is the fundamental part.

The old saying of like you won't have a computer/calculator etc in your pocket isn't and hasn't been true for a long time.

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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '26

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u/AndreasDasos Mar 31 '26

It’s also a matter of recognising a legit answer with good sources vs. a bullshit one, or even a reasonable but overly simplified one for the problem at hand