Photo of medicos taking open book test misconstrued as mass copying
An open book assessment of MBBS students in Kashmir set social media on fire after a picture of the exam went viral and some users misunderstood it as mass copying.
The assessment was conducted for the first time by the department of community medicine, Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar on Wednesday to check the analytic skills of students rather than testing their memory strength.
However, soon the pictures of the medical students wearing white coats immersed in books while going through the assessment vent viral with many users misconstruing it as mass copying.
“Someone had forwarded pictures of GMC Srinagar examination centre. Please have a look upon it. Is it really Srinagar or GMC Bihar?” wrote one astonished Facebook user.
The reactions on social media prompted officials to clear the air and issue quick rebuttals.
Head of the community medical department, Dr Muhammad Salim Khan said that the exam was conducted to give students an idea of new forms of assessments in vogue outside the state.
He said that open book system tests the ‘higher order
Even as our attempt was appreciated by many, however some have misconstrued it as masscopying and these elements are spreading their misconception to malign the Kashmir medicos
thinking skills’ (HOTS) which is based on analytic skills and comprehensibility of examinees rather than testing their memory strength through a rote-based conventional methodology.
He said that the questions are complex ones, not just copy and paste from the books which are consulted to aid in responding the conceptual questions.
“Even as our attempt was appreciated by many, however some have misconstrued it as mass-copying and these elements are spreading their misconception to malign the Kashmir medicos which is highly deplorable. Let them understand the concept first then react,” Khan wrote on Facebook.
Principal GMC also issued a statement denying any instance of mass copying and said that the test was held to gather feedback from students and medical professionals about its applicability in assessment of medical graduates.