I had professors that would very literally cackle in glee at how hard their classes were.
The best/worst was the 'Choose your Grade' exam. The professor has written up four exams for the final. One was a D grade, one a C, one a B, and the last was an A. Each exam being progressively harder. You got to choose your grade by choosing your exam. If you passed, you got that grade, if not, you got an F. All were open book, no time limit, but you had to stick with your choice. I remember talking with the TA grad students about grading the exams and even they were stumped by the difficulty of the A exams.
Looking back, it was marvelous. I was so proud of passing that B level exam.
ugh, that seems like basically the opposite of a good exam. More like setting up a psychological experiment than a useful way of gauging the ability of your students.
The best/worst was the 'Choose your Grade' exam. The professor has written up four exams for the final. One was a D grade, one a C, one a B, and the last was an A. Each exam being progressively harder. You got to choose your grade by choosing your exam. If you passed, you got that grade, if not, you got an F. All were open book, no time limit, but you had to stick with your choice. I remember talking with the TA grad students about grading the exams and even they were stumped by the difficulty of the A exams.
Looking back, it was marvelous. I was so proud of passing that B level exam.