One of the reasons i love my college course so much is that the majority of it is continuous assessment based i.e. we’re marked on a week by week or assignment by assignment bases.
That rocks. If you’re in classes, do the work and hand up the assignments on time, you’re virtually guaranteed to pass.
However most are not 100% CA. This week i have 4 end of term, non-CA exams and that’s me finished.
- Programming today – i’ve already passed it, so it’s just a case of calling on my bluffing ability to net me a respectable score.
- Maths on wednesday – this is the big one. Worth 70% of my overall marks… it means i HAVE to study for it, i can’t just walk in blind like i can most other subjects. It’s also my weak spot. I hate maths. So reluctantly, i’ll probably have to spend a few hours tomorrow looking over it all.
- Databases thursday – i need a few percent out of 50 to pass.
- Computer Systems – already passed so it’s another ‘playing for pride’ type of situation.
So although i’m by no means bogged down with work 
these exams are a nuisance. They’ll always play in the back of my mind even though there’s no pressure on me to do well… that’s just me – i want to do my best in every exam no matter what it’s worth, so that alone will ‘drain’ every day.
100% CA rocks and the sooner ALL exams/subjects become 100% CA the better. Work-rate wins out in formal exam papers; who can study and remember the most? I’m never drawn in to that game.
Consistency, quality and work-rate can be measured much more accurately on a weekly basis over several months than it can in a 2 hour memory test.