It is true that no one likes examinations. It’s a measure of success. Failing exams means you are doomed. Even in life, tests are inevitable because they do come in different forms; for instance, temptations which require the ability to deal with and handle them accordingly lies within us.
In Moi University Main Campus, and indeed every other campus, students must sit CATs as part of the course work. It can be a sit-in CAT, take-away CAT done individually or group CAT done in groups.
Midway in a semester is when the CATs sat, that is if the lecturer decides to give out a sit-in CAT it’s when the phobia comes in. The major causes include: non-attendance of lectures, lack of lecture notes whether issued by the lecturer or taken by students while in class and failure to study. During the commencement of sit-in CATs, irregularity issues come in. Some students arm themselves with micro-pieces of writing containing course contents likely to be examined commonly known as ‘mwakenyas’. They are strategically positioned at the best angle, concealed beneath the desk only known to the user.
Another irregularity practice is having an eagle’s eye to see what the next student has written then making duplicate out of it by writing every word of it. Some students who are brave enough under minimal or no supervision peruse over the notebooks seeking answers to the questions set. Other phobic students leave out of the room to look for answers from whatever source, memorize them and then come back informed and resume the CATs.
Quite a number of students use their smartphones to view notes. Others mute their phones and use the search engines to search for an answer while keenly eyeing the supervisor not to be caught.
For the case of group CATs, some students fail to show up for group discussions intentionally based on the assumptions that favor will be done for them by including their names on the write-ups indicating that they were participating in the discussion or even sign-up for them. Some do gain from such favors but they are eventually caught during presentations as they have no clue of what is under discussion. Others get caught in the final examinations as they fail to approach the question set appropriately yet it was initially their group CAT question.
Laxity and last-minute rush is also seen in response to individual CAT, whereby exact duplicate copies of the original work of some students who did their work are made by photocopying and then they submit. Another practice is cut and paste option without rightfully acknowledging the source of information. This is an illegal practice known as plagiarism which is unacceptable in any institution.
Campus students become driven away from the core reason for their being in campus which is to pursue excellence and ultimately became a graduate with outstanding qualifications. Although, they can still get on the right track if they are able to focus on their main priority which is to acquire knowledge and brighten up their path to success.
