[HPforGrownups] Re: Discrepancy of skills

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 147884

On 9 Feb 2006 at 23:42, Miles wrote:
> Miles:
> This was ONE incident with a much younger Hermione. And as far as we have
> seen the OWL exam, there was no similar task at all. The exam was similar to
> Charms or Transfiguration - that means both student and examiner sit at a
> table, and the student has to perform jinxes and spells. That is exactly the
> kind of exam that Hermione would always master, isn't it?

Honestly, no it's not.

I work with exceptionally and profoundly gifted kids (and I was one 
myself). These are kids with IQs (or equivalent measures) that place 
them at at least the 1 in 10,000 level among the population. They are 
extremely intelligent. And while, by no means all of them, are 
particularly academic, some most certainly are. And, Hermione, as 
presented in the books definitely reminds me of those kids.

And, honestly, everytime these kids have to go through an exam 
process, I have to deal with kids who (to their surprise and often to 
their parents surprise) have some odd marks.

No matter how brilliant a student is, and how dedicated a student is, 
occasionally most of them will drop a few marks somewhere.

It's a reality - even for the most brilliant student.

Especially on externally assessed examinations - and especially on 
examinations where the marking is at all subjective (as opposed to 
totally objective). Sometimes, it can even be because the student 
gives an answer that is totally correct, but is so far beyond what 
the marker is expecting that they don't realise it is correct. One of 
the things I have to teach PG kids is that they should always try and 
work out 'What answer does the examiner want'? not just 'What is the 
correct answer'? because sometimes it's not the same thing.

Maybe Hermione was asked a question - and rather than give the 
textbook answer - she gave a really obscure answer from the seriously 
out-of-print 1803 edition of 'Merlin's Theory of Thaumaturgical 
Warfare' that she feels is a better answer, and maybe the examiner 
had never read that book.

There's plenty of reasons this can happen.

And it does happen.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia