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[garykasparov]

1> http://www.koreaherald.com/
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3> Dispute escalates over ambiguous problem on college entrance test


Dispute escalates over ambiguous problem on college entrance test

Controversy is escalating over an ambiguous physics question on the national college entrance exam, which critically affects the grade of individual applicants.

The physicists' society on Saturday announced that the problem in the Physics 2 section can lead to two different conclusions, and that both are appropriate. Physics 2 is one of eight selective subjects for would-be science majors.

Education authorities said they will not change their position that only one answer is correct.

Some affected students and parents threatened to file a collective lawsuit unless the government takes corrective action.

The question can significantly affect the ranking of test-takers. Getting two of the questions wrong will lower one's grade band in the subject by one notch.

Many students have already begun applying for universities, as the College Scholastic Aptitude Test grades were distributed to them on Dec. 7.

Starting from this year, the new grading system for the CSAT does not offer raw scores, but it divides the students' grades into nine different percentiles.

This year, a total of about 19,600 students took the Physics 2 test nationwide, and 991 were seated in the first percentile -- the top 4 percent -- while 1,290 were placed in the second percentile, which comprises the next 7 percent.

"Because I missed that particular question, I was misplaced in a lower ranking for the subject. I'm definitely filing a suit," a college applicant wrote on the website of the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation. The institute recently did not accept any of the objections raised by students and parents regarding the college entrance exam.

In the No. 11 multiple choice problem of the test, students are asked to choose the correct explanation for the graphed condition of the presented ideal gas.

Students argue that the problem does not specifically state whether it is referring to ideal gas, with each molecule comprised of a single atom, or ideal gas with all molecules in the system being comprised of two or more bonded atoms.

Although the authorities only marked a single answer as appropriate, many academics insist that two of the answers are reasonable, depending on the number of atoms comprising the molecule of ideal gas.

"It should have exactly listed what type of ideal gas they were trying to represent in the problem," said Kim Jung-gu, president of the Korean Physical Society, after it held an emergency meeting on Saturday. "There can be more than a single answer to the problem, according to the student's level of understanding of ideal gas."

However, the heated debate will likely continue, as KICE officials are still insisting that the current educational curriculum for the subject only mentions an ideal gas composed of monatomic molecules.

"Any other types of ideal gas -- those with two or more bonded molecules -- are not material that can be dealt with at the current high school level, which means we're most definitely referring to only a single kind of ideal gas, even if (the problem) is not detailed," institute officials suggested.

By Cho Ji-hyun

([email protected])


2007.12.24

[mehamrick]

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

[agentX]

Yeah I remember the SAT disaster last year. That was pretty ugly.
Maybe the Koreans should take some notes from the US and learn not to rely solely on one test. Y'know, we do have 2 in the states, not just the SAT.

[richardlang]

A remark, printed in the Joongang Ilbo in this morning's paper, by SNU professor Kim Zheong-goo, chairman of the Korean Physics Society, summarizes well the kernel of the situation. He says, "if the correct answer for high school seniors and the correct answer for university students are different, the question is wrong."

[antoniothegreat]

how can they expect to make a decent science test if they cant even do basic math?

This year, a total of about 19,600 students took the Physics 2 test nationwide, and 991 were seated in the first percentile -- the top 4 percent -- while 1,290 were placed in the second percentile, which comprises the next 7 percent.

according to the dictionary a percentile means a value on a scale of 100 that indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it .

so the first percentile would be 99. meaning only 1% can be in the FIRST percentile.


anyways, i am sure i am being nitpicky...