segues ® On the Art of Setting a Good Question Paper S.C, Dutta Roy Formerly, with the Electrical Engineering Department, Indian institute of Technology Delhi, New Def, Inia snwstanct kerworos Setting a good question paper isan art, not science, neither it is technology. The pathetic scenario Examinations Good that exists in the country, including all national institutions and reputed Universities, stating at the guestons Objective type ‘uestons Open book open {questions Qvestion papers: Take home examination school level, I presented, Some examples of poor questions are given along with those of good ‘ones. Some other poor practices are also given. The undesirabilty of objective type questions is discussed. n this context, Joint Entrance Examination (JEEGraduate Aptitude Test Examination (GATE) papers are examined and a comment is made on coaching for these examinations, The merits of open books, open notes, and take home examinations are examined. The article Concludes with some clues tothe setting of a good question paper. 1. INTRODUCTION 1 go around the country, giving lectures on technical sub- jects, and advising institutions on curriculum planniny design and revision, introduction of new courses and pro- grammes, and selecting and promoting faculty. Where ever I go, I have started, recently, to examine the question papers set by the faculty, and it has been a shocking expe rience. While the whole world is modernizing at a rapid rate, we appear to be sill living in a prehistoric era, fol- lowing the traditions and patterns set by the Britshers in setting question papers. Typically, they ask for description ‘of a particular machine or device, how it works, compari- son of two existing methods, proof of a theorem, deriva- tion of a formula, calculation from a given formula, and short notes, the ast two items being the most stupid ques tions, In some institutions, the question paper consists, partly, or fully, of objective type questions, with four choices. All of them constitute the miserable situation that exists in the educational scene in the country and need to be drastically improved upon. None of these types of questions test the intelligence and the grasp of fundamentals or their application capacity of the student, They can all be answered by memorizing and reproducing on paper in the examination bal, ‘The stu dents do not study during the whole semester and memo- rize, by burning midnight oil at the fag end of the semester. They reed (note: not study!) poorly written, by commercial authors, country made text books or worse, questions answer type books. Both categories of books represent worst examples of plagiarism, and that too, the mire lowest type of plagiarism, because the authors copy blindly, without understanding a word of what they write It appears that we are in a foo!’s paradise. Students as well as teachers get theit promotion as a matter of rou- tine, After graduation, the students appear in competi- tive examinations with the same type of objective type questions, and do well, get coveted jobs, and live happily thereafter, raising families. This phenomenon goes on and on for years as degradation in academic standards goes on unabated. Teachers are also happy, not caring about academic standards, but boasting about their stu dents getting good jobs. 2. EXAMPLES OF POOR QUESTIONS Here are some examples of poor questions: () State and prove Thevenin’s theorem. (2) Describe an alternator and explain how it works, (3) What are the merits of C++ programming as compared to others? (4) For the given circuit, find all the mesh currents (6) Name five applicatdas of solar pover. (6) How does a microwave oven work? (7) Explain how steel is manufactured, (8) What are the conditions for an FIR filter to be linear phase? (9) Find an expression for the selectivity of a second order bandpass filter.‘S.C DUTTA ROY: ON THE ART OF SETTING A GOOD QUESTION PAPER, : (10) Derive the formula connecting # and a of a transistor. (11) Draw the circuit of a push-pull amplifier and derive its efficiency. (12) Sketch the iv characteristics of a CE transistor. (13) Sketch the gain frequency characteristics of an RC coupled amplifier. (14) What is a current mirror? Draw a circuit using BITs. (15) What are the characteristics of an ideal op-amp? (16) An op-amp has an open loop gain of 10° How do you connect it as a differentiator? (17) Write a short note on the Magie (18) Calculate the values of the signal x(n) = sin(n/ 8)-cos(s/4) for n= -5 tos. (19) Explain the Routh criterion for stability. (20) Write the Maxwell's equations and hence derive the wave equation. 3, OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS Take any Paper I of any UPSC Examination. It is com- posed totaly of objective type questions, Let there be 100 questions with A, B, C, D as the options. Statistically, even if you mark randomly without knowing the subject, there isa strong probability that you would score 25 + 2 marks, On the other hand, take the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) or Graduate Aptitude Test Examina- tion (GATE) objective type questions. You do the same thing. All answers may be incorrect, because even if objective, all correct answers may be A! Or, majority of them may have B as the correct answer. It happens because papers are set by a group of IIT faculty in per- sonal, face-to-face interaction with each other. They do this cleverly so that random choice does not work. 4, JEE/GATE COACHING Why are there so many commercial houses, particularly in the small city of Kota, running coaching centres? It is so because the rote learning that the student has under- gone so far, he or she cannot break into the questions The questions are tricky and are aimed at bringing out the intellectual capacity of the student, The student, therefore, has to undergo special traning in the coaching class, usually taught by bright IIT graduates in lieu of a fat compensation, which is much higher than what @ Government job or an industry can offer. The student thereby learns the tricks and goes to the examination Hall, IIT’s try to break this unholy collusion between coaching industry and students by changing the pattern of questions almost every year but this change is either anticipated or absorbed quickly by the centre teachers to prepare the students. Ifthe student had bee tested by good question papers in their life so far, the would have been no need of such coaching, and th heavy expenditure and intensive training far away fi their homes, staying in hired crowded accommodatio and eating road side dhabas or restaurants would 1 have been necessary. ‘What is needed, therefore, is a drastic change in the pa tern of question papers. The teachers have to be trained i this art. This requires a national policy and cannot t implemented by an individual institution alone. Even if a institution tries to do so, and it will be branded as an ou cast, and students will not go to this Institute. TT's a islands of wisdom and intellect. ‘They are world famou mainly because of the education they impart. Of cours they also excel in research and quality research publ tions, But this aspect will be dealt within a separate arti 5. EXAMPLES OF GOOD QUESTIONS Here are some examples of good questions extracte directly from IIT question papers: (2) tis said that KCL, KVL and Ohm's lave are ne essary and sufficient for solving any linear ci cuit problem. Is this true? Justify your answer. This requires an understanding of necessary an sufficient conditions and of the basic concep involved. (2) A battery is connected in series with a resistan Rand an inductance L, and the circuit reaches steady state. A switch is connected across La is put on at {= 0, Sketch the current I in ti inductor for allt > 0. = Here, the student has to understand that 1 voltage across 1. cannot change from to af other value at (= 0 (3) A wide-band source is connected in series wi a resistor Rand two impedances Z; and J each of order four. Design two possible ne works for Z: and Z for the voltage across R have a notch ata certain frequency a ~ Hag the student has to synthesize Z, and Z. Foster or Cauer forms, and has to under that Z, should have a pole at s = joy and should have a zero at the same frequency. ‘Thi 2, and Zs have to be realized in two of the Fi er forms, ter or A circuit is given with three capacitors form a loop and four inductors connected at a All other clements in the circuit are resstand Find the order ofthe circuit. icNe ,,, , ———————E—————E——E—EE—as S.C DUTTA ROY: ON THE ART OF STING & GOOD QUESTION PAPER = Here the student has to understand that the ini- tial conditions in one capacitor and one induc- tor cannot be set independently of those in the others, Hence, the order of the circuit would be five (6) Can a second order system be unstable? Ever? What about a third order system? Justify your answers Here the student has to recall that instability requires a least one pole in the RHP. (6) There is a transfer function with a zero in the RHP. Is the system necessarily unstable? ~ Here the student has to remember that zeros can be in the RHP, but not poles. (7) Realize the impedances 1/s?, 1s, sand s?. ~ Here one has to recall that a pole or zero at the origin results in instability Can you realize a transfer function with a factor shay? in the numerator? Hint: same as 6). (9) Given the transfer function H(z) = a 2° b teen ext f7'tg 7’, Here all coefficients are nonnegative. Decompose H(z) into sum of linear phase components ~ Here, the student has to appreciate that one of the transfer functions has to have anti-symmet- rical coefficients @ (10) A quarter wave, lossless transmission line of characteristic impedance Z, is connected in series with another such line of characteristic impedance Z>. The composite device is termi nated ina load Z,. What isthe input impedance if Z, is a capacitance C, Mention one possible use ofthe device (11) Design an experiment to measure the barrier potential in a p-n junction. You will be provided ‘with any instrument you need. = Here the student needs to know the concept of contact potential (12) Can an RC network produce a gain > 1? Justify your answer with a circuit diagram, (13) Can you produce sinusoidal oscillations with a single emitter follower as the active device? Give the necessary circuit diagram, if indeed it is possible. Hint: 12), (14)Is there any application of vacuum tubes in modern electronics? If so, name any two tele- vant situations. (13)Can you produce oscillations with a diode of some kind? Name two such devices if you indeed can. (16) bandpass signal extends from 0 to 0. What is the minimum sampling frequency needed to retain the spectrum faithfully (17)Can you solve an algebraic equation with degree > 2? IF so, illustrate with degrees 2 and 3 (18)Can you solve a linear second order equation by Laplace transforms completely? ‘There is an impulse function on the RHS and the initial conditions are given at t= 0 (19) In an ideal transformer, the currents in the pri: mary and the secondary may not be continuous at (= 0. Why? Illustrate with an example. (20)Sketch 8-1), 6(0), 6(1), 8(t-"), 6(¢1/2) and ae) 6. OPEN BOOK, OPEN NOTES EXAMINATIONS. During my long journey in the teaching career, since 1965, when I went to the United States, I have never given a closed book, closed notes examination. I earned this in the States where I found this to be the usual prac- tice. The common criticism of this practice in this coun- try is that the students will copy from each other. This does not happen if the questions are set properly. If these are innovative and require thinking on the part of the students, then they have no time to talk to each other or copy from each other. No answer should be available in text books or class notes. I have experimented with another innovation: in some examinations, I left the examination hall after announeing that I trust the stu- dents and I leave it to their honesty, ethics, and dignity Believe me, I did not find a single instance of copying! ‘We: in India, are averse to any such practice and follow the traditional method of several so called “invigilators” for every hal. It is high time that we change, and we change as soon as possible, to be in line with modern educational practices. 7. TAKE HOME EXAMINATIONS. This als a standard practic in the USA, but practiced only ifthe number of students in the clas is small, say 20 or less. The teacher sets 20 different papers, istib- utes them in the class, and sets a deadline of two or three days for the answers to be submitted. Yes, the teacher hhas to work hard in setting different papers for different students, but trust me, it yields excellent results. I permit