For any educator, writing and editing a perfect syllabus could be crucial when trying to avoid students taking advantage of any accidental loopholes. One professor learned this the hard way when took serious advantage of something the professor forgot to specify in his course syllabus.
Assistant professor Reb Beatty of Anne Arundel Community College teaches an accounting course, and every year, he’s allowed his students to bring a 3×5 card for his tests. While most students would automatically assume that this means your standard index cards, one student realized that it technically didn’t specify that the card had to be 3×5 inches. In other words, there was a loophole that could easily be taken advantage of.
Elijah Bowen realized that the syllabus, along with any other documents provided, never specified a 3x5in notecard, and instead created a 3x5ft card- a size that accommodated very well for all of the notes necessary to pass the test. “My initial thought was that he wanted to get a few last minutes of cramming in before the exam started…after approximately a minute I realized this was 3×5 feet, and he had the intention of using it on the exam,” Beatty said.
“My initial thought was that he wanted to get a few last minutes of cramming in before the exam started…after approximately a minute I realized this was 3×5 feet, and he had the intention of using it on the exam,” Beatty explained about the bizarre experience.
After scanning through all of the paperwork he had provided to his students, he realized he had made an error, and he conceded to his student and let him take the test with the gigantic notecard.
While he says that he’s now updated his syllabus and has effectively closed that loophole, he appreciates that the entire event took place.
“I appreciate someone who A) had the intelligence to recognize this loophole and B) the audacity to put that together and bring it in,” he finally concluded to Buzzfeed.
We always love seeing some great moments between students and teachers, and this one truly takes the cake! We hope that even with a smaller notecard, Elijah keeps pushing himself to ace his class!
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