Feb. 6: Students appearing for the ISC science examination were today rattled by a two-mark question in the physics practical paper that they said came with "confusing instructions", forcing many of them to spend more time than necessary in completing the experiment.
Question number 2 of the paper required the examinees to do a potentiometer bridge experiment in electricity by maintaining a particular voltage range.
The examinees were asked to note down the readings in the voltmeter corresponding to the length of the meter bridge and maintaining the voltage range mentioned in the paper. The challenge was to ensure that the final reading was within the specified voltage limit.
Students across schools were confused when they found that their readings did not match the voltage range they were asked to maintain. The experiment was possible only at a lower voltage than specified, several teachers said.
"Most of the students were confused and spent a lot of time trying to do the experiment following the given instructions," said a teacher at an ISC school in south Calcutta. "The panic increased as the minutes ticked away."
In many schools, invigilators contacted the ISC examination conveners of their respective zones to ask whether they could advise the examinees to do the experiment in a "suitable" voltage range.
"Our students were worried that they would be penalised for not doing the experiment exactly the way they had been asked to," a teacher said.
Some invigilators later wrote to the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, explaining the reason for the confusion and how it affected the examinees' overall performance. "We are hopeful that the council won't deny our students two marks for not doing the experiment as specified," said the principal of a school.
Gerry Arathoon, chief executive and secretary of the council, did not take calls from Metro.
A principal said: "This isn't a very serious mistake. But misleading instructions are not desirable in a crucial school exam."
A physics teacher in a prominent school said mistakes in setting questions for physics practical tests were "not uncommon", although these were best avoided. "Even a small mistake in a paper can severely affect performance, particularly that of students of average merit."
Several teachers suggested better coordination between those responsible to framing questions and moderators to avoid even "small errors".
The confusion surrounding a question in the physics practical paper might not have triggered much noise but for the fact that every mark matters in these examinations. The difference between a rank-holder in ISC or CBSE and someone several places lower on the merit list is often a couple of marks.
