Instructor doesn't write exam

MISUNDERSTANDING: The tests are not written by my instructor; they are written by someone who doesn't know what is going on in the class

Fact: The tests are written by the course coordinator. There are currently two faculty members who have that role, depending on the semester. Both of these coordinators have been involved in developing and modifying the course for many years, and both of them are involved in writing and annually revising your etextbook, your studio manual, and the online materials. Both coordinators also teach a section (or several) of BIOL 198 each year. Although, the tests are written by the coordinator of a semester, they are reviewed and revised by other coordinators and many of the instructors teaching in the course that semester. Questions which are unfair, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate are usually weeded out.

Some students wonder why their individual studio instructors don't write individual tests for their sections. The answer is a single word: fairness. There are eight-ten sections for the course. If individual instructors wrote tests, there would be eight-ten different tests. It is extremely unlikely that all of these tests would be equally difficult (or equally easy). So we have one test, written by the course coordinator, which covers the OBJECTIVES taught in every section.