Random exam question gets slammed as ‘unfairly biased’ in viral tweet

Let’s face it, no one looks forward to exams – even those well prepared and equipped for the big day. There always happens to be that one question that throws people off despite the endless amount of late-night cramming.

In a viral tweet making the rounds on Twitter, Rebekah Rogers shared an open-ended exam question that has since divided social media. One user slammed it as “unfairly biased”, while another added: “I absolutely hated questions like this because it assumed that I studied something in-depth.”

The question read: “There’s something that you spent time studying that wasn’t asked on the exam. What is it and how does it work? Explain in detail.”

Sharing a pic of the question to her account, Rebekah wrote: “I kind of like this exam question.”

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Rebekah, Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics and Genomics at UNC Charlotte, told Indy100 that she curated the question for her course on genome sequence analysis after “some students had found it challenging to adjust to in-person classes and essay-based exams.”

Her intention was for students to “show off their knowledge independently from the exam format”. “The hope was that many students could earn additional points from an open-ended prompt,” she added.

Despite some slamming the question as unfair, Rebekah said she had not thought of it as particularly unusual.  “I explained to the students as the exam began that this was their chance to demonstrate learning and gain points,” she added.

However, other social media users branded the question “genius” and a source of inspiration for future classes and exams.

One said: “A question without boundaries, while subjective, means that students who may have learned a ton but sucked at the test can actually show off their knowledge here and ideally earn make up points.”

While another added jumped to the defence of critics, saying, “It’s an open-ended question for whatever the students really took a shine to during the course.”

Some things simply can’t be prepped for.