<p>I was stunned when I learned that my DS was taking a class with one prof, but was taking exams written by another prof, i.e., departmental exams. What a fiasco. My DS’s class did terrible on the departmental exams while the students of the prof writing the exams fared much better. Overall, I think my DS was cheated out of what could have been a real learning experience. </p>
<p>Each prof has their own approach to teaching. Each prof knows what they have emphasized in class and, thus, can use the exams to reinforce the material. </p>
<p>Methinks departmental exams cover up who is the lousy teacher and who is the talented teacher. Not everyone can teach well. It is a talent. How can a university determine a prof’s teaching ability if that prof isn’t allowed to determine course material and testing style?</p>
<p>By the way, I taught college for 20+ years and managed to maintain a bell curve all 20+ of those years. Always had good evaluations - even from students in my 180-student classes. True story: I once had a student who failed my class, but gave me a glowing evaluation. She/He took full blame for failing the course and named several aspects of my teaching style that she/he appreciated. </p>
<p>By maintaining control over the material and testing, I was able to evaluate my own teaching skill (and, yes, occasionally I wrote a throw-away question) and tailor each class to the students enrolled in that class (and, yes, each class has its own “vibe” - some classes gelled better than others). What happened to academic freedom?</p>