Can I be doing this again, already? It doesn’t seem very long ago that I had my laptop in class during a previous final examination. I suppose it really wasn’t long ago for these intensive courses fly past like greased pigs. Have pigs learned to fly? I’d suggest that perhaps only the slippery ones have.I find myself sitting in front of a classroom. I’ve already corrected the listening part of the final exam. I administer that separately, so I can keep busy while they are completing the writing section.
As I want to get these grades turned in a soon as possible, I have also opened a copy of the course marks in an Excel spreadsheet. All the columns have been filled in. The only free spaces are those where the final exam scores will go. Then, there’ll be an instant numerical grade in the last column. The weightings of the activities and assignments create a rather lengthy formula:
=(Q10*0.45)+((R10*2)*0.15)+((S10*16.667)*0.1)+((T10*16.667)*0.1/2)+(U10*0.25).
Basically, it all adds up to a single decision. The result helps me decide if a particular student is ready to go on to the next COMM course. I suppose there are numbers that contribute to more far-reaching choices. Numbers used by structural engineers might help design a part which is capable of handling the lives of thousands of people. A number may allow the pinpoint accuracy needed for a spacecraft to hit the surface of another planet. Still, I think the ramifications of my formula are significant. The number in my last column has the ability to determine the future actions of twenty-two people.