Student's genius exam trick - and why their teacher decided to allow it
An accounting professor who allows note cards for exams has been outwitted by a US college student.
Reb Beatty, who teaches at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, uploaded an image online which shows the male student, Elijah Bowen, with his interpretation of an appropriate note card.
The post read: "First test day of the semester and as always, I allow a 3x5 notecard. Today, a student shows up with this. Sure enough, it is 3x5... feet."
"As precise as I am, apparently I never specified inches and therefore yes, it was allowed"
Mr Beatty's post on Facebook has been shared close to 30,000 since last week, but he has since updated it to respond to backlash.
"It is NOT cheating, or going easy on students, or however you want to reference it," he said.
Mr Beatty explained that he allows note cards because accounting exams were not just regurgitating facts but they require application of concepts and proficiency in the material.
"The approach is that the process itself will force the student to organize his/her thoughts, put material into terminology that he/she understands, et cetera"
Mr Beatty told TODAY in the US that the "audacious" student "did well" in the test.
