Friday, October 26, 2001

Greek test files necessary, beneficial
James Zwilling
Staff Reporter

Lisa Parker said she thinks test files are an important part of college — for Greeks, that is.

“Test files are a part of the benefits of being Greek,” she said. “After all, we pay to be Greek.”

Parker, a freshman elementary education major and Kappa Kappa Gamma, said she has used her sorority’s test files and found them beneficial.

“There is a benefit to being able to see the types of questions a professor will ask,” she said.

Tom Sullivan, director of fraternity and sorority affairs, said test files are a long-standing tradition that can be helpful if used correctly.

“Test files are a fine tool to use for studying and preparing, if professors have allowed them to be used,” he said. “It’s a partnership between professors and students.”

Sullivan said not all fraternities and sororities on campus have test files.

“You’d be kind of foolish to assume everyone has one,” Sullivan said. “Most chapters aren’t that organized when it comes to test files. It takes a lot of organization.”

George Brown, associate professor of theater, said the problem with test files occurs when students using them abuse that partnership.

“If students use test files as a reso

rce to understand and prepare objectively, they can be useful,” he said.

Brown said, however, that students who abuse test files and use ones that don’t have the professor’s permission are losing out in the end.

“Students don’t invest themselves by using test files if they have used stolen tests,” he said.

Brown said he became frustrated with the test file system when he learned that some students had gotten a hold of a test he was giving.

“I felt a sense of violation,” he said. “I was an undergraduate for four years and a graduate student for three years. I’ve invested more than 20 years into my personal education since then. If I’m willing to share everything I know with (students), why are they stealing it?”

According to the Mary Couts Burnett Library, several professors do offer their own tests on e-reserve.

Brown said allowing students to view tests is a good practice if it means they are using it as an aid to what they have already learned. It’s counterproductive, he said, if students simply memorize the test, expecting to see the same one on exam day.

Brown said using tests without permission is a form of cheating, and that cheating only hurts the students.

“When you cheat, you’re cheating yourself,” Brown said. “You’re here for an education, not a degree.”

James Zwilling
j.g.zwilling@tcu.edu