The Real Reasons These Students Wore 'Anti-Cheating' Hats to an Exam
You've probably come across the TikTok video showing students of Batangas State University-Lobo Campus wearing "anti-cheating hats" during an exam. The reason for doing so seems obvious, you could say. The clever strategy makes it hard for students to peek at someone else's paper and extremely obvious if they attempt to turn their heads.
Well, the hats do act as a deterrent to cheating to some extent. But Batangas State University-Lobo Campus guest lecturer Angelo Ebora clarifies that although a few may still be tempted to cheat, he's not suggesting that there is rampant academic dishonesty in their campus. The real purpose he made the students create and wear the funky hats was to show them that learning can be fun.
He announced the special project just four days before the exams, and that it would only be equivalent to +5 extra points to their exam scores, so he didn't expect that the students would put in much effort. So he was quite surprised that they came in their most creative hat creations on midterm day, most of which were inspired by agricultural themes.
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Some students went above and beyond, donning hats inspired by a variety of themes and characters. These included Red from Angry Birds, Chainsaw Man, Pikachu, a bridal headpiece, a bunny, a Moriones Festival character, a duck, a witch hat, and even a costume from Money Heist complete with the matching mask.
"I want to teach them the value of earning points through hard work and honesty," he says. "Wearing the hat is entirely optional, intended for enjoyment and fun, and serves to ease the stress caused by exam pressure," he tells Esquire Philippines.
Shown in the video are 70 students at the school gymnasium simultaneously taking their midterm exams, all wearing hats. "Three sections sila, at nag-request sila na sabay-sabay na daw silang mag-exam para makita nila ang hats ng iba kasi mas cute daw tingnan. So tinupad ko naman, kaya sa gymnasium sila nag-exam," he says.
Ebora understood that the weather can get a bit hot and the students might lose focus while answering, so they only wore the hats for a certain time.
The lecturer says his exams, which consist of short answer questions (SAQs), multiple choice, and true or false questions were quite tricky in order to better evaluate his students' level of comprehension of the lessons. "With that, nalalaman ko rin kung sino pa sa kanila ang mas kailangan ng extra push and motivation para mas pag-igihan pa ang pag-aaral," he says.
