But you are allowed to allocate your 3 hours however you want.
For our tests the lecture and lab exams are in a 2-hour block. You all start in lecture. You can take time in between lecture/lab to brush up on lab terms if you wish, but you have to be done by the end of the time period. We have no limits on how many people are in lab at once. Can't go back to lecture once you leave.
We generally have 40 specimens/tables to identify. 100 people in the class. So it can get a bit crowded right around the one hour mark when people are done with the written and moving into lab.
Most people are pretty polite about waiting until you're done, or moving to an empty table, or whatever. But it can get crowded, and some people get really pushy. I was standing at a table and a classmate literally walked straight into me, forcing me out of the way, so she could get a closer look. And then proceeded to do it again at the next table. It was a bit frustrating, since I was still examining the specimen and I was at the table before her. But I know her to be a pretty awesome person, so I suspect it was just her being very focused and maybe tense/anxious and oblivious. Since we don't have to do them in any particular order, I just shifted to the other side of the room.
🙂
I think it'd be nice if we could start on either side so it spread people out a bit more. Not sure why they don't do that, but presumably they have their reasons.
Our tests aren't particularly long (at least, compared to what I've heard at some places), but the profs definitely aren't afraid to go after tiny little details that you'd otherwise gloss over. Makes them somewhat high stress because of the relative value of each question.
But, we work in small groups on the practical portion. Which is unique, yes?
Interesting. I like it, I think. How do they ensure that any one person isn't sorta sliding by on the coattails of a classmate? Randomly assign groups? Pick your own?
We had three tiny little anatomy quizzes in our first week that were like that. But they weren't "real" (they were just for clinical skills and covered the bare basics of body parts so we could get going with large animal clinicals) tests. But all our regular anatomy stuff is individual.