"I'm a robot, I'm a robot, I'm a robot...", I repeated to myself in my head.
Yesterday at work, I took on the duty of scribing a quiz for a student. The students who come to the testing center for exams and quizzes are only those who have a documented disability as confirmed through Disability Services.
So we deal with several students in addition to the professional testing candidates, and we only know of the accommodations they get. We don't typically know why they get those accommodations, and it's inappropriate to ask. I'd say the most common is extra time, but others include a private room, text-to-speech software, access to medication/ food, etc.
Some have readers for math tests since the text-to-speech software doesn't typically handle math very well, and that job usually falls to me since I'm the resident math nerd. This semester is the first time I've been asked to scribe - write out the work as dictated to me by the student.
But the request for a Calculus scribe came in. None of my coworkers wished to attempt that, and I honestly didn't want to leave the poor kid in their care. I feel like math is its own language, and there are levels of fluency like any other language. I would not be a decent scribe for a French exam, for instance.
I'd never met the student before, I'll call him Ben - not his name, but it's quick and easy to type. I didn't know why he needed a scribe. Maybe he had a hand injury and was temporarily disabled?
Ben showed up for his quiz, and I immediately surmised that he has cerebal palsy. He was friendly and in good spirits. After struggling a bit to retrieve his wallet and present his ID, he was ready for his quiz.
His instructor allowed him 40 minutes to complete the quiz, and he (and I) banged it out in a little under 15. He would've completed it sooner if not needing the scribe. In other words, he knows his calculus stuff so far.
Admittedly, it was difficult for me not to paraphrase. The environment was much like a tutoring session, but then, not at all like a tutoring session. I was to be like a robot and just write what I was told. I could tell he knew what he was talking about, but some of his word choices were not the best, and I could feel myself trying to send him words with my mind.
Didn't work, by the way.
But honestly, most of the time, he was spot on. And I rather enjoyed this scribing duty. Something different from the usual. I'm looking forward to his next test.
Enjoying it now before I'm replaced by AI.
6 comments:
Math nerd eh? I am the opposite of a math nerd. Rick calls me math illiterate. Oh sure, I can do simple math, add, divide, and subtract but please no fractions, algebra, or calculus. I'll just cry. I took Algebra II twice. My father told me the II did not me to take it twice. He got me a tutor for the 2nd time around and I still got c's and d's. It's not my strength. Actually I have no strengths. One of these days I'll find one.
Peggy, oh you have plenty of strengths!
And you're certainly not alone. My coworkers, like you, all struggle with math. They were like deer in the headlights at the mention of "calculus scribe", while nerd me was all, "ooh goody!"
There's definitely a lot of tasks that will be taken over by AI or robots. I can tell you this: I'm ready for the robot at a restaurant, as many people working there now are not actually interested in working or being good workers.
Allstarme79, Oh I agree. I think automated dining will become more the norm very soon. Maybe having a "human server experience" will eventually become a high-end , exclusive outing for the rich.
I'm pretty sure I would call in sick if I thought I'd have to do anything math-related at work. I'm a math idiot and have no grasp of the language of math. I'm glad there are people like you and "Ben" who understand it.
Danielle, honestly, when I was a "working girl" in a STEM field, we didn't do much high level math that we had to do in college. That's what computers are for😊
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