It said, 7:8.

I asked the class if anyone could guess what it represents, adding the hint that it is not a C:N ratio. After a few seconds, one guy came up with a suggestion. He was almost right. Indeed, 7:8 was the teacher-to-student ratio of the class, a two weeks intensive course in soil ecology laboratory. Needless to say, the class was likely the most interesting I ever had in my ever longer academic career and the reason why I thought the 7:8 ratio deserves a note was because learning with 1 teacher every 1.14 students is unique and a privilege that I certainly have experienced the first time.

Sitting between the rows, the professor later commented that albeit the cost per student in the course was high and nowadays fewer and fewer Finnish universities offer such courses a lower ratio would likely render the class ineffective. I cannot agree more.

One of the many sweet side effects of the 7:8 ratio was to see how the teacher-student relationship evolved over the period of two weeks. Working closely daily from 8 am to 4 pm definitively lead to an almost complete blurring of teacher and student roles. Granted, laboratory newbie as I am, I always knew I’m the student.

Incidentally, a few hours ago I listened to a recent Ken Robinson TED on learning revolution.

I graduated from the University of Zurich — which I recently discovered to be #2 in Environmental Economics, according to RePEc — with, therefore, university exams à la Suisse. (More accurately, I should probably say university exams à la Institut für Informatik.) What follows is a curiosity that adds to the recent one on Finnish grading.

There are at least two rather distinct differences in exams à la Suomalainen vs. à la Suisse. In Switzerland I was used to 90 minutes examinations; in Finland the standard seems to be four hours. In Switzerland, time is a scarce resource and one has to regurgitate as fast as possible the answers to a long list of detailed questions. In Finland, time is abundant, at least at first sight. The second, and more important, difference is the examination form. In Switzerland, at least in my experience, exams were composed of lots of questions, some multiple choice, and most required a few words or sentences for a complete answer. In Finland, the exams I had up to now all had four or five questions. The answer is an essay.

Now, at first the Finnish way seems to be all the more easy. Perhaps it is. However, I believe there is a huge difference. While the Swiss way is testing knowledge for depth, the Finnish way tests depth as well as breadth. While you need to know the details an essay also shows whether or not you connect the dots and understand how things relate.

I must say, I am still adapting to this form of examination after a career of exams à la Suisse and my current belief is that exams à la Suomalainen are at worst a curious variation but most likely a lot smarter.