The scenarios sketched in the post are not exactly close to the real world. Multiple choice tests no matter how hard can easily be constructed so there probability of passing the exam simply by guessing is insignificant. For example:
There are 20 questions and you have to be correct on at least 16 of them. If there are just two options on each question your chances of passing by guessing is 1:170 if there are four options your chances are 1:2600000.
I suppose they would be stupid enough not to block answers.com, reference.com or any of the other pages mirroring wikipedia and thus still allow full access to the information.
Wikipedia is a great resource and starting point: You only have to be cautious about it and confirm the information elsewhere. Instead of blocking wikipedia they should inform their students about how what reliable information is.
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The scenarios sketched in the post are not exactly close to the real world. Multiple choice tests no matter how hard can easily be constructed so there probability of passing the exam simply by guessing is insignificant. For example:
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There are 20 questions and you have to be correct on at least 16 of them. If there are just two options on each question your chances of passing by guessing is 1:170 if there are four options your chances are 1:2600000.
If you are interested see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_distributio
I suppose they would be stupid enough not to block answers.com, reference.com or any of the other pages mirroring wikipedia and thus still allow full access to the information.
Wikipedia is a great resource and starting point: You only have to be cautious about it and confirm the information elsewhere. Instead of blocking wikipedia they should inform their students about how what reliable information is.