ABSTRACT
Some time ago, while giving a test, one of the authors became aware of faint recurring thuds coming from the center of his classroom. He noticed a student doing something odd. Every so often the student would pause, smack his fingers on the edge of his desk, consider his hand for a moment, and then scribble something on his test. At first, the author wondered if the student was sending signals to someone, perhaps about the correct answers to the test. When it was clear, however, that no funny business was going on, the author waited for the student to finish the test and then asked what all the thumping was about. The student smiled, explaining that each of his fingers represented an answer to a multiple-choice question. “So, for example, if I can narrow the correct answer down to a,” the student said, holding up his index finger, “c,” holding up his ring finger, “and d,” holding up his pinky, “I smack the desk and whichever finger hurts the most is the answer I mark on my test.” Not surprisingly, the student earned a poor grade on the test, but, hey, we give him props for creativity!
