A professor at Bicol University congratulated her students for having “world-class” creativity after several foreign news outlets featured them for their unique “anti-cheating hats” in their midterm examinations.
Engineer Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz, a professor of mechanical engineering at Bicol University, praised her students for taking her instructions to the next level and impressing people worldwide with their originality.
According to the professor, she only instructed the students to make an “anti-cheating hat” for their midterms to prevent them from being tempted to copy answers from each other.
“My instruction ay ‘wag magkopyahan para makasigurado, kaya nag-request po ako ng anti-cheating hat na simple lang. Ine-expect ko ay folder lang o papel pero ginawa ng estudyante na level-up,” Mandane-Ortiz said on Facebook on October 20.
“Kinuha ko po ang ideyang ito sa Facebook din mismo, pero laking gulat at tuwa ko dahil wala naman akong sinabi na pagandahin o maging creative sila,” she said in another post.
“Ang sabi ko lang ay gumawa ng anti-cheating hat na sample sa pangatlong larawan,” the professor added, attaching an old screengrab of Thai students wearing “ear flaps” during an exam.
In 2013, a picture of students answering exams with “paper blinker hats” at Thailand’s Kasetsart University went viral.
According to its student administrative board, the hats were necessary since the room was small but there were many students at that time. The initiative was to prevent them from being tempted to copy answers.
Bangkok Post reported that “nearly 100” of them were in a room.
Meanwhile, Mandane-Ortiz posted pictures of how her students interpreted her instructions and played with their creativity.
“Students talaga ang deserve ng lahat congratulations at credits. In-upload ko lang dahil natuwa ako sa creativity nila. Good job, students. You deserved to be appreciated. Remember, your creativity must not put in vain,” she wrote on Facebook.
“I really love and [am] proud of my students dahil ang midterm exam nila sa engineering na madalas ay stress at nakaka-pressure ay binigyan nila ng saya at kulay. Maraming salamat estudyante. Nakaka-proud kayo,” Mandane-Ortiz said in another online post.
The photos of the creative hats eventually reached foreign media, making the engineering professor doubly proud of her students.
Apart from local media, the “anti-cheating hats” were featured by Hespress, Mingpao News, Arabic Post, NDTV India, Today, VICE Asia, Australian morning talk show “Today Extra” and United Kingdom’s BBC News.
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“Wow, congratulations students, pang-international na talaga kayo. You are Now on BBC NEWS sa London, United Kingdom,” Mandane-Ortiz said when she saw the article.
“Congratulations. So proud of you,” she added.
Mandane-Ortiz said that the “anti-cheating hats” is just a reminder for them to refrain from cheating and to study diligently.
“Let us value integrity and honesty. Thank you po sa positive impacts ng creativity ng mga students ko. Ang importante, ang mga estudyante ay nag-enjoy habang nag-eexam at hindi sila ganun [na-stress],” she said in another Facebook post.