MGP provides printed model answers. They are an excellent additional resource and come in handy in case of revision, content enrichment etc. However, they are bulky and often cross word limit, sometimes they are thrice as long as the word limit.
There are also good copies collection which gives fair idea about how peer writes.They also give good idea about what constitutes a good answer. Still they are not model answers!
I feel, ForumIAS can come up with polished, high quality answers which are written with leisure and repeated fine tuning in prescribed word and space in handwritten format. They can also include good flowcharts, maps, diagrams which can be replicated. If revised and internalized well, these can be aholy grail of a resourcefor aspirants. I know "model" answer is a myth, however, if something comes from a high table there is no harm in benchmarking against it.
Let's see how others including those within academy think of it...
Great thread with good inputs.
just here to appreciate the quality of questions MGP has been asking since last year.
Very analytical and in line with the commissions demands.
additionally, the model answers have evolved to have handmade diagrams (some geography tests). Presentation has also improved with tabular presentation seen.
keep helping the aspirant community. @Neyawn
Believe me you, We are already working on this. We do have a prototype for it, but handwritten has the challenge that with more than 50+ Tests, it becomes challenging as for a human to write in Handwritten format will slow down things down.
For MGP solutions, we have three key requirements
One, It should be short and crisp so that it can be used for quick revision
Two, it should be such that it has more points than actual answer. If there are 10 points in the model answer, student will remember at least 5.
Three, some people will be basing entire preparation on MGP Question Papers and Solutions. They will do the entire syllabus coverage from there without reading books.
Reconciling all the three is a Herculean Task. Sometimes these are contradictory.Crisp and comprehensive.
So for MGP 2021 what we have done is
(1) introduced keywords in rectangular boxes - so that students know that they can simply write the keywords in the answers. And yet we have provided descriptions, so that first timers do not have a problem.
(2) Introduced Grey Boxes which are not part of the answer, so that people who haven't read the topic from the book , ( and don't want to ) can benefit from this. It can be ignored by people who have already studied for the topics.
Would you look at these and give us a feedback? You can do so privately.
What we are trying to achieve is that someone seasoned like you should be able to look at the keywords in rectangles and revise the answer in five minutes.
Matlab ye hai, ye hai, ye hai is answer mein.
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We can compress it within the word limit as well, but then complete freshers will have a problem. So we try to maintain a ratio of word limit X 2.5 for the typed out answers.
Let me know what you think and do provide suggestions how this can be made better. My concern is that in the end it should solve a problem. At least the problem of a substantial number of people.
I am no knight. Do not call me Sir|Philosophy behind ForumIAS