Anne Arundel Community College professor allows students to bring 3x5 cards to class; Doesn’t specify inches

Anne Arundel Community College freshman Elijah Bowen was taught in his accounting class to sweat the details.

So that’s why he decided to bring a 3-foot-by-5-foot index card into his accounting class test on Tuesday. And a few hours later the Friendship resident is the internet’s new social media star with a Facebook post from his teacher, Reb Beatty, that has been shared more than 28,000 times.

“I figured it would be a win-win either way to study and fill out the entire card,” Bowen said. “I had a backup 3x5-inch card just in case he didn’t let me use it.”

Beatty wrote that he allows students to use 3x5 notecards on the first test day of a semester. But what Beatty didn’t realize was he didn’t specify in his syllabus and notes that the 3x5 card must be inches, not feet.

“Today, a student shows up with this. Sure enough it is 3x5 … feet,” Beatty wrote in the widely shared Facebook post. “As precise as I am, apparently I never specified inches and therefore yes, it was allowed. Well played and lesson learned for me.”

Beatty wrote in his Facebook post that he allows the 3x5 cards because it is more a preparation tool than a “test aid.”

“The approach is that the process itself will force the student to organize his/her thoughts, put material into terminology he/she understands, et cetera. It is NOT cheating, or going easy on students or however you want to reference it,” Beatty wrote on the post in an update.

Bowen wasn’t confident his ploy would work. But he was sure that he was right about Beatty failing to specify a measurement.

“The professor is always telling us not to miss details or specifics, since that will throw off entire calculations,” Bowen said. This was applying those same principles to the professor’s syllabus and notes, he said.

“If we miss a single digit, it screws up our entire balance,” Bowen said. “He sent me to the back row so nobody (could) see my notes.”

Bowen said his life hasn’t changed too much since the post went viral. People he know have been messaging him on social media platforms, but life continues on.

Oh, and he passed the test.

“I had to refer to the card only a couple of times, it was very big,” Bowen said. “It was more comical than anything.

“I got a high B or low A.”