About half of the 400 Anhui University freshmen questioned about their teachers' names on their midterm exams were unable to answer.

The exam had a maximum score of 100 points, with 40 points attributed to questions that were unrelated to the students' course subjects.

Yang Liangpan, a tutor at the university's School of Electronics and Information Engineering, designed the questions.

"When communicating with students, I found that many don't even know their teachers' names, let alone interact with them," Yang said.

Yang, who is an electronics and information-engineering graduate, said he wanted to use the questions to encourage students to build relationships with their teachers.

Freshmen from five majors at the school took the exam. Yang found that nearly half of the students failed to name all five teachers.

"When I looked at the examination paper, I was surprised by the first section, which asked us to write down the names of four teachers and our tutor, as well as in which classrooms we attend the courses and where the tutor's office is," said Han Kai, who took the exam on April 15.

"Some of my classmates were unable to provide the answers."

Li Lulu, a sophomore at Wuhan Media and Communications College, said that students at her college in the capital of Hubei province would also struggle to provide answers to similar questions.

"Students are not entirely to blame for this situation. Some teachers just enter the classroom, teach the class and leave without staying to chat with students or offer any personal advice," Li said.

On the last three questions of the exam at Anhui University, students were questioned about how best to console friends who have broken up with their boyfriend or girlfriend; their opinions on student loans; and what their favorite video games are.

Han said most of his male classmates play video games, but he is not a fan, because they remind him of his older brother, who became addicted to video games and dropped out of high school.

"College students should be given more freedom, but they should still prioritize their studies," Yang said, adding that most of the questions of the exam were about mathematics and physics.

zhulixin@chinadaily.com.cn