12-year-old Dubai student gets 92% in university exam

Dubai - The Dubai College student just completed his first university-level course on paleontology from the University of Alberta, Canada, and he achieved a whopping 92 per cent.

When was the theory that dinosaurs were the evolutionary ancestors of birds first proposed?
Now, without consulting Google, can you answer this question correctly?
There's a fair chance many of you are scratching your heads, feeling a little lost as to what to write, but not 12-year-old Pritvik Sinhadc.
The Dubai College student just completed his first university-level course on paleontology from the University of Alberta, Canada, and he achieved a whopping 92 per cent.
"I am the youngest to finish this course and am officially underage to get a certificate from the university," Sinhadc told Khaleej Times.
It took Sinhadc about two months to complete the full online course, titled: 'Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds'.
And of the five total assessments submitted, he scored 100 per cent in three, and 80 per cent in two.
"The two I scored 80 per cent in are notoriously difficult, even in the eyes of a university student," he said.
According to the admission criteria, students of any age can take this course and exam but only students aged 13 and older can obtain the official certificate.
But this has not deterred whiz-kid Sinhadc
"I'll pick my cert up next year and I have already enrolled for a few more courses."
Following completion of the course which was taught by Dr Philip John Currie, PhD, Professor of Dinosaur Paleobiology, and Dr Angelica Torices, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, the department staff sent him this note.
"Pritvik Sinhadc, congratulations! Completing an online course is no simple endeavor. Take a moment to reflect on your hard work and enjoy your completion of Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds. You've earned it."
Thanking the "tremendous support and encouragement" from his Dubai College teachers, the Year 8 student said he has big plans for the future.
"Without any doubt I would like to be a paleontologist and study the anatomy, eating, locomotion, growth, environmental and behavioural adaptations, origins and extinction of prehistoric creatures and life."
And if that wasn't enough, the already published author said he would like to further his interest in paleontology by combining it with "astrophysics and the impact of cosmic radioactive mass extinctions".
Now that's a mouthful to say, let alone learn.
And for those of you still scratching your head, the answer to the questions above is the 1860s. Kelly@khaleejtimes.com
 
 

Books penned by Pritvik: When Dinosaurs Roamed The Earth

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