Rob Beatty

"My initial thought was that he wanted to get a few last minutes of cramming in before the exam started...after approximately a minute I realized this was 3x5 feet, and he had the intention of using it on the exam," Beatty said.

He said he then quickly referred back to his syllabus and every other place "where I provide test instructions," and realized he never specified "inches" anywhere.

Bowen said everyone was giggling as Beatty was "frantically" searching through his course materials. "He looked at me and said 'you are right,'" Bowen added.