Thursday, August 30, 2007
No Tests?
An interesting comment was made on the perfect classroom, and I thought it deserved its own post. If we devalue grades and do not want to subject students to the stress of tests, whether it is throughout the year, or only at the end, how will teachers be able to measure student's success and understanding of material?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
First, I believe that success can't be specifically measured--to me, the definition of success in the classroom is the students simply taking an interest in and creating a discussion for the topic at hand. If the students have actively participated and showed a true curiosity in the subject then the teacher has successfully done his/her job. Secondly, what really matters is students being able to apply what they've learned, instead of regurgitating information onto a sheet of paper.
We said no tests, but we never said no real world interaction, right? Maybe what we need instead of a final is some way to make physical and social use of what we've learned. ie) If we were taking a class about the mutations on specific strands of DNA and how/why we should deal with them, we could take a field trip to a labroratory and examine how mutated strands of genetic material create different qualities and observe what professionals do to deal with them. I know my example is a little far-fetched at this stage of our lives, but you see where I'm going. After all, practice makes perfect. It's like driving--the more experience you have and if you strive to get better, the less likely you are to get into an "accident" along the way.
Every individual has his or her OWN goal and success should not be defined on just accomplishments within the classroom, but the ability of one to meet his or her own personal academic goals. Maybe what I want to get out of this class is just being able to learn about bacteria, while someone else wants to learn about EVERYTHING. This doesn't mean that if I ace the bacteria part of the test, while failing everything else that I am not successful compared to the kid who aced the ENTIRE test.
I think that what's important to remember is that there are many ways to test one's knowledge and mastering of a subject. In english class I feel my success comes from understanding the deeper meaning of a text and then seeing how it relates to society. In science, I think my success is noted when I look around and can see a water molecule and know what it is, how it's made and what it looks like. It's much more real-life. My dad always says we learn something new everyday...but that doesn't mean we're continually tested.
I think that a teacher's success can be shown and illustrated not on paper and with numbers but rather by their interactions with their students and what they teach them about life. I've had so many wonderful teachers that have made such a huge impact in my life. But it's not because they have taught me math or grammer. Rather it's because they have inspired me to be who I am and to do my best.
To be honest, probably a good amount of us will never have a job related to biology in our future careers but doesn't the fact that we have chosen to be in this class already speak somewhat of our success?
I know that tests are extremely useless to me and this also applies to quite a number of students. I have learned to just memorize the information I need for the test. And because I have a photographic memory, it is a lot easier for me. And so I don't tend to really learn the information, just memorize. And then the difficulty is that I forgot all about it because once you've passed there is no longer a need to go over it. So tests for me and probably a lot of other people is just showing the teachers how well you can memorize information.
I don't really know of a solution that would be sufficient for everything. In English or History, it seems like a very easy solution- have a discussion. It shows a) who knows what they are talking about, so it shows who has learned the information. And b) it also can bring a better and higher level understanding about the subject. But unfortunately, it is a little harder to do that with math and science.
I kind-of like Shamita's idea of real world interaction. But how she is describing it, it sounds like a lot of field trips which would take away a lot of time. But mainly, I think that teachers need to make sure to go back every once in a while to review with students. Because otherwise all of that time and energy spent teaching will be lost by the fact that we don't have a very good memory.
This is tough because as is, our school system is structured around examinations. As has been said, maybe real world applications. I think it would be so neat to go through an AP Bio class and then have the opportunity to intern at a Bio Labratory to test what I've learned. Or for an English class, write a work of literature or a poem and try to get it published. These are just ideas but it seems that more relevant forms of examination would be better than what we currently have (a system that teaches us to just memorize facts and not actually learn to apply the knowledge).
Post a Comment