next »

[ian]

Whats the point of testing?

I know most people would say that it judges how well you know the material, but honestly does it?  I think it better accurately judges your ability to remember things and then rewrite them onto a piece of paper/scantron 1 to 2 hours after memorizing it.

Now I'm not saying to get rid of tests altogether because we need tests to determine who is more skilled at doing something and to assign grades.  However, I think the approach to testing needs to be looked at.  There are many people who are bad "test takers" but this doesn't mean they are bad "problem solvers."

Instead of asking a generic question, with only one answer, pose a real world problem to the student which may have more then 1 correct answer.  There isn't one specific scenario I can give that everyone can relate to simply because this is very specific to the class/major you are in.

Also, perhaps this idea is a bit far fetched, but what if tests were "open source."  Open source in the idea that you could use your availbale tools (books, internet, peers) to solve these problems.  I feel that most technology today is "open source", meaning that people can look at what was already done and then improve upon it.  Google applications, facebook applications, word processing software, etc.  The exchange of ideas can a lot of times inspire the creation of new thought, and new approaches at problem solving.  I know this also brings new problems, such as won't friends just help their friends answer the questions?  Perhaps.  However, it may also inspire these students to actually want to answer the question considering it is something they can relate to and not just a boring problem in a text book.

[Chris]

In most of my classes I'm allowed to bring either my textbook or a "cheat sheet" to class. Basically I'm allowed to write down anything that I think will help me with the exam. I'm not sure how to pose a real world problem, most of the time my classes have questions like how much load could you put on a bridge before it fell down, or for example on my statistics exam we had a question about what the odds were of actually getting a quarter pound worth of meat if you ordered a McDonald's quarter pounder.

I feel that the problem with true open source is that there exists so many programs today that will do whatever you are trying to do. Programs like Maple or Mathmatica can basically do any type of mathematical work for you and I'm sure other programs exists for other fields of study. I feel like a well trained monkey could enter the parameters that are needed so that a computer would spit out the right answers.

[patsfan1]

For me, I've been getting better grades and learning more in classes that involve writing or essay tests. I also do better on open-ended tests and short answer or fill in the blank tests than multiple choice. Mainly because those types of tests allow you to learn and apply the material instead of just memorizing things. I like classes that provide real world examples of the concepts that are covered. I think open source testing is a good idea, but the biggest problem would be to prevent cheating or collaboration by students. It seems the downloaded software and programs that can do the work for students are usually for math and science, both subjects which are considered very pure and technical. These subjects mostly involve multiple choice tests and lots of homework problems, and students have the least practical uses and applications for the information that is learned. The only way to prevent cheating is to make the tests more open source, meaning anything except multiple choice. This might actually create a catch-22 situation between students and teachers because to make the tests open source means making it more practical, but since that is very difficult it shows there is
less relevance and application for the knowledge.

[bubblebetty]

has anyone ever taken prof huskey at rutgers in newark/ new brunswick and still have previous exams.

[ian]

has anyone ever taken prof huskey at rutgers in newark/ new brunswick and still have previous exams.

You already made two threads on this.  One in this forum and one in the RU forum.