The American schooling system is one hot mess. Instructors encourage independence but conformity is essential for success. Standardized test scores are used to determine the amount of state funding a school may receive as well as a student’s progress. But to reign myself back in, tests, by themselves, are not an adequate way to show how much one has learned.
It is a proven fact that people learn differently. According to researchers, there are three ways in which people learn: auditory (hear), visual (see), and kinesthetic (touch). As a personal example, my Mom is an example of a visual learner. She often says, “See one, do one, teach one” when describing her learning process. For me, I am unsure of which is my dominant learning type. During a test, I am often able to picture exactly where the information is in my notes or remember the professor talking about the topic. I suppose that makes me a visual learner as well. However people learn in a combination of all three ways but have a preferred way of taking in information and/or skills.
People also test differently. We all know that person that doesn’t do jack, but will ace the exam. And, hopefully, we are not the opposite – the one that knows the material but cannot pass the exam. Anxiety kicks in and even though you know you should not worry, you do.
Secondly, human error comes into play. I cannot believe the amount of math exams I have taken that had no real solutions to the problems (but they were supposed to, the teachers did not check to see if the numbers worked).
What is your guy’s opinion on testing as a remix of how we learn? Let me know. ~V
Sunflowers and Riddles 