I got a'talkin' to some people online about tests in school. I thought I would expand a bit on my points here, and some others things people said. Yes, this will be an actual serious entry. It's been a while, I know, but bear with me.
patch heroes 3 XPI think that everybody knows that there are major flaws in or educational system, and I think that most thinking individuals realize that tests aren't the answer. If you want to make sure a kid is being taught correctly, you don't start teaching to a test where a failure means no graduation. But tests in general are flawed. There is no real-world skill being developed here. When's the last time you saw somebody at a job take a test? Of course, never. They work in teams, on projects. If somebody doesn't have an answer, they meet in groups to discuss it and find a solution. Memorizing formulas in school is pointless also, since in the real world those formulas are easily looked up, and nobody thinks it's cheating to look something up out in the real world. Resources are available then, why not in school?
The people that did poorly in tests in school may very well be the most successful outside of school, and vice versa. Test performance has very little bearing outside of the educational system. The ability to work well with others, communication skills, and of course real-world experience, these are the things that matter. The so-called "intangibles" that any H.R. person can tell you about, and then hire you if you have them.
My proposal, and I'm well aware that these aren't new ideas, is as follows. Tests and quizzes are irrelevant, same with homework. If you want a kid to learn, give the kid a small mini-quiz every day for no credit. Do it on the most recently learned material, and use it as an indicator to the teacher and student what the kid isn't understanding. Use this specific information to help the student learn it better, perhaps in a different way. Each week do a small project in teams, based on one aspect of the material learned the previous week. These can be simple, take only a few hours to work on in groups, and then present them to the entire class afterwards in 15 minutes or less. Grade the students based on their performance on the projects (observation of the teams is important), and their presentations. Every month, have a review, in groups, of material learned. Don't pile up homework, school should be set hours in another place, it should not break out to take up time elsewhere. The experiences learned outside of school is often much more valuable, and freeing up time normally taken by homework allows a student to pursue other interests. People complain that kids don't get to have a childhood anymore... I blame education.
Now, I believe that this plan should do well in any school subject up through high school. It will prepare students for job or college. I'll be reorganizing college next...
College should serve only two purposes, and these purposes are really the same thing. They should provide specialized training in a field of study, and they should provide a touch of reality. The best way is again, group projects and work experience. My college already does this, which is why I wanted to go here to begin with. But it could go further, at least with group projects. There is still an emphasis on tests and even homework.
Overall, I think if the education system is improved, we will all be a lot smarter. Not because we are learning more, but because we'll *want* to learn more. Lifelong learning is what makes a society great. Rather than discouraging our students with busywork and memorization, we should be showing them a universal truth, that learning is easy and fun.
Have a good one.
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What the heck are you doing reading my blog for? Go see Serenity now!
I said go see the friggin' movie.
Get out of here.
Seriously.
What's wrong with you?
Go now.
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...
Okay, so I'll assume you've already seen it, or for some reason are unable to see it right this very minute, so you're just killing time until your life has meaning and you do see it. Since for whatever reason you're still reading, I'll tell you about the movie.
First of all, it was awesome. Not just awesome awesome, it was awesome-awesome awesome. Awesome.