Subject:
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Re: Standardized tests (was: Yummy!)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sun, 7 May 2000 20:11:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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211 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Kevin Wilson writes:
> Chris Weeks wrote:
> > certainly don't evaluate what the student knows. Traditional tests are • better
> > at getting to that kind of info. These evaluation techniques should be used • to
> > whatever extent is practicable in conjunction with standardized tests.
>
> As a side comment just on this part of your reply, Chris (I can't speak
> to the rest):
>
> I was interested by the fact that you referred to the standardised
> mutiple choice tests as "traditional tests". When I was in high school
> in the UK in the mid-seventies, multiple-choice tests were beginning to
> be tested as replacements for the then-traditional tests which mostly
> consisted in humanities subjects of essay questions. I was part of a
Good call. These large multiple choice exams - the ones that the article
and I are debating - are not meant as measures for individual classes. By the
time I was in high school a decade after you, machine-graded tests had become
common-place, but mostly used in conjunction with essay exams. A typical
history test for my eleventh grade course included fifty multiple choice
questions largely to determine if I'd read the book, and two or three essay
questions to see if I understood the systems and how they apply to other
circumstances.
> class which took an experimental multiple-choice test in History.
> History was a subject I wasn't particularly interested in at that time,
> but I happen to be very good at remembering facts and I was startled to
> be told later that I scored in the 98th percentile in the country! I
Yup. That's common for a group of intelligent folks who're intelligent in a
particular way. I fall into that group also. I pretty universally got
98th or 99th percentile on standardized tests and my HS grade point average was
a 2.2 or so. That's a perfect example of why it's good to have both kinds (and
others not mentioned) of assessment techniques in play.
> can't remember what my exam mark was in History when we did the real
> exams later on, but it certainly wasn't that good. I also remember the
> opinion of those of us students who took the test (and other multiple
> choice tests which were being tested in other subjects) that they were
> far too easy - much easier than the essay exams, because you didn't have
I have seen many tests created too easy. Teachers tend to be afraid of making
them too hard. Your experience is not indicative of the usefulness of the type
of instrument, but instead of a poorly designed example. When I've designed MC
tests, they have always required significant tuning before I was satisfied.
You were working with a new one. MC tests don't have to be easy. I
personally, generally prefer to be assessed given an essay because it affords
more opportunity for me to show what I do know.
> On a different note it is certainly true that some people to better on
> tests/exams of any kind than others who may be just as competent in the
> subject matter, or more so. I never struggled with or worried about
I agree. Test skills are a big issue. And, as mentioned, this is why it's
crucial to have a well-rounded assessment scheme.
> exams, but my daughter (who is just as competent in her areas as I was)
> finds them terribly nerve-wracking and as a result does not show as well
> as she could. The difference is not in IQ or knowledge, but in
> temperament.
Yup. I have a hard time understanding test anxiety, having never experienced
it, but I do have interview anxiety, so maybe it's similar :-) There has been
research showing that students with that problem can improve test scores some
(generally not a whole lot) by doing relaxation exercises.
I hope that was a thorough enough response for you.
Chris
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Standardized tests (was: Yummy!)
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| (...) As a side comment just on this part of your reply, Chris (I can't speak to the rest): I was interested by the fact that you referred to the standardised mutiple choice tests as "traditional tests". When I was in high school in the UK in the (...) (25 years ago, 7-May-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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