The Sunday, July 20th New York Times' Opinion section includes an article titled "How Tests Make Us Smarter" (see link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/how-tests-make-us-smarter.html?ref=opinion). After reading the piece and summarizing it on the blog, state your opinion as well as the author's. Be ready to share your views with your fellow students in class for extra credit.
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In this article, the reader is presented the idea that tests and quizzes are extremely important and helpful when used under the right circumstances. The circumstance being that the tests and quizzes be more frequent in the classroom and have low risks or stakes. The author makes his opinion clear by stating his desire to promote this system and knowledge into schools, and I couldn't agree with him more. As a person who doesn't work well under pressure and stress, make it or break it tests and standardized test don't help me showcase my knowledge to its full potential. For this reason, having a more constant flow of quizzes and tests can help people like me try out different test taking methods and find one that works without having to risk our grades or scores. In addition, having a frequent test taking environment will help students become accustomed to it and preform better in it as time goes on. I strongly agree with this article and do believe that integrating this system into schools will prove to be extremely beneficial for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThe article is about test taking and the way it should be done at schools. The article suggests that test taking should be done through small quizzes that test what a student remembers and that don't represent a huge risk for students. The author believes that standardized testing should be changed from the way it currently is, a big test at the end of a semester testing your knowledge, into periodic small quizzes that increase retention levels that will help students understand the subject better and get help in the areas of weakness that need attention. I believe that the system how it is now is very stressful to students and it just pushes students to get the grade they want rather than learn. A system like the article suggests would actually help students retain things and learn how to use the same skill in their lives. I like the idea of not having to fret over my test scores and simply being able to learn.
ReplyDeleteThis article is about testing in education and the author gives a somewhat unpopular view that tests are a positive and beneficial learning experience. He argued that through research, it has been proven that students who are tested on material learn it better than those who never have to rack their brains for the material again. He encourages light testing to be a regular part of the classroom, and I agree with him on everything here. From my own experiences, I have learned that if I get an answer wrong on a test, the amount of sheer focus I use during the test concentrated on each question will allow me to definitely remember the question, and the right answer as well as the wrong answer. I never take notes in school and all my teachers get angry at me and sometimes even try to fail me because of it, but I do not take notes because I know that re reading over and over again and "highlighting" as the author pointed out, do not really help you understand and remember information. I think that there are plenty of other reasons why we should use standardized tests in America like the SAT/ACT, but the benefits to learning alone that the author presented are enough to forge a strong case for the tests as worthy of the modern classroom.
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