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Old 07-19-2011, 12:46 PM
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bhunter bhunter is offline
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Location: San Diego California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tybrad View Post
It's really no wonder about where it has gone since the 80's- student worlds are expanding, and what teachers can do in education is narrowing. Youtube is blocked, legit sites are blocked with the clumsy, draconian filtering software that is in place. Minimum standards on these sorts of tests (I am speaking from the Maryland HSA perspective); a mile wide, 1/2 inch deep? Rote learning- the lowest/most primitive form of learning? Is that what really ought to be going on? By the time students get to HS, it should be about thinking, problem-solving, and synthesis to prepare for college, trade, and for informed and productive citizenship. C'mon guys...

Tyler
I agree with your position; however, there still needs to be a minimum level of basic knowledge that can be objectively measured. There still needs to be some amount of drudgery in the learning process. For example, doing derivations and proofs was much more fun and a better learning experience than memorizing equations on flashcards; however, on that physics exam it was nice to be able to recall equations. My point is that there is a need for both rote and inculcating a desire for learning. That said, there are too many pupils that will fail to have a desire to learn and these ought be separated from those that have such a desire. I'd also argue that currently too many questionable subjects are being taught for largely political reasons.

How you manage to teach students to be able to answer questions on a standardized test ought be up to the teacher. The example questions I've seen tend to be ridiculously basic, and as such, ought be easily answered but aren't. Why such difficulty? Are the students that bad? The test too difficult? The teaching methods ineffective? How do you propose measuring teacher effectiveness and student knowledge without standardized tests?


Oh, remember you're competing against pop culture and the Hollywood and Madison Avenue crowd for the atttention of the students. The deck seems stacked given the lack of parental discipline and "anything goes" culture we now inhabit.
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Last edited by bhunter; 07-19-2011 at 01:07 PM.
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