Skip to main content

Is a test always best?

So, apparently, I have a habit of starting a post and not finishing it... I began this one yesterday. I really struggle with using other forms of assessment - presentations, projects, conversations - with a group of students whose final grade is determined A) primarily from an exam and B) by someone other than myself.  

From yesterday...
As I sit here finishing up a set of unit tests written by my grade 12 students, I have to wonder, is this the best way for them to tell me what they know?  Is this the best way for them to prepare to write a standard, international examination?
The answer to the first question, for many students, is a resounding, "NO!"  While they may understand the content, and be able to make connections between different concepts, when faced with test questions that ask them to explain what they understand or make those connections, they often fall short.
However, when I consider that 80% of their mark comes from an examination that is written and assessed by the IBO, I would be shirking my duties as a teacher if we didn't at least practice writing tests with questions similar to those they might see on the May exam.  And since a requirement of IB is predicting a final grade for my students, I need to have an idea of how they will perform on this test that none of us will see until the day they write it.
What are your thoughts on testing? Is performance on a test the best indicator of performance on another test?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Has it been 10 days yet?

Yup.  I just counted from my first post, and it was on January 16, making today day 10. I missed a couple of days - both times I had begun writing, but didn't finish or didn't publish the draft - but I also double posted a couple of times, to try and catch up. Still, this is post number 8, on day 10. Not bad for a rookie, right? We started exams today, and since my first class doesn't write until Friday, I'm trying to be productive and mark their major lab reports before I have to start marking their exam papers.  It's going slowly... #BellLetsTalk day is in full swing, making my phone buzz and my computer bong with alerts as people tweet and re-tweet. Yes, I am easily distracted when faced with a task I don't always enjoy.  I also wrote a reference letter for a former student who is applying to the SickKids Summer Research Program , and its deadline is before my mark-entry deadline, so I justified writing it before grading papers, too. Just imagine if ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The good on Twitter...

There is a lot of negativity on Twitter and other social media platforms right now, thanks to the change of power in the US, and controversial appointments to high-level government positions.  This will not be a political rant... I am choosing to focus, instead, on the good things I've seen on Twitter today. Very useful, interesting site to promote problem solving, communication & critical thinking. #mathed https://t.co/YeN866cTzy @Jstevens009 pic.twitter.com/uvHBIA6eq8 — Jim Cash (@cashjim) January 23, 2017 This tweet from @cashjim led me to  wouldyourathermath.com , and though I haven't taught mathematics in years, as a science teacher, mathematics still crops up in some topics so I thought I'd explore. In particular, I like this one on statistics and thought before I used it with students, maybe I should review (or actually learn for the first time) what a boxplot is.  I did a statistics course in my third year at university, but what I r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do you listen, or just read?

When we were on strike two years ago, several of my colleagues listened as they walked - podcasts, audiobooks - but when I tried it, I couldn't focus on the storyline, so I chose to just walk and talk instead. Fast-forward to this year, and the latest version of the "26 books with Bringing up Burns" reading challenge... one of this year's prompts was "a book you listen to". So I tried it again.  I couldn't get a paper copy for last month's book club choice, so I borrowed the audiobook from the library, and tried listening again.  I found it went well if I was listening while doing another task, like washing the dishes or folding laundry, and I was able to do lesson planning but not marking with a story running through my headphones.  It was slow going until I found I could make it go faster - 1.25 speed sounds a little more robotic, but it sure cuts on listening time.  I actually finished listening to that book as I drove to the book club meeting -...
Post a Comment
Read more