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TEACHING_THE_TEST
September 15, 2004
The New York State Regents
exam in English had some As I understand it,
required essay writing... something like this
is going to be added
to the SAT.
I did pretty well on it
because I happened to
have a rather hard-nosed
obnoxious English
teacher who decided that
his job was to get us to
score high on this test,
so he *told us how the
test was graded*.
He explained that what the graders
wanted to see was three paragraphs:
(1) a one sentence introduction
that explained what you were going
to say, (2) a three sentence main
body that said it, and (3) a one
sentence conclusion that
re-iterated the introduction.
I turned in a completely inane
"essay" (theme: "Jack Kerouac
Was Into Freedom", or
something like that) that was
in fact completely brain dead, For me, this success
but fit this form exactly. of form-over-substance
was something of a
If I'd really been prepared, breakthrough.
I could have written a half
dozen generic "essays" in THE_QUESTION_OF_ESSAYS
advance, and walked in the
door with them memorized,
ready to deal one out in
response to whatever silly
questions we were given to
choose from.
I've since learned that some people
regard "teaching the test" as some
sort of dirty trick; or perhaps
caving into the silly "standardized
testing" routine letting it corrupt
the educational process.
I was once talking to a university
professor at a technical conference
who said "Do you know what engineering
school has the highest rate of
graduates who pass the Professional
Engineer exam? Idaho State University!
Because they *teach the test*!"
This was supposed to be a
reducto ad absurdum, but
it was a bit lost on me
because by an odd fluke
I was someone who had Idaho State University,
actually taken the class was located in Pocatello
that he was talking about. which was the town I was
living in while working
And it actually wasn't at the Westinghouse
a bad class at all. It site. Wimpy reputation
was only worth a single or no, that was where I
unit (a third or a fourth took some classes (while
of a regular class), so working a full time
it's not like there was Engineering job... I was
a lot of academic pretty crazed in those
incentive for the degree days).
oriented students (of which
I certainly wasn't one, There's a paradox about
I was taking classes to Higher Education that you
learn stuff). don't often hear discussed:
there isn't that much
From the point of view difference between the Good
of learning stuff, Schools and the Bad Schools,
mostly it was about and in fact sometimes the
doing the sample Good are bad and the Bad are
questions in the good.
published review book
(that anyone could I took some classes in
study from in theory). digital electronics at
There was a little bit ISU, which were taught
of review/instruction, by a design engineer
a little bit about test who worked at the local
strategy, but not that American Microsystems
much. plant.
To the extent that the It isn't conceivable
test was well designed, that I would've learned
the class had to be more from classes at MIT.
well designed... why *not*
teach the material on the At places like Stanford,
test? If that's a *bad* while there are certainly
thing to do, doesn't that many great professors
mean you should drop the there are also many
test? that aren't.
Successful academics
bring in funding and
Sometimes you hear a crank out publications,
rationale from and they know that
"professors" at the education is way down
Top of the Line the list of priorities.
schools like so:
really the students And some of them got
have to teach each where they are by
other, and Good being good at sucking
Schools are good up and looking good
because they attract in suits.
the best students.
I don't know about you,
but that smells like a
really lame excuse to me.
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