The Problems With Testing

As students, we are put through an education system that often feels as though it is based almost purely on the tests. This is no issue for some students, because some of them excel academically. That is clearly not the case for all of them, though. There are several kinds of students, there are some that do well in class and on homework as well as their tests. There are some students that do well in class but horribly on tests. And there are some students that just don’t do well in general. The fluctuations across the board are well known by teachers, students, and parents alike, but very rarely do we ever see too much done about it. So maybe there is a common link between students who do poorly on tests. Is it study habits? Could it be anxiety issues? Maybe there is a specific learning disorder that isn’t very well recognized. Maybe it’s a mix of all of the above.

 There are plenty of well known figures in history that were poor testers, but we view them as brilliant people. Martin Luther King himself scored in the bottom decile of both the math and verbal sections of the GRE, But we recognize him as a visionary and amazingly talented speaker. He is honored with being a revolutionary and a peacemaker and a martyr. He has not once been shamed for a lack of intelligence or poor test scores. 
There are professionals that have touched on the subject of poor test performance and given input on potential causes in both the students and the testing system itself.  Lloyd Bond, A John Hopkins graduate and american psychometric researcher, thinks that poor testing could be linked to four main points: test anxiety, lack of ‘test-wiseness’ lack of automaticity, and/or test bias. Monica Rouse, an educator with 20 years of experience, also thinks that anxiety could be to blame. But she also poses a slightly different situation.

In the instance that students are performing well academically but poorly on tests, there could likely be the prescience of ‘gifted’ students. Gifted students may face a whole new spectrum of testing challenges. Challenges including perfectionism, which may lead students to doubt themselves and thusly brutalize their tests and test results. Quite the opposite of perfectionism is overconfidence, in which gifted students are not used to having to put forth effort to succeed, so they rush and tend to make foolish mistakes and do poorly. Or, if a student is not used to putting forth effort to succeed, being presented with a challenge such as a test could be so nerve-wracking that they give up before even trying to understand. An overconfident student may not even be open to admitting that they have flaws and could very likely dismiss their test results as a false evaluation, which in some cases may be true. Another big issue for students that find their curriculum too easy is a severe lack of motivation. If the student fails to see any connection or relevance to their lessons, then they will begin to view them as pointless and simply decide not to even try. Once they stop putting in the effort to understand, they'll go from learning with ease to not learning at all.

Pressure is a significant variable for both students who are academically successful and those who aren’t. There is a lot of pressure in school for all students to succeed. There is competition between classmates. Even when there isn’t competition being encouraged, only those with the best grades will move up to higher classes and get into the better colleges. College is typically a big deal for parents, especially parents of academically inclined students, so the pressure will continue in the home. All of this pressure to succeed and be the best amounts to paralyzing amounts of stress and anxiety. Students will panic once a test is handed to them because they fear what will happen if they don’t do well. They fear consequences.

The vast spectrum of variables that cause poor testing seems to make one root cause almost untraceable, but what’s shocking is that students who really should be performing well are not. Some students just pick up on material relatively quickly. They are good at grasping concepts and have no problem remembering them. Then they get the test, and forget it, they blank. Students who do all of their homework and ask questions in class and even come to their teachers for extra help are still doing poorly. They are putting in the most effort that they possibly could and their grades still don't reflect their work. Proof that sometimes even good study habits aren’t even enough.

Improvement on study habits could be beneficial to some students, however. Because some students really don't try. But one big flaw in our education system is that we tend to lead some students to believe that studying is a punishment. If a student is sent for a detention or has to stay after as a punishment, they are often told to be quiet and read, or study, or just be productive somehow. Then we sit and wonder why students dread studying so much and refuse to do it. We use it as a punishment. Students associate healthy habits with being punished. So the same students that are being seen as bad kids and are their failing classes are avoiding their work at all costs, not as a form of rebellion, but because they see ‘school’ and connect it to being chastised.

On the contrary, it could be that some students are just trying too hard. Those surveyed reported that sometimes, the subjects that they studied hardest in were the classes that they were bringing home the worst test scores from. Students are bombing tests and they have no clue as to why, because they put on the time and effort, understood the material, and were as prepared as they could be. Meanwhile, students that don’t study at all are having no issue bringing home respectable test scores.

As for the students that do test well, they seem to be a whole other breed. These students don’t panic. They don’t go over their tests over and over, reanalyzing each answer. They are confident. They do their work and take their score as it is. They do not feel excessive pressure, stress, or anxiety. They seem almost careless, yet they are passing their tests with flying colors. Even students that lack decent amounts of diligence (i.e. not doing homework or not participating in class) are having no trouble acing tests. This could be because of the lack of anxieties that other students experience, or perhaps it’s because the students that test well are learning in a completely different way than those who aren’t. Students who usually test well said that they have bombed tests on some occasions. Some said that they have no idea what happened. Others reveal that the test was not one that they had expected, therefore they weren’t mentally prepared to take it. Usually when skilled testers do well, they are anticipating the test, focused on the subject, and at ease.

This may be a key to the common link between students who do and don’t test well. If students who do test well are taking on a certain “test-mode” of mindset in order to do well, and students who don’t do well are experiencing anxiety or just blanking, then maybe that’s what they’re missing. Students who don’t do well on tests are just not in the right mindset to do so. How do we get them into the right mindset? Well I think that would take some much more in-depth research that might take some prior knowledge in neuroscience, but this could be a step in the right direction. The trick to getting in the right mindset would probably have to be unique for each obstacle as well.

Students who suffer from test anxiety may only need to learn how to mellow out and put the blinders up. They need to learn to zone in on the test and the material. Maybe a quick once-over of some notes and recalling some key facts would be beneficial, just to get them thinking about the test in a way that still has no pressure. If they study in an atmosphere that isn’t stressful or strenuous, they might not associate so much anxiety with the test itself. Studying that doesn’t involve drilling might be worth looking into. Students who feel excessively pressured to do well just need to focus on the task at hand and not the circumstances around it. Don’t think about college or your parents or whether or not you’re going to pass or fail, just think about what you know, and it should be reflected in your grades. As for everyone else, there are still elements that need to be explored, but knowing what very well could be the secret behind testing well could be a huge jump for some people.

Holiday Spending in America

Over time, holidays have contracted more than a spiritual or patriotic meaning. Major holidays aren’t just holidays anymore, they’re events. Family events, social events, events in which everyone is trying to outdo one another. Obviously, coming together with your friends and family is a sentimental time, but there is also a lot of pressure to be remembered for some sort of holiday presentation. In 2010, Americans spent 135.16 billion on Christmas, 30.50 billion on thanksgiving, and 17.60 billion on valentines day. That’s a boatload of money that we’re putting into our holidays. and theres a lot of controversy to whether or not that’s a good thing. Anyways, back to the numbers.

Those figures include not only gifts but also food and parties related to holiday events. There is a huge drive in our culture to be the biggest and the best. Everyone wants to give the best presents (which by the way soak up 47.2% of holiday spending) or throw the best parties (which are another 36.2 percent). Life, whether it be families or friend groups or the entire world, is a popularity contest. And America knows damn well that popularity contests are expensive. Think of a beauty pageant: Those girls and women spend thousands of dollars on dresses and hair and cosmetic who-knows-what on an hour performance that they likely will not be remembered for. Holidays bring out a similar drive in people: spending hundreds on buying the most presents and throwing the biggest parties. Whoever comes out on top is a friend or family favorite and then what? That person has a free ride until someone else comes up and kicks them off their spot. It’s brutal, but it’ the truth. Holidays that were established for very meaningful events have become nothing more than commercialized monsters. People die on Black Friday.

On the other hand, some people aren’t as spiritual about their holidays. There are thousands that celebrate christmas without closely practicing the religions that created it. Some people don’t practice religion at all, Christmas is just a nice holiday. So why not indulge? If people want to spend however much on their holidays, so be it. I see no problem. Granted, yes, it is a little extreme, but we all have something that we get a little too excited about.

Losing it Over Summer Vacation

The school calendar itself is a challenge for some students. Losing huge amounts of what they learn throughout the course of the school year is a common problem for students to experience over their summer vacations. I do feel that the agricultural layout of our school calendar could use some revising, because we do have an educational gap over our summers. However... if programs are being offered in the summer to close that gap, then I don’t think we would need to reduce the time for summer break.

There are plenty of students that do perfectly fine over the summer and come back without missing a beat. Just as many fall way behind because they aren’t doing anything to keep that information with them. So if more summer programs were offered (and maybe mandated depending on the academic performance of the student) then more students would be up to speed when they come back and not have to worry about falling behind. Of course, the other option is reducing or even eliminating summer vacation.

The current layout of the school year is outdated. It was designed for students that had to help their parents with their crops and livestock over the summer, which is nowhere near as common. Especially in city settings, where it is borderline unheard of. So if the layout of the school year was spread out over more of the calendar year, then there wouldn’t be such a huge gap within which to lose all of what you lost last year. Maybe students could go to school for two weeks at a time and then have one week off inbetween. Or maybe whole months could be alternated. Maybe every other week. Who knows? Of course, this may also require some revision in the curriculum itself but that would have to be a series of trial and error to perfect.

So both options would be very beneficial, but if one comes into play, I don’t think the other would be necessary. If we have a shorter summer, then we won’t need to fill it with all of the same activities and programs to fill the gap. But at the same rate, if we have all of these educational programs filling out three month summers, then there would be no need to make our summers so short. So it could go either way, but both could be overkill. Students still need some free time.

Two Truths and a Lie

Two of these articles describe objects that have actually been invented, and are sold or scheduled to be sold. See the poll on the sidebar of the blog to vote for which you think the lie could be.

Nasal Ranger

Resembling a telescope in shape and purpose, the Nasal Ranger is used to detect and measure smells. It allows the operator to compare the odor to fresh air through the help of a carbon filter. The odors are measured in a ratio called dilution-to-origin. For people who want to visualize their odor data, the creators of the product include an ODOR TRACK'R to map out the smells.

Laser beard trimmer

In Berlin, an engineering and electronic company, Philips, has changed the future of men shaving. Recently they introduced the Beard Trimmer 9,000. It has a built-in laser guide for precise shaving. The reversible trimmer is also water-resistant, which allows for easy cleaning.

Mood Lenses

It has been announced that a childhood favorite is being merged with a new trend. Did you ever have a mood ring when you were young? Maybe a mood necklace or potentially even a bracelet. You've probably stopped wearing them by now. But if you want to put a classic twist on your new and older look, Heat sensitive color-changing contacts are scheduled to be sold on coolglow.com, a large seller of novelty contatcs. The same substances found on the surface of mood rings is being thinned enough to put onto contact lenses, providing a stunning effect that is both subtle and bold at the same time.

Bullying in a workplace vs. Locker room setting

Bullying and harassment in a locker room environment would be more common, I think, because it is a very different environment from other workplaces. I'm not saying it's right, but in a sports-centered setting, it might be expected. It's a different kind of community, a more friendly one, and what some may see as playful teasing, others may take genuine offense to. Others, still, may take this "playful" gesture too far and mean to cause actual harm. It all depends on how a person reacts to being in such an environment and how the one who is being "bullied" reacts to the gestures directed towards them.

In a work environment, everything is neat and tidy and formal. I just don’t think that anything like that would be tolerated for any reason whatsoever in an office space or any other sort of work environment. Those spaces aren't as self governing as sports teams are, so there would probably be more of a conflict in that respect.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos: Real world examples.

In persuasive writing, there are many ways to get readers to lean towards your side. The three biggest methods in this practice include Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. I have selected several excerpts from various articles to examine these three methods in action. The topic of choice was adopting children.

Ethos = Believably of the article and trust in the author based on their integrity.
“My birthmother gave me up not because she didn't love me, but because she couldn't provide for me in the way that she wanted to. So she gave me to my parents, who deeply wanted a child, and could care for me and spoiled me (in a good way!). I was taken care of, and that of course made my birthmother happy. It was a win/win/win situation, really.” 
This excerpt is a prime example of ethos because the author has first hand experience. They have gone through this process and they know personally how it effects a person. Therefore, their argument is very reliable, but also very specific, and may be too personal for some peoples' tastes.

Pathos = Persuasion based on emotional manipulation geared towards the reader. (think pity points or sob stories)
“A pro of adoption is that children of unplanned pregnancy, poor home lives, and with special needs are given the loving, supportive home they deserve. Adoption, for all parties involved, is a second chance.”
This example displays pathos in that it is telling you that these children deserve a second chance, and how could you disagree with that? It also shows a soft spot for the adopting parents, because they want children, they just cant have their own. So they deserve a second chance, too.

Logos = Logical thinking and factual evidence to back up one's stance on a subject (think numbers)
“The cost of adoption is often one of the first negatives people see when researching the option. Domestic infant adoption can range from $20,000 to $50,000 dollars, with international adoption usually costing between $40,000 and $60,000 dollars.”
This blurb displays strong logos persuasion because, sure, adoption is great on terms of morals, but hot damn is it ever expensive. That's a huge drawback for anyone considering adoption. There are people who want children more than anything, and would be more than capable of supporting them, but aren't capable of paying all of that money just to acquire the baby.

Limits on Students' technology

An influential pediatricians group is recommending that parents ban tweeting, texting, laptops, smartphones, etc. from their teens’ bedrooms and limit entertainment screen time (including the Internet) to two hours a day, except for homework.

 

So, The Question is, Do you agree or disagree with the recommendations, and why?

     

     I would say that I disagree with the terms of the new policy, for the sheer fact that it’s just too much. Children and teens today do spend a lot of time online, but I don’t think it’s as bad as people are making it out to be. Trying to impose strict limits on children's’ technology is inconvenient for the parents, irritating for their children, and may even indirectly cause a stall in learning. If other families are anything like mine, parents almost wouldn’t even be capable of enforcing rules such as this. Most parents have more than one child to monitor. They can’t hang over multiple children to be positive that what they’re doing is “just homework.” And what happens when their children are home alone? Their parents couldn’t possibly keep such careful watch from their desks when their children first come home from school. Also: If students are used to having limitless access to this technology, what would happen when it gets cut off almost completely? They’ll get bored and start sneaking around and quite frankly, they’ll probably get annoying. Have you ever had a bored child with a short attention span clung to your ankle? I’ll tell you, I’m the oldest child in my family; I’ve dealt with that. It really isn’t fun at all. And what if what students are doing on the internet is productive, but not school work? They could be organizing playlists, doing college research, writing stories or poems, maybe even just doing research on something else that spiked an interest in them. Do you think that the great minds of our world stop researching once their teachers tell them to? No. They get curious and they keep looking. It may not be school work, but it’s educational, and why would you want to confiscate that? So here there is a grey area, which makes strict rules even harder to enforce, which is a hassle for both parties. All in all, I think it’s just a bad idea to try to be so hard on children and teens, because it would just be so high maintenance, both to monitor and to have to try to work within a time limit.

I, personally, am given almost total free will when it comes to my technology. I do use my laptop and even my phone for more than half of my homework, so already I’m on my laptop for three hours a day just with school. The thing is, I don’t usually do my homework all at once. I’ll do most of one assignment and then stop to check facebook, or play a quick game to clear my head, and then I’ll finish my homework. This is really effective for me because it keeps the stress down. Even with all the free will that I have, I get to bed at a decent time. I get my work done. Occasionally, I push my limits, but my dad tells me when I do and I am quick to cut back from whatever it is that I’m over doing. Maybe some children/teens aren’t responsible enough for that sort of free will, but that relies on their parent’s best judgement. Another issue is the fact that my dad doesn’t have time to enforce rules like that. I come home and wait for my brother, my dad is at work until around five. Then after he gets home, he has to take my brother to an appointment or my sister to dance almost every day. So he wouldn’t notice if I was going over my limits in the first place. There’s also the fact that I use my laptop for plenty of perfectly productive things. I write a lot, and it’s all online, so if I was banned from my technology after two hours, what would I do? I wouldn’t be able to write, and that’s really my only hobby. I’d be left with nothing to do. So I think that maybe things like students' screen time should be monitored, but to have such strict control over it might be overbearing for everyone involved.