“D-minus? But I memorized EVERYTHING!”
By Dave Reber October 12, 2010 6:33 pm
By Dave Reber
That title is a direct quote from a student last week; his implication being that my biology test was too difficult. It sounds to me like my test worked perfectly. Webster’s Dictionary defines “test” as “a set of questions or problems for determining one’s knowledge and abilities.”
In order for a test to determine one’s knowledge and abilities, it must ask for more than the person is capable of. A test must push beyond a person’s limit in order to show where that limit is.
In 2009 Andy Bolton set a new world record deadlift: 1008.6 pounds. The way Andy discovered how much he could lift was to increase the weight until he could no longer lift it.
Today’s 10th grade students have spent their entire schooling under the shadow of No Child Left Behind. Predictably, these students often subscribe to the notion that if good teaching is happening, then all students will score highly on exams. A bell-curve grade distribution is, to them, evidence of failed teaching.
Often, today’s teens describe good teaching as a three step process: 1) teacher tells students exactly what is on th
