Comments on: Why do we give tests? What purpose does it serve?

By: Marcel V

Marcel V — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 03:11:33 +0000

Wouldn’t it be better if you do both tests and assessments? Perhaps there are some students that want to take tests. They might want to see for themselves if they understand the subject being taught by doing a test. Some students are comfortable with that. As a teacher I sometimes give tests, but I don’t always grade the tests. It is what it says: a test for the students to see for themselves where they are.

By: adartee

adartee — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 06:28:15 +0000

I do perfectly agree with you Jackie about un-tested skills and testing useless ones..it is much easier to use tests than more sophisticated and “customized” assessments and many teachers now lack motivation – “why shall I have to spend more energy if what I have been asked to do is this little?”
Being a good teacher is like being a good parent – motivation must be found in what you see in front of you.

By: frantoomey

frantoomey — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 23:54:06 +0000

I think it is really valuable to be raising these qs about assessment. We do want to know if students are learning. Qs are learning what and how to measure, in a formative way, how different kinds of learning should be assessed to provide valuable feedback. Enjoyed the following link.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680584/how-do-we-measure-what-really-counts-in-the-classroom