3 ms·

They assume that the purpose of study is to pass tests.

• Pyrodogg 16y ago
  It's not so much an assumption on their part as a realization thats what we've turned the education system into, at least in America. In primary, secondary and even advanced schooling, there is a heavy focus on the students doing well on the (section/chapter/book) test just so they can drop it all and cram for the next one. Sure, there is some incremental build up of knowledge or they wouldn't be getting anywhere. However, there is little focus on cumulative review and testing.
  • bxr 16y ago
    >thats what we've turned the education system into, at least in America This is in no part helped by NCLB testing. The school stopped normal classes for a week to spend time teaching us how to take tests so that the school could perform well. Who can be surprised that the last thing people are actually learning in schools is how to best prepare for tests?
• binaryfinery 16y ago
  Indeed. This is why I aced at Imperial but sucked at Cambridge. If your goal is to learn proficiency in a skill or a set of knowledge that is presented to you, then test, test, test. But my test-acing skills didn't help when the goal was to go out and find all the information I needed and then draw conclusions.
  • SkyMarshal 16y ago
    A British friend with a PhD from Manchester claims that is why the UK PhD system produces more Nobels per capita than any other - it essentially throws students into the water with little structure and forces them to sink or swim, which better prepares them for real-world research.
    • dhimes 16y ago
      ... and helps keep the denominator of the per capita small.