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> Hackable is the default for any test imposed by an authority. The reason the tests you're given are so consistently bad — so consistently far from measuring w
by vladf 5y ago
> Hackable is the default for any test imposed by an authority. The reason the tests you're given are so consistently bad — so consistently far from measuring what they're supposed to measure — is simply that the people creating them haven't made much effort to prevent them from being hacked.
In proof-based math classes in college, there really was no hacking them. You had to build up an intuitive understanding of the concepts and think on the fly to come up with a proof for a test.
Sure, you could try to seek out "all relevant questions" and memorize the proofs but there's such a large universe of possible problems to ask you'd never have enough time to study this way.
- villasv 5y agoOn the other hand, the skill measured by those kind of tests (which I agree are good and not “hackable”) is of very limited value for a lot of students who just need to get by with the basics intuitions.
- goatlover 5y agoNothing is worse than trying to pull an all-nighter or two cramming for a math class one didn't pay attention to the rest of the semester. It's really hard to gain an intuitive understanding in 48 sleep-deprived hours. I still have occasional nightmares of showing up to a final math exam unprepared. I could pull that BS off in a literature or history class, but not math. Foreign language didn't work so well, either.