Week of Feb 10 Reflection

"Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts."  -Albert Einstein

I chose this quote because in reading the chapter about creating quality and fair tests, I thought about how often the purpose of testing is neglected.  When students get the feeling that the test they take is just turning them into a number, rank, score or statistic they become discouraged, frustrated and even angry.  These are not the best emotions for best performance.  If the test objectives are ambiguous or the test itself is perceived as unfair, students lose the drive to perform well.  If, however, the test objectives are clear, the test is fair, and the test results are used as a tool rather than a branding, students are more likely to get on board, do their best, and gain from the testing experience.  Students need to feel like they count for more than a percentage score or a letter grade.
This chapter was interesting because testing is something we have all done during our time teaching, but for which we may not have been well trained.  I appreciated the section about writing proper multiple choice questions and the discussion about the limitations of multiple choice tests.  I think that many teachers use multiple choice tests as their default test and consider them to be the most fair (not to mention the fastest to grade.  I also liked that this chapter focused heavily on the importance of feedback.  A few things came to mind when reading that section.  First, I know some teachers that do not provide proper feedback on tests (or other assessments).  Part of the reason is time limits in class, but also I think they view poor grades or low scores as a result of lack of effort on the part of the student rather than an opportunity for improvement for both student and teacher.  Another thought that came to my mind is standardized testing and how students are given numerical and statistical feedback on such tests, but are unable to see what they really did wrong.  Did they score poorly because they did not do the work correctly, did not understand completely, or because they ran out of time.  While it is unlikely that further feedback will be provided in the future following standardized tests, it is important that teachers and administrators recognize the limitation of a test without feedback.