Thursday, May 14, 2015

Testing

This post is going to go a little off topic, as recent testing has opened my eyes to some issues.
Throughout high-school we are taught to constantly be thinking about our future, constantly be thinking about what we plan for our lives. As always, there are two sides to this story. One side believes that the future, and what we do with it, can be planned for, controlled. On the other side stand those who believe that destiny is a cruel mistress, that already has a path planned for all of us. If our destiny is in our own hands, then we should do everything in our power to best ourselves and set out on the correct path. If we cannot control destiny, then why try to, why strive to be the best possible if all we can do is sit along for the ride. Here lies the problem in believing in predestination. A lack of work output results in an overall lack of effort. This lack causes the disappointment seen in many teachers faces when students show up without any effort put into their work. A separate, usually overlooked, problem with the school system, is the overuse of tests. These tests mandated by suit-wearing politicians and business professionals do not aid in evaluating the understanding of a subject. Many students may know all of the subject material but are simply not good test-takers, they then have no power to get good scores or grades. Many companies have even begun to monopolize testing, turning it into an industry instead of an education. This video discusses many of these topics in further detail, with some added satire.

4 comments:

  1. Yes, loved this video when farkas showed it

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  2. I'm glad that Farkas inspired this blog. It's ironic that our blogs were so different, however our last posts happened to talk about late night television.

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  3. I'm glad that Farkas inspired this blog. It's ironic that our blogs were so different, however our last posts happened to talk about late night television.

    ReplyDelete