Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-12-02
NEW TESTS FOR COLLEGE
STUDENTS DEFINED
Daily Letter by Frederic J. Haskin

WASHINGTON, Nov. ga new
kind of examination is now being
given to students attending Column
bia University.
Doubtless every student has
hoped and believed that some day
examinations would be pronounced
antiquated and unscieptif1c The
trend, however, is in a different
direction In recent years, scien-
lists have been trying to make it
easier for a teacher to estibate a
pupils knowledge, and examina-
lions, far from being relegated to
the wastebasket are being improved
and made coldly and exactly scien-
tific
Columbia University is already
widely known as the home of the
intelligence test Since 1919 it has
been admitting large numbers Of
students by such tests instead of by
formal questioning as to their ia
miliarty with high school text books
1t was recognized that a high school
graduate might be able to pass
tests on subjects that he had stu
died and yet he might not be the
type of person who would benefit
by a college course On the other
hand, it was possible that occa-
sionally a high school graduate
who had the capacity for higher
education might be shut out of IL
lege because of failure to pass the
entrance tests
Tests of intelligence were tried
out and pronounced a satisfactory
means OF sorting applicants for col
lege entrance. Last year only a
scant half dozen colleges besides Co.
lumbia were using these tests This
year forty colleges are giving them
a trial
Meanwhile Columbia has taken
another step. The method of in
telligence tests is being applied to
examinations for promotion. This
represents an attempt to solve
of the oldest problems of the
teacher, namely, how to measure
the effect OF his teaching How much
do students really grasp and re-
member? The traditional way of
finding put has been by giving a
class a set of questions to be an
swered or by assigning a subject for
an essay
Objections to Old Method
Such tests are admittedly far
~ Olll OC4i6 CadSL aiOdoaiS9 u az
quired knowledge. 1t has always
been taken more or less for granted
tina. a professor ofen rates a stu
dent more on his personal estimate
Of the students ability than on the
examination paper itself If a bril-
liant student hands in a paper filed
with vague statments the instructor
without intending to be unfair Is
apt to read between the lines and to
conclude that the student knew the
missing facts A similar paper by a
student who had not impressed the
instructor would be graded with
more s~trictness
This is one criticism of the old
style of examination consisting of
questions and essays. Another is
that in the hour or two allowed fer
an examination, only a small section
of the course a be covered II the
class must write answers to ques-
tons An examination may just
happen to cover the facts most ia
miliar to one student, while another
member OF the class may have a run
of bad luck.
A third drawback to the tradi-
tional college examination system is
the great amount of time which
/ Lll0 AhceA hNhpi Al0DN oRSA4 at A%SAAAb
papers, some Of which run to 80 and
40 pages of rapidly scrawled hand
writing. If a large class is to be
rated the task must cut seriously
into the time needed by the teacher
for other work
That these disadvantages are
greatly reduced by use Of a more
scientific test is the claim of DR..
E. L. Thorndike and other profes-
sors of Columbia University. Dr..
Thorndike is we'll known as n OF
the leading exponents Of psychology
tests. By applying to content ex-
aminations the methods used in
such tests. particularly those Of the
Intelligence tests, he was evolved
what he regards as a much mors re
liable kind of examination
The new type of examinations
given at Columbia are printed II
pamphlets One pamphlet is given
to each student Of the class. and al
the signal a seal which fastens tbs
pages together may be broken. In.
lstructions to be followed are gtveI
at the top of each division in tbs
test
Thus, an economics examination
: recently given consisted Of two part
lin the first part, 148 statements OF
AAoouomicn ware afvon and the uku