Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-12-02

dent was 10 reau eacn QUE anu uS-
eide whether the statement was
true or false If a fact was cor
rectIy stated a cross was to be put
in the margin If a statement was
incorrect the student was to show
that he recognized the falsity by
putting a dash in the margin
To take an example: Economics
may we'll be defined as the science
ciety" should be marked with a
dash because it is not correct.
Test is All Embracing
In 14S statements the field OF a
terms work in economics, from le-
gal monopolies to the law of d.
minishing returns, can be easily
covered. A student taking such a
test cannot say that it failed to
cover the subjects on which he had
spent the most time
The second part of this particular
test consisted Of twenty items. In
each case the student was confront
ed by three or four possible
alternatives from which he was to
select the correct one A very sim
pie example would be: "One reason
why the number of farmers in this
country is decreasing is because
(a) there is not enough land availa-
BILE, (b) the country is ov~ersupplied
with farmers, Co other occupations
offer better financial returns"
In other subjects some Of the
tests which have been given include
incomplete printed sentences with
blank spaces left for the student 20
fill in the words to make the state
ments correct
The person rating papers of this
sort has no discussion to make
as to the degree of accuracy attain
ed by a student The students work
is either right Or wrong In the
first test mentioned for instance the
examiner has only to compare the
line of crosses and dashes with a
correct list
According to Ben D. Wood, as
sistant to the dean of Columbia
College, these tests may be scored
rapidly, and in many cases by clerks
who have no knowledge of the
course at all He says:
During the session 1921-1922 the
new type test saved the staff in
Contemporary Civilization in Co
lumbia College at least 500 hours of
drudgery, with vastly more accu-
ldLr, iCAidDl0 anu CA5ttilCdt1I CcoiLD
as shown by experimentally derived
data"
The instructors also seem to be
in favor Of the new kind of test
One professor, however, brings out
an interesting point He says: "All
the evidence seems to point to the
conclusion that 1t is much the most
accurate method of testing students
knowledge of the subject that we
have yet discovered 1t does not,
however, in my judgment, test sufti-
GENTLY students power of express
sion and his ability to organize mis-
material. 1 should therefore feel
that in an examination adequate
time should always be given for at
least one or two questions of the
essay type"
A similar ciew is taken by DR. w.
M. Marston, of American Univer-
sity. He finds that the new tests
stress ability to recognize truth and
| falsity when presented, but give
little or no opportunity for the stu
dent to reproduce voluntarily what
ne has learned Yet a students
/ ability to remember and explain in
| his W words what he has been
taught is one of the practical pur-
| poses of his education
Attention has also been called tc
the possibility of guessing in tests
when the student is asked to judge
correctness of facts 1t is mathe'
matically proved that If a person
] guesses in which of two boxes
| coin is hidden and the test is re-
peated a number of times. he will
| score about so per cent of correct
guesses
If Judgment enters into the test
that is If he makes a series o
guesses as to which of two lines II
the longer. the percentage OF cor,
rect guesses rises to so or even~7t
per cent.
In a test on a scientific subjecf
therefore. where the student hal
acquired very slight ACQUAINTANCE
with the course, he might come Of
far better in an objective test thar
in a test where he had to answer IL
his own words a Dozen s~cientifi
questions
These points seem to be brough
out with intent to show that tn
new tests should supplement tn
old rather than replace them en-
tirely Each type of examination
stresses a different aspect OF tn
students knowledge. and each ma
ibe useful +,