Part 7 (1/1)

VII

EXAMINATIONS AS TESTS OF PROGRESS

_The exaressed_

The ti, if it is not already here, when the public will cry out against the nervous fear and sleepless nights hich their children approach the semi-annual torture of our inquisitorial examinations That reasonable examinations are essential and beneficial is hardly open to question That a student should be expected correctly to answer a fair percentage of reasonable questions on hich has been properly taught is not a cause of cohtened into a state of nervous terror by the bugaboo of an i examination, and then be forced to attempt a series of conundru a high percentage of failures, is indefensible An examination should not be conducted with the pri to be feared

However desirable such a questionable asset e professors, it is a serious fault in a high school teacher to have any considerable nuood instructor is to give an exah, reasonable, and intelligently directed toward finding what the student has really learned His purpose is to test accurately the various abilities which he has endeavored to encourage in the student during his course He wishes to ascertain how estions on for questions_

In order to do this the examination must be on the really material considerations of the history Questions on unimportant details should be omitted The student should not be expected to burden his memory with the lie history text The questions should be on considerations that have been carefully discussed, and not on facts that have received but cursory attention

The exa The several hours' continuous nervous tension soe child ood

The examination should consist of questions that will jointly or severally test the student's powers of description, generalization, and analysis They should test his knowledge of the sequence of events, his ability to use a library or a e of the various phases and the various periods of the history studied In every exa with the tiraphical, political, and social history, one that is analytical, one that requires generalization, one that will test his knowledge of the library, and one that will test his powers of description It is not necessary to limit the questions to the custoive a class soree of choice in the selection of their questions by requiring any ten out of a larger nuives the student a more favorable opportunity to de the value of the examination

Examination questions, like all other questions, should be definite, clean-cut, and reasonable If possible, each student should be supplied with a copy, instead of having the set written on the board They should cover only those portions of the subject that have been properly taught The teacher should not expect the boy who has kept no useful notes, whose library work has been haphazard, and whose methods of study have not been supervised, to perfor what he has never been properly taught