I'm looking for articles/research that support skills based tests. Some of my colleagues feel that we should test on the same stories/lit we've used in a unit, but I feel that we should be testing on the skills they've learned with new pieces of literature. If students are tested on the same stories/lit, they are using rote memorization rather than higher level thinking skills. Please advise/share anything to support my position.
On 10/26/14, Becca NK wrote: > I'm looking for articles/research that support skills > based tests. Some of my colleagues feel that we should > test on the same stories/lit we've used in a unit, but I > feel that we should be testing on the skills they've > learned with new pieces of literature. If students are > tested on the same stories/lit, they are using rote > memorization rather than higher level thinking skills. > Please advise/share anything to support my position.
The kind of test about which you're speaking is something I associate with graduate students. How talented are your students that they've learned these skills so solidly they can act as independent scholars?
Have you tried this? If you give them new literature for homework or class work and ask them to apply the skills they've learned, do they demonstrate that they can do it? Of course you would do that first and if the students are successful at it, then your colleagues would drop their objections.
I agree with you in theory - the goal of study is to learn to do the tasks independently but most high school students I've taught are .... novices and with each class they can improve but not to the point where they can perform as independent scholars.
I was given those tasks in grad school. Here, take this short story and do a close reading on it.