Re: play and school testing

Russ Hunt (HUNT who-is-at academic.stu.StThomasU.ca)
Sat, 24 Feb 1996 09:03:57 AST

As so often happens on this list, I'm desperately just trying to keep
up to the richness of the dicussion . . . but I wanted to respond to
this from Jay:

> As to the math test, I doubt very much that a playful stance is
> very often taken here, though it might help in some exceptional
> cases. It is not the fact that the problem is _hypothetical_ which
> matters to its being play or not, but the stance which the solver
> takes toward the activity of solving the problem: serious vs,
> playful.

Yes, and the stance the solver takes is profoundly influenced by the
situation (far more than whether it's hypothetical): the same problem
might be seen as playful in one context and dead serious in another.
In school, in general, students learn that play is not on. Back in
the days when I gave exams, I used to try to invite play by creating
questions which couldn't be answered any other way. It never _once_
worked, for any student. Exams are serious.

-- Russ
__|~_
Russell A. Hunt __|~_)_ __)_|~_ Department of English
St. Thomas University )_ __)_|_)__ __) PHONE: (506) 363-3891
Fredericton, New Brunswick | )____) | FAX: (506) 450-9615
E3B 5G3 CANADA ___|____|____|____/ hunt who-is-at StThomasU.ca
\ /
~~~~~~ http://www.StThomasU.ca/Faculty/hunt.htm ~~~~~~