Re: play and school testing

Russ Hunt (HUNT who-is-at academic.stu.StThomasU.ca)
Sat, 24 Feb 1996 15:42:46 AST

As usual, I find myself nodding at Margaret Benson:

> I adopted a playful attitude, and didn't worry so much about
> mistakes . . . and was able to learn a lot more -- one does learn
> from one's mistakes.

Yes. But not in most school situations, where errors are penalized.
And while I nod equally vigorously here:

> Now, like Russ, I have never been able to get my students to think
> of the problems I set them as being a form of play, but perhaps
> there is a way to do this. Perhaps it has to do with the outcome --
> on a test one usually has only one chance to come up with the right
> answer, so playful mistakes are dangerous. Perhaps if we gave fewer
> tests, and more projects that involved ongoing assessment on the
> part of both instructor and learner ...

the problem is that the situation where errors are punished and
playing is inefficient is so widespread in educational institutions
that I've never had a student able to convince herself that play was
okay in a context like that. So that "we" who might choose to give
fewer tests is going to have to be a real big group . . .

-- Russ
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