I haven't thought about educational philosophy and such for quite some time, but as I've resumed being a student...it's been on my mind. Specifically, I've been questioning the American educational norms once again. I'm not for standardized testing...for fairly standard reasons. I also have come to question the validity of basing grades on Multiple Choice style testing. My Spanish Professor brought to my attention a few days ago that Multiple Choice testing tests for recognition rather than for knowledge...an idea I have now digested. If one is to actually use the information they are being taught...one needs to KNOW it not merely RECOGNIZE it. Multiple choice can be a crutch of sorts, both for students and for teachers. As a future teacher, I will have to pick the times to administer these recognition tests wisely. Certainly we want graduates to know what we teach them, not just to be able to pick it out of 4 unrelated answers.
Taking this idea further, I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn Spanish with a professor who is intent on my KNOWing Spanish. I feel like the study habits/active classroom habits I've been lacking my whole schooling career are being fine-tuned for me to actually stay motivated and interested in the material of this and future classes. All in all...schooling is still a good front.
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