Jim wrote:
> Call me old fashioned, but I really fail to see the utility of online
> testing. Incidents like these serve to confirm my opinion.
The problem isn't in the concept, Jim, it's in the implementation.
It's perfectly possible to write the script in such a way as to prevent
this kind of abuse--but most people designing such applications are
teachers, not programmers, and they use standard forms instead of scripts.
The closest classroom comparison would be to the professor who recycles the
same tests term after term (and allows students to keep the original tests).
After a couple terms, it will be pretty obvious to students that the "easy
way" is not to study but to just memorize the right answers.
Just as this kind of teacher is not a reason to eliminate either testing
_or_ permitting students to keep the tests (which I do myself, so they can
study their wrong answers and learn from them)--only a reason to write new
tests for each class--poor online design is no reason to feel that _all_
online testing is useless. Teachers who use it need to take the time to
learn how to do so correctly. If they do, it becomes a tool. If they don't,
the weakness isn't in the medium, it's in the teacher him/her-self.
Rick
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Rick Adams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Social Sciences
Jackson Community College, Jackson, MI
"... and the only measure of your worth and your deeds
will be the love you leave behind when you're gone."
Fred Small, J.D., "Everything Possible"
