Re: A student is not an input

[Drnanjo]

Jeff,

A couple of observations that are probably tangential to your post:

It seems that we do run our classrooms in a capitalist and competition
oriented fashion - as if there were only a limited number of As (like there
is only so much money to go around.)  Students learn early that the classroom
is about competition and not about gaining and appreciating knowledge.

I don't think it's a spurious correlation to note that the daughters of the
upper middle class, who are being sent to competitive nursery schools, SAT
classes when they are nine, and the like are also the most vulnerable to
anorexia and bulimia.  Some numbers must be very high (SATs and IQs) and
others must be low (weights).  This is our entry ticket into the elite class.

The dehumanization of the student and his/her relationship to education is
one reason that I refuse (and will always refuse) to use Scantrons for tests.
 It has gotten to the point where I perceive that students sit in Skinner
boxes like so many rats waiting for the shock (the Scantron test).  Some run
around frantically trying to prepare (studying) but others just sit and wait.
 At any rate, the motivation is limited and questionable.  Scantrons minimize
the writing component (which I feel is essential at the college level).  
Giving the student a test paper to write on, and explain answers, allows me
to see to what extent the student has grasped the concept - not just
memorized the answer. And also to see if perhaps I was not as clear as
possible in how I ask the question.

I know that these comments probably only marginally related to the article,
but I have been looking for an excuse....


drnanjo
(Nancy Melucci)
ELAC