EXAMINATIONS AND TESTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 November 1934, Page 12

EXAMINATIONS AND TESTS

ADVICE TO CANDIDATES. The value of standardised tests for measuring mental ability is now recognised generally by educational authorities (writes Sperans, in the “Sydney Morning Herald”). Consciously or unconsciously, teachers measure their pupils’ intelligence. Some will undertake, without the aid of any special test, to arrange their boys or girls in order of intelligence. Primary teachers sometimes say that they know which of their pupils will benefit by a secondary course, and secondary teachers sometimes know which boys are unfitted for a university course. But they would not be surprised to find that, other people disagreed with them; in fact, they would expect it. For with them, gauging intelligence is largely a matter of judgment, and few. people will admit, where their own children are concerned, that other people’s judgment is sounder than their won.

Mental testing by standardised tests, however, is not a matter of judgment, nor is it guesswork. Based on a plan of units or scales, it is a scientific method of which the two main characteristics, to quote Dr. P. B. Ballard, are that “the questions are brief and numerous, and the marking is foolproof.” But, notwithstanding the excellence and. ingenuity of many of these tests, the general opinion among educational authorities is that they are not likely to replace written examinations, though they may afford supplementary data:

RELATIONSHIP DISCUSSED. One or two opinions may be found interesting. A school inspector with city and country experience told' the writer that while intelligence tests were admirable for revealing a boy’s general capacity and aptitude, there were other important matters, such as determination and perseverance, which they did not disclose so far as he was aware. A boy’s sense of touch may be refined and his ideas of direction excellent, but to deduce from these data that he will become an expert at billiards might be quite erroneous. Periodic examinations supplemented, as many modern examinations are, by practical tests, would, he imagined, be more reliable criteria. In the opinion of an honours graduate with professional experience, the standardised test would be helpful even in the unusual case mentioned by the inspector. It would tell whether or not it was worth while to train the candidate for work in which delicacy of touch and aim was essential. Broadly, he said, psychological tests told in what directions a boy was best fitted to work; examinations showed whether the had actually done the work. Cases were cited of authors, composers, and others, the development of whose special talents was the result not of special training so much as of discipline and occasionally compulsion.

Dr. Ballard, whose views on intelligence tests have been mentioned, is well known among teachers for his advocacy of examination reform. Probably the primary final examination is the school test which in its method of setting questions and assessing results approaches Ballard’s ideals more closely than any other public examination in this State. That there is room for improvement in the leaving and intermediate certificate examinations few will deny, and the new Education Committee now being formed will find plenty of scope for its endeavours.

“THE INTERMEDIATE.” To regard the passing of an. examination as the main objective of a school course would be as foolish as to treat the examination as an unimportant episode of school life. The passing of the intermediate (now in progress) is rightly regarded as a matter of importance by twelve thousand candidates, as well as their teachers and parents. It is with the aim of safeguarding candidates from foolish errors that a correspondent, who has had experience as a supervisor, sends the following advice:— (1) Carefully read the instructions at the head of the question paper. (2) Use your time judiciously. Do not spend too much time on the first two or three questions. (3) Do not overwork your blotting paper by drying each line as you write it. You are thereby wasting time. (4) Take time to think before writing.. You will not then find it necessary to discard page after page in building a mound of crumpled sheets. (5) When a question is divided' into two parts answer both parts. Do not think that a full answer to (a) will compensate for the omission of (b). (6) Read over your work before handing it in, and correct obvious errors in spelling, etc. (7) Be careful to write your distinguishing number correctly. If it be 2313 do not write 1323, and if your work is to bp grouped in three bundles, see that you have three bundles, not two.

And here are a few suggestions from experienced examiners: Attack the kernel of a question, do not give rambling and irrelevant explanations. Answer as precisely as you can. Avoid vagueness. Do not attempt to distract the, examiner’s attention by giving inordinately long answers which evade the point asked for.