Tests and Announcements

Nobody likes a pop-quiz. It is stressful and - in my case - often embarrassing. In large organizations, the use of pop-quiz is not very common. Instead, they use pre-announced tests. Education establishments are large organizations, and most of the testing in the education systems I am aware of, are pre-warned.

An announced test has a few main characteristics: Firstly, by definition, it allows much time for studying; Secondly, the test itself is short in comparison to the studying; Finally, all the studying becomes irrelevant as soon as the test is completed, and with many people, they indeed manage to forget everything soon after the test.

What does an announced test simulate? To what in real life is it similar? Activities which we know in advance we need to do, which are by nature quite short, where it is very difficult to regroup in the middle the activity, and where failure is very costly. A few examples are commando-type military operations, activities by astronauts, and building unusual structures in extreme conditions. These are not very common activities for most people. A bus driver needs to be prepared all the time for all likely events on the road; A bank teller needs to know what to do with the request of the next customer, without preparing for a day; A mechanic needs to solve problems as they pop up, and not according to a 6-month plan. All these examples are not similar to a pre-announced test, and they are very similar to a pop-quiz: "Here is a problem you should be able to deal with - solve it now."

The good news about the common pop-quiz of real life, is that usually we don't have to remember everything by heart. The bank teller can refer to a policy book; The mechanic can refer to blueprints; Many can go and find relevant help on the Internet. Many can call on an expert. The case of the bus driver is different - there is no time to ask questions when somebody steps in front of the wheels. I will soon get back to that type of issue. The parallel in testing of individual learning achievements, is an open-book pop-quiz where a range of supporting materials is available for the individual being tested: Books, notes, limited access to Internet, and maybe even limited access to experts.

Back to the bus driver; Indeed any driver. The driver's real-life pop-quiz is along the lines of "you are driving on a highway; a car in front of you just stopped; you remember seeing another car in the lane to your right; you don't remember seeing any car in the lane to your left; no time to look in the mirrors to see which lane is vacant; in a second you are going to be riding the steering wheel of the car ahead of you, having killed a few people; DO something NOW." An announced test will do very little to verify a driver's ability to deal with the situation. An open-book pop-quiz will do very little. Actually, this example is so extreme that even a closed-book pop-quiz will not be enough. We would need either a simulation, or a real-life observation test, which is what we do for testing driving, flying, etc.

A less extreme example is that of a spoken language proficiency test. In real life conversation, it is very inconvenient to keep referring to a dictionary. Communication should happen with what the speakers have right now. This is a good example where a pop-quiz with no available materials can do a good job.

Bottom Line:

There are several different levels of testing: Announced tests with open or closed books, pop-quizzes with open or closed books, simulations and real-life observations.

There are several different take-home benefits from school: Habits, skills and knowledge.

Knowledge in real life is generally used with little urgency - the usual modern bustling - and with time to look and check. Very similar to an open-book pop-quiz. Knowledge is also often quite specific - there is often just one right answer to any given question, which lends itself even to multiple-choice quizzes.

Skills in real life are generally used with more urgency, and with less time to check and ask. Mostly similar to a closed-book pop-quiz. In some cases, such as driving, we need to go further - to simulations and real-life observations. Skills are less specific, in the sense that there are often a few right answers to any given need.

Habits in real life don't lend themselves to a discussion about urgency or about opening a book. They are very non-specific, in the sense that there are many reasonable responses to any given situation. If we want to evaluate habits, a simulation is a minimal tool; and we will probably have to go with real-life observation.

The vague case for pre-announced tests: It may be that preparing for an announced test is a good practice for memorization and conscious building of knowledge and skills. It may even be a basis for the good habit of putting a concentrated effort into studying something. Another value for an announced test could be found in a graduation ritual: Study for a month; go over everything learned; get tested for several hours -- now you have changed from a student to a graduate. All these taken together can justify some announced testing, but certainly not as a major tool for evaluation.