Friday, May 7, 2010

Thinking Beyond the Bubble Sheet

Perhaps unfortunately for students, schools today often heavily rely on standardized tests. You know... bubble sheets, #2 pencils only, all that jazz. On most of these tests, students are asked basic comprehension questions requiring them to utilize only lower level thinking skills to answer. So how can we spice it up and encourage our students to use a few more brain cells? I say we give them the answers.

Give your students the test with the answers already marked on the test. They may be the correct answers, they may not be; that's up to you. Then to test your students skills simply ask them to grade the test. Tell if the answer is correct or not and JUSTIFY the decision. If the answer circled is correct, explain WHY it's correct. And if it's not, tell WHY it's not and explain what might be a better answer. It may be a little harder to grade but it will definitely get your students thinking beyond the bubble sheet. After all, though it's hard to believe sometimes, that is what we teachers are here for.

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