Comments on: Harvard Wimps Out on Testing http://educationnext.org/harvard-wimps-out-on-testing/ Education Next is a journal of opinion and research about education policy. Thu, 24 May 2012 15:50:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Degrading School « The Coming of the Toads http://educationnext.org/harvard-wimps-out-on-testing/comment-page-1/#comment-69048 Degrading School « The Coming of the Toads Mon, 23 May 2011 19:07:42 +0000 http://educationnext.org/?p=49635675#comment-69048 [...] the traditional three-hour exam. The exams are now the exception rather than the rule. Predictably, not everyone was happy with the decision: “Even Harvard’s new General Education courses will abjure finals. We are [...] [...] the traditional three-hour exam. The exams are now the exception rather than the rule. Predictably, not everyone was happy with the decision: “Even Harvard’s new General Education courses will abjure finals. We are [...]

]]> By: Anna Carissa Rozzo http://educationnext.org/harvard-wimps-out-on-testing/comment-page-1/#comment-33493 Anna Carissa Rozzo Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:37:47 +0000 http://educationnext.org/?p=49635675#comment-33493 "It was finals that forced us to think, to synthesize, to study, and to learn." No, finals caused heightened stress and anxiety (Affective Filter) and generally forced me to memorize material only to subsequently forget the information with the relief of having finished and passed. True thinking and synthesizing occurred in the form of paper writing, and project or presentation preparation; this was where I was pushed to form thoughtful connections between the material and other relevant ideas (Connectionism). It was with these connections that meaningful retention and then true learning occurred. “It was finals that forced us to think, to synthesize, to study, and to learn.”

No, finals caused heightened stress and anxiety (Affective Filter) and generally forced me to memorize material only to subsequently forget the information with the relief of having finished and passed. True thinking and synthesizing occurred in the form of paper writing, and project or presentation preparation; this was where I was pushed to form thoughtful connections between the material and other relevant ideas (Connectionism). It was with these connections that meaningful retention and then true learning occurred.

]]>