Content is Dead

[thesummerqueen]

I'm putting this in Politics and History because it details a problem I very much have with the emphasis the government puts on standards of learning tests and curriculum. It's bad enough we have places like TX trying to re-write history, but on top of it all is this process of testing a school by making sure to cram useless facts into the head of the lowest common denominator and then give the school grants based on the scores the children get on the tests. We've seen many many news articles and TV spots devoted to the test fraud teachers are now getting into in desperation to win those grants.

http://skepticink.com/smilodonsretreat/2...t-is-dead/

I've been saying it for a while - it's not about how much you know, but how you're able to link it all up. This was probably the wisest lesson I pulled out of high school, taught to me by a chemistry teacher who refused to make us take tests or exams with "closed books". Instead, we were free to use any text in the classroom to answer the question, but the question had to be answered fully, and they were always phrased in such a way that you had to think to get full credit. He said "I want you to be able to find the information you need, and for it to be the right information. Memorizing doesn't do shit - you'll forget most of this 6 months out of this place anyway unless you use it in college or in the real world."

The funny thing is, at least for me, is that once I learn to link things up in my head, it's actually easier to remember things - like a ghost of a "memory" palace. Understanding is a key to remembering, not the other way around.