While I agree with you that ETS is in the "testing business, not the
teaching business", they too readily forget that every test is a learning
experience for those who take it. In this case the students who know the
difference between mass and weight will become just a little more cynical
because they will know that in spite of (b) being the "best answer" it is
still a wrong answer. Those who do not know the difference will have their
ignorance reinforced.
The response to Arlyn from ETS was arrogant in the extreme. Rather
than admitting that they erred and agreeing to try to do better in the
future, they stubbornly tried to defend the indefensible. This typifies too
much of the commercial education establishment in my opinion.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Denker [mailto:jsd@MONMOUTH.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 1999 10:05 PM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: testing vs. teaching
The discussion of the recent PSAT question
6. METER : DISTANCE ::
(a) ounce : pound
(b) gram : weight
(c) container : liquid
(d) size : height
(e) boundary : periphery
has missed a couple of important points:
1) The ETS is in the testing business, not the teaching business. They
don't much care whether the students learn something, learn nothing, or
even "learn" misconceptions during the test.