tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post7467474811280016198..comments2023-10-30T12:26:15.822+01:00Comments on Research as a Second Language: Some Thoughts on ExaminationThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-69000021403615604922014-12-12T15:44:58.493+01:002014-12-12T15:44:58.493+01:00That's a great point, MDH. It's true that ...That's a great point, MDH. It's true that if this sort of exam were implemented you'd have to spend a great deal of time "teaching to the test", and in this case it would actually be justified, since learning how to pass the test would require building real prose muscle, critical thinking, intellectual agility, etc. The students would have <a href="http://secondlanguage.blogspot.dk/2014/12/showing-up-for-practice.html" rel="nofollow">"practice"</a>.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-43469796197643623772014-12-12T15:29:41.631+01:002014-12-12T15:29:41.631+01:00As a method of assessing students' knowledge o...As a method of assessing students' knowledge of or mastery of content, there is much to recommend this practice. As an assessment someone might implement, I have doubts about the validity of responses. <br /><br />Obviously all assessments "test" both students' content knowledge and their facility with that particular testing instrument. For common instruments or modalities, we recognize that some students may have a particular difficulty with them but, at least, they've got lots of experience with them so the instrument effects in their responses kinda-sorta comes out in the wash. The modality you're proposing, if more widely adopted or somehow already familiar to the students would be great. If not, you're testing on a whole slew of new modality anxieties. People who obsess over proofreading. People unsure about their spelling or word choice. People with mild or undiagnosed language difficulties who have perfectly good ideas and can speak them (but not write them easily) or who can write them (but not speak them). People who are hyperperfectionists who would like to find THE thread that links all the plays together in some brilliant piece of analysis and spends 30 minutes flailing before coming to her senses and ratcheting down the ambition. <br /><br />All of those are common, less-than-optimal, things that students do that they should work on. Things that should with time and effort be improved. Things that as an instructor you may want to identify so that, maybe, assistance can be offered. On the other hand, maybe not. Capturing some of those foibles (and not other ones) may not have business in the assessment you actually care about making. I'm not saying anything this audience doesn't already know, but I'm quite cautious about this and other synthetic time-pressure instruments.MDHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563560919523878944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-15898304789534597752014-12-12T06:27:06.783+01:002014-12-12T06:27:06.783+01:00But it would possible to do something that looks m...But it would possible to do something that looks more like: play the Mozart you've been practicing all semester. Like I say, the students could bring their own copy of the three plays (not knowing which one they will have to demonstrate knowledge of). The music students brings their own copy of the score, which will have various notes and markings (fingering) on it.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-21987242171673338192014-12-11T22:54:25.884+01:002014-12-11T22:54:25.884+01:00It would be more like: sight=read this Chopin (whe...It would be more like: sight=read this Chopin (when you have been practicing mostly Mozart and Schubert). And, the catch is, you have to sight read it without looking at the score, with your vague memories of the text. <br /><br />Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-15299256999357797432014-12-11T19:50:57.184+01:002014-12-11T19:50:57.184+01:00I'm thinking about how this would work in musi...I'm thinking about how this would work in music. A piano player has to demonstrate a pretty deep understanding of the piece to be played. So, in a sense, the playing would demonstrate an "in-depth analysis" even though this analysis would not be made explicit.<br /><br />Isn't there a way of doing this with writing? The student is given a relatively superficial task, the performance of which would demonstrate (or fail to demonstrate) an understanding that could only have come from close study.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-36327682963607884092014-12-11T19:07:38.718+01:002014-12-11T19:07:38.718+01:00There is a disconnect between course work, geared ...There is a disconnect between course work, geared toward in-depth analysis, and the exam, which asks what you know and can recall from memory about a huge number of potential texts. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-14987469242323183292014-12-10T17:48:58.252+01:002014-12-10T17:48:58.252+01:00That's interesting. Why shouldn't the resu...That's interesting. Why shouldn't the results be good? You're probably right that fewer texts would help. Also, perhaps, a shorter assignment (do you have any length requirements?) so that you can demand more polished prose.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-6371589643043890672014-12-10T16:08:55.931+01:002014-12-10T16:08:55.931+01:00It's at the end of the first two years, or in ...It's at the end of the first two years, or in March, really of second year. Frankly, it works well in motivating students to read the list. The results are rarely very good, even among passing students. We need to make them responsible for fewer texts, and know those better. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-30759326293635164562014-12-10T08:50:17.000+01:002014-12-10T08:50:17.000+01:00When in the program does this exam happen? It'...When in the program does this exam happen? It's strikes me as an excellent way to address fundamentals.<br />Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-26558362272104154522014-12-09T17:34:43.339+01:002014-12-09T17:34:43.339+01:00This is how we do our M.A. exam, except with no bo...This is how we do our M.A. exam, except with no books or notes allowed. We have a laptop without internet access. We have a time limit but no set number of paragraphs. It is extremely difficult. The student must tell us what sh/e knows about a given subject. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.com