Are Standardized Tests Killing Creativity?

-

Hey secondary education,  stop with the incessant testing! 


How many of you successful designers were scored high on your SAT, ACT, or whatever standardized tests? 

We have to stop this insane notion that repeatedly testing our middle school and high schoolers  is going to help them to be successful. 

This emphasis on testing ties the hands of our secondary teachers.

It causes art, and shop and craft classes to be cut.

The only thing it teaches is short term memorization, linear thinking, test taking strategy, and that there is only one answer to a problem. 

All of which is practically useless for design thinking and in real life.


Stop trying to quantify, and concentrate on quality education.

Comments

moofie said…
How do you know whether you've solved a problem unless you can measure it?

I confess, I am but a lowly professional engineer, and not worthy to opine on the subject, but something tells me that figuring out whether kids know stuff is a valid part of an educational strategy.

Now, I absolutely agree that focusing on that to the exclusion of creative work is not going to make good educational policy, but to simply say "stop taking tests!" is a combination infant-solution cleaner defenestration.
July 1, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Furniture Design Exhibition Seattle - Western ID graduates 2022 - part 2

-
Image
Chair, ottoman, and side table of aluminum and wood by Keaton LoCicero. The industrial design class of Western Washington University 2022 exhibited their final chair design prototypes at HenryBuilt in Seattle, WA, USA. June 10.  A one night only exhibition. Keaton spent hours polishing the interior surfaces of the aluminum. sketch models by Keaton LoCicero Chair and side table by Wylie Jacoy. Rocking chair of aluminum and woven fabric by Adele Houston.  An aluminum vase by Adele Houston Chair and ottoman design by Lili Heim. Constructed of bent polycarbonate and aluminum. Chair, ottoman, and side table design by Asaki Nelson. Constructed of CNC plywood. process photos and artifacts. Display posters Chair design by Matthew Seeman. detail. Constructed of cast aluminum and wood. All photos by Jason Morris. Please attribute the designer if re-posting. Follow Western Industrial Design program on Instagram:  wwu id (@wwuid) • Instagram photos and videos Join our ID program:  Industrial Desig
Read more

Furniture Design Exhibition - Western ID graduates 2022 - part 1

-
Image
  Chair and ottoman design by Kelsey Leppek 2022 The industrial design class of Western Washington University 2022 exhibited their final chair design prototypes at HenryBuilt in Seattle, WA, USA. June 10.  A one night only exhibition. This set was made with bent steel tubing and fabric cushions. It was a packed crowd at the first graduate exhibition for WWU ID since 2019. Side chair by Brianna Brown 2022. Bent plywood connection detail. Brianna Brown. Bent plywood chair by Rafer Stromme. The two plywood forms are connected with a cast aluminum form. Transformable furniture design by Trinity Montgomery 2022. By changing the orientation and tying the braided rope this piece converts to various forms. Arm chair and side table by Dylan Willis 2022. This chair is made from aluminum sheet, cushions, and bolted together. It can be disassembled and packaged flat. Lounge chair of bent steel and felt by Bo Baird 2022. Each piece of felt strip was hand cut and connected with brass fasteners. All
Read more

New Furniture Designs for Working from Home

-
Image
Shift Divider Screen by Kelsey Leppek and Norman Rockwell 2020 Nobody expected a global virus quarantine, but here we are, trying to adapt our living spaces for homeschooling, class sessions, office meetings, and focused work in addition to everything else that we do at home. We quickly realized that our home spaces and furniture were not designed for these new functions. This spring, the industrial design students of Western Washington University worked on designing new furniture solutions for working at home. And they did it while working from home themselves. The Problems They first investigated the problems that we are experiencing during lock-down: Sharing small spaces. Multiple people sharing the kitchen table to do work. Lack of privacy. Lack of square footage. Bad acoustics for video calls and meetings. Echos, noise, distractions. Online video conferences are notorious for poor audio. Bad lighting for video calls and meetings. Most people look hor
Read more