9-4
HELPING STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE
NEW APPROACH TO TESTS AND EXAMS
From their previous school experience, most student health
workers have very fixed ideas about tests and exams. Those
who are most clever often insist on being given tests
and grades. Those who are slower may be ashamed to
admit their fear of exams. Those who are most honest or
independent may even learn to take pride in ‘beating the
system’—by cheating!
At first, some students may object to the new
approach to exams: open books, no policing,
no strict time limit, no grades. The strongest
objections are usually raised by the quicker
students, who also are often the student opinion
leaders. They are used to getting top grades and
being praised and rewarded. It may take many
‘consciousness-raising’ discussions to help
them realize that a new approach is needed—
one that does not always favor the strong.
In an attempt to ‘beat the system’, those
who are most honest often learn to cheat!
Some students, out of habit, may still try to cheat, even though cheating no
longer serves an obvious purpose. Help them discover that, instead of trying
to ‘beat the system’ by cheating within it, it makes more sense to work
together to change it!
WHO PREPARES THE EXAMS—AND WHEN?
In some training programs, each instructor gives exams on the material he or
she has covered. In others, joint or coordinated exams are given.
Project Piaxtla in Mexico gives a test each week, usually on Friday morning.
The test combines and tries to interrelate the different subjects taught during
the week. The test is designed to take about one hour, but a second hour of free
time is allowed for those who need it.
Each week an instructor is chosen to organize and copy the test. The other
instructors prepare questions and give them to him by Thursday afternoon.
The instructors are asked not to wait until the last minute (or day) to prepare their
test questions. They are encouraged to write them down right after class, when
details and points needing reinforcing are fresh in their minds. To help ensure that
this gets done, the students are involved in helping prepare their own tests. At the
end of each class, each student is asked to write one question to possibly
appear on the Friday test.
By helping to prepare their own test questions, the students feel more on an
equal level with their instructors. They also get a good exercise in thinking about
the importance and usefulness of what they study.
From the test questions written by the students, the instructors pick the best ones
for the Friday test. They may improve the wording, or add questions of their own.