Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Open book tests...

I found out from DS today that most (his word, not mine) of the tests, excepting math, he takes in class are open book. This came about because he was telling me that he got a 100 on a science test. In looking over the test, I noticed that there were spaces for the page numbers and there were points given for noting the page on which the answer was found.

Is it just me or does this seem....unusual? I don't recall a lot from my school days (as they were soooo long ago ), but I do recall that there were few, if any, open book tests and I'm pretty certain they weren't in elementary school.

Ha! Just had a similar conversation with our son. We were reviewing his work from last week and I noticed that his "test prep" homework for science was stapled to the test.

"What's this doing here?"

"We're allowed to use it for our test."

"But it has all the answers on it!"

"Not all of them, just most."

WTH?

I've seen this a handful of times and find it positively loony. Even a traditional "open-book" would be harder than this.

"Back in the day..." we had similar homework consisting of "study questions" to help us prepare for tests. But to have these out during the test would be considered cheating.

Anything goes for NCLB, I suppose.

I totally agree. Why should the expectations be so low? It feels like they think the kids are not capable.

Every week, my son gets a new study guide for either Science or Social Studies. On the study guide he is given the page and paragraph for each anwser. On the test, the teacher provides the 2 sentence anwsers which they can lose points for improper punctuation. My son complained to me he would like to come up with his own anwser. He also would prefer to read the text book and just take the test becuase he already knows most of the information before he reads it. Very FRUSTRATING.

This is the way for the teacher to accomadate the low end of students( called inclusion) and prepare them for achievement test. Test expect you to directily reference text in answers. The problem is that it does not address the other types of students. Yes there is a teaching to the test when results are publicised. Generally it is point blank said that " we need too improve the results of our SPED population to make safe harbor and NCLB" The gifted and higher students needs are not addressed or met b/c their scores will be fine. It's all a politcal game. This is from an insider

I agree that's unusual. I think there is value in memorizing facts, particularly in science. While there is a role for looking up facts in a book or online, studying sciences requires a fair amount of memorization. An open book test creates passive learning, which IMHO is an inferior approach.

My kids have had a few open-book tests, but not many. One teacher told the kids the test might be open-book, and guess what? It wasn't. Very few kids studied and many did poorly. DD studied and aced the test.

As if there weren't enough factors contributing to my DSs underachievement and (lack of) motivation issues - now he's got open book tests. I know that this doesn't all fall on his teachers, but goodness, all I want is a little help. Grrr.

I guess when DS says he doesn't need to study - he really means it and not just because he thinks he knows everything.

Yes, I thought most of this type of thing took place with HS and college level tests. I could almost get behind something like the notes or 'cheat sheet', because then the studying/learning is taking place. As DS describes it - it's simply open book. If notes were allowed to be used, chances are that DS wouldn't bother to take the notes, but even that's OK - he either knows it or he doesn't. I believe DS most likely knows the info, but just suppose he doesn't...he doesn't have to - he just has to know where to look and if he's read the stuff before, he could easily skim to find what he's looking for.

It also bothers me a bit that points are given for noting the page on which the answer was found. What if the student knew the answer(s) w/o referencing the book? I understand being able to reference material or really seek specific answers in a text and believe that's a skill in and of itself, but where is the line drawn? How is it demonstrated that one actually *knows* material, as opposed to just knowing how/where to find it? And are state tests and such also open book? <----Sorry, just thinking out loud here.

The more I think about this, the more I really don't care for it - especially if it's the norm and not the occasional or exceptional occurrence. I welcome other opinions, though, as food for thought.

The only tests I ever had that were either open book or open notes always had more emphasis on whether you could answer the questions at length rather then whether you could spout back the formulas or facts.

For instance you might have an open book exam in history if the questions were going to require neatly argued positions (supported by what you looked up) rather than just recall. And in calculus I had one professor allow a sheet of formulas, but you still had to work the lengthy problems that required those formulas. There wasn't going to be a question like "what's the formula for ___" where you could copy right out of your notes.

I think that would make the difference for me... If they're given questions where they can look up and then copy out the answer verbatim, that doesn't seem like a useful test of anything but their speed. But if they're allowed to reference the text or notes for supporting points that let them then work out something more complicated, that might be fine.

As a middle school history teacher, I've given many many open book tests. I don't want my students to spend hours memorizing dates. I want them to understand the deeper "why" behind the issues. I may ask them to write an essay outlining three causes of the Civil War. Too many students get bogged down in the dates and can't explain the causes. Allowing it to be open book gives them a crutch to know they can look it up if they need to but they'll never finish a high quality essay in 45 if they don't internalize the information in some way.

I've found that open book tests also reduce test anxiety, even among very gifted kids. The fear of missing one is often paralyzing and creates such anxiety! Often they won't even open their books but knowing they can is a huge relief.

My DC are older but I don't recollect them having many open book tests at all and when they did they were primarily in high school. I guess they were the more "traditional" type in that a question was asked and you used the text book to find the answer (no prompts). Neither of my children studied for these tests. Probably the most disturbing aspect for me was the amount of children that scored poorly on these tests, but maybe that was my perspective expecting there would be higher results across the board considering the answers were there if you looked for them (or knew where to look).

DS has just completed his first year of university (mathematics) and they have allowed 'cheat sheets' for all of his exams. Always A4 double sided. It's an interesting point you make JDAx3 about your son probably not taking notes. DS has made 'cheat sheets' but has never come even close to using the allowed limit.