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University Daily Kansan Wednesday, March 8.1961
Guest Editorial
Tyranny of Tests
"What kind of tests does he give—objective or essay?"
Almost every student finds himself asking this question sometime during his college days, when wondering whether or not to schedule a particular course.
ACTUALLY, ONE SHOULD not have to be so concerned about types of tests, because he should do well on any kind of test if he knows the material. This is a valid argument and it has its strong points.
But the problem is not quite that simple. A student can be very well-prepared for a test and yet do poorly on it, especially when he is faced with a single-spaced, mimeographed blob of ambiguous multiple-choice questions, and is instructed to select "the most nearly-perfect answer."
TESTS ARE A NECESSARY evil to determine just how well a student grasps the material he is fed and to grade him accordingly. But some tests seem to be aimed at students to see how much they do not know, instead of how much they do know. A few teachers must actually consider the classroom a battleground, with examinations as their weapons.
When students gripe about tests, professors retaliate with the idea that students are lazy and don't put enough time on studying. But laziness
can go both ways. Some courses could be much more effective if shorter tests would be given at more frequent intervals, instead of only at the middle and end of a semester. Professors could thus eliminate their having to wade through nine weeks worth of material and come up with more practical examinations, without firing a barrage of inconsequential questions, loaded with ambiguity.
AN ARTICLE BY BANESH Hoffman in the current issue of Harper's deals with a similar problem. The author discusses the "tyranny of multiple-choice tests" which are given to hundreds of thousands of high school students each year to determine their chances of getting a higher education. Hoffman is by far not impressed with the system. He claims that many of the questions asked are not only ambiguous but also defective and that they do not test knowledge as much as they test the student's ability to fathom what is in the mind of the examiner.
But until some one comes up with a better idea of how to evaluate a student's work, tests will have to be given, and the multiple-choice type is just as good as any, if teachers exercise a little consideration and try to find out simply what a student does know and not what he does not know.
— LSU "Daily Reveille"
UDK Advises
Congratulations on achieving the status which your (and my) rootless generation has at last achieved. Your editorial on the CRC has been reprinted in the local newspaper, the ultimate sign of acceptance by our betters.
Robert B. Buxby
Wichita freshman
A Finish to Futility Editor:
To put an end to a rather futile discussion which has been going on for several days now, let me make a few remarks and suggestions.
1) When the Current Events Forum asked me for my opinion about "What's Wrong With America?" I gave a couple of answers intended to stimulate argument. I was pleased to see that the UDK printed a report of the meeting. But will you please see to it in the future that your reports of this kind are written in an appropriate
...Letters ...
form? Your reporter evaded the difficulty of writing an adequate summary by omitting a great deal of what was said and by printing a few (not even correct) quotations which were all misleading and not exactly meaningful.
2) Consequently, I have had to put up with everything from anonymous threats to letters in the UDK—all of them from people who had not attended the discussion and who supplied their own interpretations to the statements printed in the paper. Let me suggest to these people that—UDK reporting being what it is—we had better not criticize an event to which we haven't been ourselves, with every single point brought up in the letters serving as an example of what happens if you do. I did not compare the worst in America with the best at home. (I made it quite clear that I was not going to make any comparison at all.) I am very much aware of the faults of my own country. I cannot advise anybody to make "just noise." (I gave
some very concrete examples of the kinds of noise to make.) I did not equate progress with rebellion," etc.
Ronald Haertel
Assistant Instructor of
English
***
UDK Uniust
In your criticism of the Civil Rights Council, I think you have neglected one fact. Any action taken or discussion on the whole discrimination problem on this campus is due primarily to the efforts of the council. This is one of our main purposes — to bring to the attention of others that discrimination does exist.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
I ADMIT THAT PERHAPS our actions have not always been the very best and may have at times even appeared ridiculous to outsiders. However, I would attribute this to our emotional concern with the problem. Perhaps it has gotten us involved in more than we could handle.
YOU'LL HAVE TO ADMIT ONE THING - HE HAS CERTAINLY 'BUILT UP THE PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT.'
Nevertheless, to say that we should be dissolved because we have not solved every problem that we attacked is unjust. If that is the basis on which groups should be dissolved, then I think there are several other organizations that can be added to the list.
The Civil Rights Council cannot work through the student government alone because we have one single purpose to which we are dedicated: the elimination of discrimination on the basis of race, religion or national origin. The student government has many things to which it must dedicate its time. I think the council is very willing to work with and provide information for other groups, but to completely dissolve, we cannot do.
INTEGRATION IS A problem that takes a long time to solve as the editors well konw. The first step is to make the public aware of the problem.
Carolyn Shull Lawrence junior
Short Ones
Less and less are people in universities working on problems which they thought of themselves ... and find that their intellectual curiosity leads them to keep on probing—Edwin N. Griswold
From the Newsstand
By Their Words
Two Mississippiians stood in front of a New York University classroom yesterday and defended segregation.
They told thirty-five students that Negroes in Mississippi were perfectly happy without integration and then attempted to prove it with a short film entitled, "The Message from Mississippi." . . .
The Mississippi spokesman, Earle Johnston Jr., public relations director of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, and Chancery Judge Robert P. Sugg, had been invited to address the N.Y.U. class some weeks ago by Dr. Elsa Elizabeth Robinson, associate professor of psychology, who conducts a course in the psychology of group prejudice. . .
The whole film emphasized that though Negroes and whites lived separately side by side they were "cooperating" and "making progress."
"You don't build a civilization in one generation or two generations," Mr. Johnston said after the film ended. Though he conceded that there were only sixty Negro physicians and nine Negro lawyers practicing in Mississippi, he added, "Negroes prefer to go to white doctors. I don't know why. Maybe they, too, have a tradition."
While Negroes do not have a medical school in Mississippi, Mr. Johnston said Negroes were free to accept out-of-state medical aid.
"Any nigger that wants to can get this assistance
(Excerpted from the New York Times.)
By Kenneth A. Kiley Instructor in Speech and Journalism
CHILDREN'S THEATER: PLAY PRODUCTION FOR THE CHILD AUDIENCE.
The first two chapters present an evaluation of the development of children's theater in the United States and a definition of what it is. There is an excellent appraisal of the needs of a child's imagination at differing ages and how children's theater attempts to fulfill these needs. In this regard there is an interesting comment by the authors, which pertains to the preadolescent:
"THE FACT THAT few children's theaters pay much attention
For the adult reader who has children this book offers invaluable insights and understanding. The book will be of particular interest to those studying education, psychology, sociology and, of course, theater.
By Jed H. Davis and Mary Jane Larson Watkins. Published by Harper Brothers. $6.00.
Why is the publication of a book on children's theater of interest to the general reader? The answer might best be found in a quotation from the authors, one of whom, Mr. Davis, is an assistant professor of speech at KU:
"The understanding of people which comes from the concentrated study of characters, their backgrounds, their motivations, their frustrations and aspirations will form a solid basis which child participants will find helpful in establishing their own interpersonal relationships in the years to come."
to this age group is particularly deplorable since it is the link between children's and adult theater."
This remark coupled with the following, "The future of the American theater and certainly its standards may well be in the hands of today's children," should be adequate grounds for serious consideration of this book by those interested in community programs for children and the future of dramatic arts in America.
A number of chapters are devoted to theater production in children's theater, i.e., the playwright, director, actors, designing and staging the production. In addition there are chapters describing business management and the taking of a children's theater on tour, which will be of practical value to those interested or actively involved in a children's theater group. The illustrations, designs, drawings and diagrams are well integrated in the text and offer a fund of clear, concise information.
A SAMPLE PROMPT BOOK and light plot are provided to assist in meeting the complexities of organization and production. The book concludes with a tabulation of 120 children's theater plays. There is a bibliography provided for those seeking further reference material.
The reader will find both depth and comprehensiveness in the coverage of children's theater in this book. Although the subject is of a specialized nature, the warmth and style of writing displays a wide range of interest and enthusiasm for the child's world and the dramatic situation.
Dailu hansan
University of Kansas student newspaper
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