Open-book surgery?

Mr. Morris Feller, whose letter to The Arizona Republic is quoted verbatim below, advertises himself as a Master of Science on the web page he cites. He doesn’t say which science, but we would bet a hard dollar it’s a soft one. In any case, while we may be more cognizant than he of those all too realistic real-world situations where people may actually be expected to perform under very restrictive conditions—involving, for example, time, space, money or values more precious—we are still benevolent enough to hope that Mr. Feller is never so unlucky as to be operated upon by a surgeon educated according to his precepts. But the justice of nature is sure if not swift, so it seems reasonable to expect that, in due course, Mr. Feller will expire from open-book surgery.

Unfortunately, so will the rest of us...

Not accurate reflection

The standard tests as currently given do not accurately reflect the true abilities of our students. A closed-book test is not a valid method of testing for several reasons.

First, preparation for a test is done open book. Then the rules are suddenly changed, and the test is given closed book.

Second, the test site does not represent a real-world situation: it is a place where students have to perform under very restrictive conditions. When away from the test site, the student will always have access to the information needed for solving the problems.

Third, in addition to being confined while taking the test, a strict time limit is imposed. Given these unrealistic conditions, a high anxiety level is created in the student which can cause panic and unclear thinking.

A more complete development of the above argument plus ways to remedy the testing process are given in my paper, which can be found at: www.edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu/ins/open.perf.

—Morris Feller, Phoenix