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Comment by ikeboy | Hacker News Reader

No multiple choice test can protect against a list of questions and answers.

The Amateur Radio license test in the US is a random selection from a large published set of multiple choice questions. Studying for the test can consist of learning the answers to all of the questions. It's very educational.

http://www.arrl.org/question-pools

I don't know if something like that would work for the SAT, but if the question pool were large enough, it would.

That's meant to be a knowledge test. The SAT isn't.

Than what exactly is it testing?

"Exactly": test taking skills.

Less exactly but still useful: critical thinking, intelligence, ability to solve problems quickly.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...

Scholastic aptitude (SAT === Scholastic Aptitude Test) - learn random and possibly useless things and pass a test on them.

America uses a multiple choice test for university admission?

Both the SAT and the ACT are mostly multiple choice, with one essay.

Alongside high school transcript, essays, extracurricular activities, and demographics, yes. It's usually not a simple threshold or ranking, but it gives admissions officers a normalized view of something approximating intellectual horsepower (rigor and quality of high schools varies enormously and mostly responds to socioeconomic status of the neighborhood).

SAT and ACT each have a timed handwritten essay component, but it's not very well-regarded. There is no long-form working of problems, though that does appear on AP/IB subject tests which are also necessary to be competitive at highly selective schools.

The american education system seems obsessed with standardized tests.

Maybe we should come up with a new testing model then. As it stand the current model is akin to a game show like Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

It correlates pretty well to intelligence. What specifically do you object to? Just the multiple choice nature of answers?

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...

"Never memorize something that you can look up."

Intelligence is dynamic and amorphous and is not something that can be measured on a single linear scale. My biggest objection to the current paper-and-and-pencil-and-no-technology test taking model is the inherent Luddism which stresses an obsolete method of learning.

Have you taken the SAT? Your description is inaccurate. You can use calculators on the test, and most questions are analytic, not the kind you can look up.

What evidence do you have for your claim about intelligence?

The calculators you are forced to use were invented decades ago. The students possess a calculator that is billions of times more powerful in their pockets but are not allowed to use them. That is Luddism.

Edit: correction: the TI-82 has a 6MHz processor where as an iPhone has a 1.4 GHz processor

What exactly do you want them to use a stronger calculator for?

Also, you're wrong about the billions of times faster. Look up the numbers.

Why should students be forced to use such outdated technology?

If we are trying to teach students how to work in the real world, shouldn't we let them use computers that they would be using in the real world as opposed to obsolete computers that were made before they were born?

The reason they only allow calculators is to avoid cheating. The kinds of problems given don't depend on complicated calculations.

>If we are trying to teach students how to work in the real world

The SAT is not about assessing knowledge. It's supposed to be an aptitude test.

>The reason they only allow calculators is to avoid cheating.

Ah this appears to be the root of the problem I was looking for, the game rules.

The question begs: what would we rather have our children have aptitude in, closed and isolated paper-and-pencil exams using obsolete technology, or open and collaborative problem solving using modern technology?

You're still missing the point that the SAT is not meant to be a test of knowledge or skill.

Notice my use of the word aptitude above

SAT/ACT are specifically meant to test intellectual aptitude; recall (aside from some probability formulas) doesn't really appear.

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