Re:65k fake students applied for financial aid in wide commu...
by minsc__and__boo on Wednesday September 01, 2021 @02:32PM
(#28383842)
This conversation highlights the dichotomy of higher education in the U.S.
You're describing the quality of an education, while the previous commenters are describing how to game a title system to get the best brand. These are two different goals/outcomes.
Re:65k fake students applied for financial aid in wide commu...
by vlovich123 on Wednesday September 01, 2021 @05:02PM
(#28385482)
I got by cramming for most exams & attended maybe a handful of classes a year. I did graded assignments but not homework. If my university is comfortable handing me an accredited degree in that situation, I would expect it to feel comfortable providing a path to test out.
There is quite a bit of stuff that one can learn in a class that might not show up on a test. A few examples:
1. Certain small subject matter specifics that may not be measured on a relatively short timed test.
2. Discovering peer groups to study with.
3. The test structure at the university/department — some smart people get bombed early in their academic careers just because they aren’t familiar with the test type.
A well-structured series of courses can be built out assuming that each student in later courses has at least been exposed to certain ideas in earlier courses. If you test out, there is no guarantee that these learners have been exposed to those ideas. Yes, a better test could reveal all of this stuff, but making good tests or test banks is difficult and time consuming, and that assumes that there is some expertise in evaluation/testing in the department faculty (which is rare).