And I think what the author is saying is that we should spend more time giving kids microscopes and testing what they see with them.

TANGENT ABOUT BIKE SHED COLOURS:

Questions like this remind me of questions about OOP. First the preamble: “Organize objects into classes to create a hierarchy of abstract types....” Then a question: “Classes are used to (a) provide a constructor for objects, (b) to promote reuse of behaviour, (c) to model a type hierarchy, (d) to facilitate modular software development.”

You ask someone to build a model in their head, and then the most successful strategy for answering the question is to turn the model off and use brute force to scan the exact words of the question, because the more knowledge you have of the domain, the less likely you are to answer the question correctly from your experience.

Based on my life experience so far; this is one of the most important skills to learn.

What I’m saying is that it is much easier to answer the question if you have hands-on experience.

Of course; but that isn't the point of the test.

And I think what the author is saying is that we should spend more time giving kids microscopes and testing what they see with them.

Yes, but again this test is not about that. And if the author is arguing that practical experience should entirely supplant this sort of critical thinking then I entirely disagree.

Critical thinking is taught from a young age, in very subtle ways. The ability to approach a topic you know nothing about, dissemble it, and answer a question (either posed to you, or by you) is fundamental to all of our lives.

My feeling looking at this is that if I wanted kids to get the highest possible score, I’d teach them how to take tests rather than buy them a bunch of tools and have them figure out how to use the tools from the instruction manuals (reading, critical thinking, problem solving). Whereas if I wanted them to learn critical thinking, we’d be solving problems with tools.

But I accept that this is a very large topic, it’s not like this is a one-question test, and students are exposed to a variety of stimuli. Also, there is always the democracy argument: This might be the worst test ever devised, except for all of the others we’ve tried. Perhaps this is the “least worst” way to test and teach given other factors in play.

'dissemble' means "to put on a false appearance : conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense" according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dissemble.

The question is completely invalidated by knowledge of the domain. If anything, they should have constructed an artificial device that would guarantee the student didn't have domain knowledge that would allow them to bypass the necessary critical thinking:

To avoid smaggling the fizdoodle, make sure you begin with the smunderson in the upright position.

Q: Why should the smunderson start in the upright position?

A: To avoid smaggling the fizdoodle.

edit: s/being/begin/

Incidentally that statement only sense if you know which direction to turn the focus knob, and you recognize the fact that the hypothetical microscope is capable of crushing the specimen. I had one when I was a kid that was incapable of doing so.

I answered the question correctly, but it only due to my cynicism, not my reading comprehension.

Utterly incomprehensible!

The fact that the journalist is that dense is mostly a symptom of "oh hey I've found an argument against standardized testing to fit my preexisting conceptions of the matter! Screw reading it, it looks complicated, I'll just use it to justify things." Same basic problem.

s/microscope/computer and you have the cause of an average Helpdesk's stress...

ed. Downvotes? Really? Nobody has ever struggled with a problem which could be solved if the help-ee has bothered to read the text on their screen?

On the other hand, when she doesn't call me for help, she ends up printing off a picture from a webpage and scanning it back in to get it into a power point presentation. That's better than giving up on the problem, I guess.