stj.ecacs16.ab.ca

The LifeHack blog features tips for students on a regular basis. This is one I just have to pass onto the students of St. Jerome’s School (and any others reading this). The article outlines Five Tips for Beating a Standardized Test.

1. Understand the test format.
2. Take sample tests
3. Understand how it is marked
4. Don’t go overboard on studying
5. Consider taking the test at a later date

I love the advice in the first four items. I make sure the students get to know the test and I make sure they see how the written response sections are marked. I also know lots of teachers who provide many “sample” tests. As for number 4, most students go overboard on studying because they do not study the correct way.

I can’t say I’ve ever given #5 as advice to anyone but it is something to keep in mind. If you don’t feel ready for the test rushing the issue will not help. Read the article for more details.

©2008 Counseling Office. All Rights Reserved.

Concordia University is hosting several events to get to know their programs.

Open House is held on Oct. 25, 2008 and on March 7, 2009

CU@Concordia events are held on Oct. 10 and Nov. 14, 2008 and on Feb. 27 and April 3, 2009.

Go to www.concordia.ab.ca/visit for more information.

©2008 Counseling Office. All Rights Reserved.

Visit Olds College and see the campus and learn about their programs. The open house is scheduled for October 17th. To register for the event go to www.oldscollege.ca/discoveryday or call Lawna at 1-800-661-6537.

©2008 Counseling Office. All Rights Reserved.

1. Application deadline for the Academic Excellence Scholarship is Dec. 15, 2008.
2. New publications can be found at www.registar.ualberta.ca/publications
3. Open House 2008 is on Sept. 20th
4. All Roads Lead to U is an orientation for rural students and is held on Sept 19th - 20th.

©2008 Counseling Office. All Rights Reserved.

Being a math teacher I have noticed that calculators are not always a good thing in a classroom. I have watched students blindly enter numbers, use some operation (why is it mostly multiplication?), and simply write down the answer. They are unaware of why the answer is incorrect or even how the answer seem to appear on the screen. Yet, I’ve watch other students (a depressingly few) carry out complex “what if” tasks before confidently jotting down the numbers on the tiny screen.

It is such a wonderful feeling to find research that supports what your gut has been saying: calculators can be helpful and also very damaging.

The Journal of Experimental Child Psychology studied the use of calculators in the classroom. The determining factor on the usefulness of calculators is the knowledge of the student. The stronger the child is in basic math facts the more useful the calculator was. If they already knew their math facts, having a calculator did not help or harm them on subsequent tests. Students who were not good at knowing their multiplication table were harmed by using a calculator.

I find myself resorting to dreaming of the glorious past when my classmates and I were made to know the multiplication tables inside and out in grade three. I have hoped for a return to those days and wished my high school students were stronger in basic math skills. And now I have reason to believe I’ve been right all along . . . at least on this subject.

©2008 Counseling Office. All Rights Reserved.

The Wall Street Journal has posted an excellent article on the necesssity of college degrees:

Imagine that America had no system of post-secondary education, and you were a member of a task force assigned to create one from scratch. One of your colleagues submits this proposal:

First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach an economic reward to it that seldom has anything to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn’t meet the goal. We will call the goal a “BA.”

You would conclude that your colleague was cruel, not to say insane. But that’s the system we have in place.

Having been through the degree process myself (twice) I find myself agreeing with the sentiments of the article. My four years in physics were designed to make sure me and my classmates had sufficient general knowledge before going onto graduate studies. One classmate went onto law studies and I headed to education. So it was our decision that the four years was “wasted”. I thought my education degree would prepare me for teaching. It did - kinda.

It was in the practicuum that I really learned anything. The theory, the philosophy, and the history of education was interesting but I don’t feel it built my competence. Would a CA type of exam be more appropriate here? And I wonder what is in store as I comtemplate my next stage - a master’s degree. I’ve already heard from people how they jumped through the hopes of the program knowing it had little to do with the actual business of counselling. It was just a stage to go through to get to the next level of the game.

©2008 Counseling Office. All Rights Reserved.