What is it about tests that scares people, or freaks them out so bad? I teach Astronomy labs to non-science majors at a local University and it always blows my mind at what happens on the last night of class.
From day one of the labs I introduce them to star charts and how to read them. We start working immediately with them, learning how to read and locate things on them. Then comes the final and I ask them to identify things on star charts. Sometimes they have to tell me the name of an object located at a certain Right Ascension and Declination, others they have to tell me the Right Ascension and Declination of a given object.
It never fails that they freak because it is a test. Their little minds go to mush and they just freak out. They get angry at their lab partners, their faces get red and steam begins to shoot out of their ears. It is like they have never seen the things, even though they have been working with them for almost four months. Three objects a week they have to locate or draw on the star charts, but when it comes to identifying 5 out of a list of 15 on a final they can not do it.
It always disappoints me. The ones that have nothing to worry about freak out and look at me like I have three heads for asking them to display to me they understand the concepts and principles we talked about over the course of the semester. I think that in many ways I am just not cut out to be a teacher any more. I expect that when people come into my class they are there to learn the principles and techniques of observational astronomy... Especially since the lab class description tells them this is exactly what they will be doing.
Pretty bizarre then that I would expect at the end of a semester for them to know the principles and techniques of observational astronomy. My guess is that this is why more and more employers are expecting their prospective employees to be enrolled in a Masters degree program. Universities are giving out Bachelor's degrees like candy. More and more young people are coming away knowing little or nothing about the field that they are entering and employers need to see you are at least committed to life long learning of your trade.
Wow... how did I go from talking about test taking to rambling about Bachelor's degrees? I guess that is what keeps you coming back...
Prayers...
Pisio
From day one of the labs I introduce them to star charts and how to read them. We start working immediately with them, learning how to read and locate things on them. Then comes the final and I ask them to identify things on star charts. Sometimes they have to tell me the name of an object located at a certain Right Ascension and Declination, others they have to tell me the Right Ascension and Declination of a given object.
It never fails that they freak because it is a test. Their little minds go to mush and they just freak out. They get angry at their lab partners, their faces get red and steam begins to shoot out of their ears. It is like they have never seen the things, even though they have been working with them for almost four months. Three objects a week they have to locate or draw on the star charts, but when it comes to identifying 5 out of a list of 15 on a final they can not do it.
It always disappoints me. The ones that have nothing to worry about freak out and look at me like I have three heads for asking them to display to me they understand the concepts and principles we talked about over the course of the semester. I think that in many ways I am just not cut out to be a teacher any more. I expect that when people come into my class they are there to learn the principles and techniques of observational astronomy... Especially since the lab class description tells them this is exactly what they will be doing.
Pretty bizarre then that I would expect at the end of a semester for them to know the principles and techniques of observational astronomy. My guess is that this is why more and more employers are expecting their prospective employees to be enrolled in a Masters degree program. Universities are giving out Bachelor's degrees like candy. More and more young people are coming away knowing little or nothing about the field that they are entering and employers need to see you are at least committed to life long learning of your trade.
Wow... how did I go from talking about test taking to rambling about Bachelor's degrees? I guess that is what keeps you coming back...
Prayers...
Pisio
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