The Ultimate Block Party's Blog

“But I hate tests!”  Most of us have probably said these words sometime during our childhoods or hear it today from our own children.  Tests have gotten a bad reputation lately – none of us want our child’s education to be about ‘teaching to the test.’ Education is about more than test scores! The issue with testing is that it typically only taps into content knowledge (reading, writing, and arithmetic, oh my!)—rather than other skills such as critical thinking or creativity. However, content knowledge IS important!  It is crucial for our children to learn about the facts of the world, learn how to comprehend paragraphs of facts, and retain that information in the future.

Recently, an article appeared in the New York Times that suggests testing actually helps us learn – in fact, more than just studying!  In a set of studies conducted at Purdue University (Kerpicke & Blunt, 2011), college students were asked to read a paragraph and then were asked to (a) study the information for 5 minutes, (b) draw a ‘concept map’ – or a visual ‘map’ of how the ideas presented fit together, or (c) take a test in which they had to write a short-answer description of everything they had just learned.  It turns out that the students asked to take a test retained up to 50% MORE information a week later!

What does this mean? If students are given the opportunity to make their own connections between facts and translate this information into their own words, it makes learning personally meaningful— and they are more likely to remember what they have learned later on! This is very different from re-reading material in order to memorize information or to identify key points (common in ‘cramming’ or study sessions). And remember—all tests are not created equal.  Do you think the researchers would have gotten different results if the students took multiple choice tests rather than short answer tests? Other researchers have shown taking multiple-choice tests repeatedly may actually promote false knowledge (the idea that they know the information when they do not! Roediger  & Marsh, 2005)!

What does this tell us? Asking open-ended questions that help students think critically and recall facts in ways that make sense to them can be a powerful tool for learning!

• After your child studies or does her homework, ask her to close the book and either write down or tell you everything she remembers.  Make it a fun ‘memory game.’  In fact, you should take a turn ‘playing’ too!  This will help her to see the connections that exist between the facts and also give you the opportunity to learn together.
• Try not to make testing all about grades and the number of items right or wrong – instead, frame tests as ways to learn!  If your child feels more positively about tests, he will likely be less anxious and his knowledge will be better able to shine!
• Moderation is the key! Pushing children too much can have an adverse effect on learning and their motivation to learn—so be responsive to children’s needs, interests, and abilities!

Featured Articles:

Bellek, P. (2011, January). To really learn, quit studying and take a test. Retrieved from, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/science/21memory.html?_r=3&emc=eta1

Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011, January). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science. Retrieved from, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/01/19/science.1199327.abstract

Roediger, H. & Marsh, E. (2005). The positive and negative consequences of multiple choice testing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 31, 1155-1159.

This blog was written by Dr. Kelly Fisher, Postdoctoral Fellow at Temple University, and Dr. Jennifer Zosh, Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine

Do you remember the pretend adventures, the sense of freedom, the eternal battles between the ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys,’and the FUN that you had in the middle of your busy school day?  It turns out that this ‘fun time’ was not just a sanity break for you and your teachers but was an important way for you to learn about the world and the people in it.

What exactly IS recess?  How does it benefit your child’s development?  A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) defined recess as “a time during the school day that provides children with the opportunity for active, unstructured or structured, free play” (p. 10).  This report looked at a number of different studies to determine the negative and positive impact of recess.  It turns out, there were NO negative impacts of recess!  In fact, the majority of studies found a positive association between recess and children’s cognitive, social, or emotional development (so your pretend adventures helped you to learn important skills like collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and confidence).

Another recent article published by the Journal of School Health (Ramstetter, Murray, & Garner, 2010) also supports the idea that recess is a positive activity for a child’s social, emotional, cognitive, and creative development.  Particularly, the authors found that recess that was supervised by trained adults was particularly beneficial, but cautioned that the children should not be forced to participate in structured activities (that sense of freedom is vital for kids to practice making decisions and dealing with others).

What happens when recess isn’t included as part of the day.  You likely remember how different your classroom felt (i.e., more students acting out) if you had to miss recess due to weather or misbehavior.  The research supports this and shows that teachers rate the classroom behavior of students that are exposed to recess more positively than those children that don’t have recess (Barros, Silver, & Stein, 2009).   And recess helps give children the mental ‘break’ that they need to pay attention and learn more effectively in the classroom (Pelligrini, 2005)  Recess is a win-win!

The December 2010 edition of the National Education Association’s magazine (with a circulation of 2.7 million!), shows that this teacher’s organization is well aware of the benefits of play and recess and suggests that play is not only crucial for learning social skills, but also necessary for kids to learn about things like fairness and democracy (Meier, Engel & Taylor, 2010).  It turns out that those battles between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ on the playground helped you to make sense of morality and the difference between right and wrong – no easy feat!  Check out the article here: http://www.nea.org/home/41607.htm.

So at your next Parent/Teacher conference or PTA meeting, ask what YOUR child’s school thinks about recess and how you may be able to help keep this important tool in your child’s life (or, bring it back if your school doesn’t have recess).  Play on!

Interested in Learning More?

Barros, R. M., Silver, E. J., & Stein, R. E. K. (2009). School recess and group classroom behavior. Pediatrics, 123(2), 431-436.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010).  The association between school based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Meier, D., Engel, B. & Taylor, B. (2011, January/February).  Play ethic. NEA Today Magazine, 28-33.

Pellegrini, A. (2005). Recess: Its role in education and development. Mahwah, NJ: Psychology Press.

Ramstetter, C. L., Murray, R., & Garner, A. S. (2010). The crucial role of recess in schools. Journal of School Health, 80(11), 517-526.

This blog was written by Dr. Jennifer Zosh, Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University, Brandywine.