[HPFGU-OTChatter] Reading, Writing, and Multiple Choice

[Torsten]

bboy_mn wrote:
>We live in the age of 'multiple choice'. When was the last time any
>kid actually had to write anything? One of the ways to improve your
>writing is to write. The more you do it, assume you are actually
>interested in getting better, the better you get. 

When I was a pupil, I always prayed for multiple choice in my bad subjects and 
written answers in my good subjects ...

>When I was in high school, I remember most of our tests being short
>essay where a sheet of typing paper might contain 4 questions with
>space to leave your answers. So not only were we tested on that
>particular subject, but we were also graded on spelling and grammar.

Again, when I was a pupil (damn, writing this makes me feel old) our non-language 
teachers could decrease our marks if we made too many mistakes in our writing in any 
test. So if a maths or biology test required a lot of written answers and you totally 
messed your grammar and spelling up, you could get a worse mark than someone who 
had the 'facts' just as correct at you but wrote correct German, even if there was no 
problem understanding your answers despite your mistakes. Don't know if they still 
have that today, not that many teachers seemed to enforce this back in my days.
Back then we all thought this to be unfair - "It's a MATHS test after all, not 
German!" - but now I think it's a good thing, if there's consideration of special cases 
like formerly foreign pupils.

-Torsten