301–310 of 403 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The overwhelming majority of math tests involve doing math, so I'm not sure your critique is useful in this context.
Given that I'm not responding to any claim about the efficacy of math tests... it's actually your statement which is wholly irrelevant to this discussion.
"Academic tests involve academics"
"I'm not talking about academics!"
That about sum it up?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ground school comes first at IFT https://www.baseops.net/militarypilot/usaf_ift.html Note that a tree implies it is made of wood. If you find a stick of wood, odds are it came from a tree.
>Ground school comes first at IFT There is no singular "IFT"... you happened to find one IFT among hundreds across the U.S. that has such a syllabus, great... but it does not come first as requirement mandated either by law/regulation or convention. Here is the syllabus for a different FAA Part 61 and 141 approved IFT program that uses an integrated approach with the following quote: "Each Module contains both a flig…
Regardless, as a civilian, you do have to pass a written multiple-choice test on flying theory before you can solo. Any time you spend in the cockpit before passing that test will be under the supervision of a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), in a plane with dual controls, and you are not acting a pilot-in-command.
So, although the parent may be slightly over-focused on the USAF way, I think it is fair to say that for any type of pilot training in the USA, you do have to complete academic ground training (including passing a formal written test) before you are truly “given the controls”.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My understanding is you're equating `failing a test` to `lacking the relevant skills and knowledge to do a certain task competently`. The reality is sometimes tests in academia are just not very well made and don't really test what they are supposed to be testing, and that's usually due to multiple reasons like misaligned incentives, staffing shortages and maybe lack of resources / funding. I don't think the comparis…
I don't buy the notion that tests do not test relevant skills. In my long career I've noticed a strong correlation between SAT scores and academic performance as well as job performance. > I don't think the comparison to flight school is relevant enough in this context because it's a too different of a world to traditional academia. My dad kept his flight school tests for flying all sorts of airplanes. They bear a lo…
> In my long career I've noticed a strong correlation between SAT scores and academic performance as well as job performance.
A test doesn't need to test the relevant skills for that, it just needs to test _something_ that correlates with academic performance and job success.
They are obviously using the SAT as a safer alternative to the legally dubious practice of IQ testing which can lead to running afoul of the ADA and EEOC. I'm not sure it's much safer, but I am positive it's less safe than doing timed leetcode. At least leetcode problems can be painted as relating to the job. Additionally, the SAT is a shitty IQ test that is constantly crammed for and cheated on. I remember my SAT te…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> calculators are allowed OMG. Calculators are useless on the SAT anyway. > vocabulary has been removed. I flipped through a book that coached on SAT vocabulary. I knew all the words. Oh well. I never learned vocabulary as an explicit task. I simply read a lot. I remember one question on the SAT verbal because it irked me. It asked an analogy question which required knowledge of mixed alcoholic drinks. Since I was fa…
> OMG. Calculators are useless on the SAT anyway. No, they removed all the non-calculator “thinking” and “logic” math questions. It’s calculator stuff now. They really nerfed the crap out of the SAT. It’s so soft
Here’s a source that contradicts you (first hit for Desmos SAT). One of the allowed calculators is the Desmos app built in to the testing program.
https://www.strategictestprep.com/post/is-desmos-dead-on-the...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The person who knows cursive can go on to learn Newtonian physics. Now he knows two things. While your supposed hero still only knows one.
Once upon a time, I thought I wanted to learn cursive handwriting. Except this version of me was already in his 20s, would be out of school in a matter of months, and quickly realized the skill would be of such marginal utility in the future that it wasn't worth the hours spent tracing out giant letters like a kindergartener every day. One could learn this skill in their 20s or beyond, but there's an opportunity cost…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always enjoy the advocates who claim that students have mastered their subjects, but "don't test well". Would you want a pilot on your flight who flunked flying school exams, but somehow "really knew how to fly!"?
Not really comparable... the overwhelming majority of flight tests involve flying an aircraft. There is no meaningful way someone can be excellent at flying an aircraft but can't pass a test which involves flying an aircraft. The same can't be said for many other tests. If the test involves the practical application of the very skill being tested, then that test has direct relevance to he competency of said skill. Bu…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
High graduation rates are an important metric to administrators. If a professor gave a failing grade to 1/3 of the class they would be in hot water.
> High graduation rates are an important metric to administrators. If a professor gave a failing grade to 1/3 of the class they would be in hot water. I remember practically every single instructor/professor on the first day of class during my freshman year of my undergraduate study said something along the lines of "I have no curves. Your grades depend on you and nobody else. If the whole class does well, everyone c…
* If 1/3 of calculus physics for engineers fail, they take it next semester.
* If 1/3 of gen-ed physics for poets fail, the professor better have a good explanation for the provost.
* If 1/3 of physics for pre-meds fail, the professor better have a pretty good home security system and might want to think about having the family stay in a hotel for a few weeks.
Last month 2,400 University of California faculty asked for admissions to resume using the SAT "to ensure foundational fluency." Of course many employers want to ensure that too, especially when college degrees don't anymore. The widening abilities gap followed the 2020 elimination of the SAT/ACT, a temporary measure that has now become a permanent vulnerability. This outcome was explicitly predicted by the Academic…
SAT score is known to be predictive of college grades. Is it also predictive for whether a mid-to-late career candidate will pass a phone screen? It is used for early career candidate filtering in finance, but I have not heard of anybody caring beyond that because of the availability of signal on the actual tasks they will be performing.
I’m sure having access to your own SAT scores (or even remembering what they were) is highly predictive of not being someone who it would be illegal to fire because they are too old… which is probably the point… and why I’d expect most HR departments to shy away from this requirement.