Study: Nearly 1 in 4 Students Fails Military Entrance Exam

[pqr]

I think this is the difference - you were expected to memorize it and tested repeatedly. Kids today see something once, memorize it long enough to pass the test and then never see it again. I was in school in the 80's - I still remember the order of the planets (including pluto of course) without using any assists, can name all 50 states in order, etc but I saw the information over and over and over again. So, I think memorization has its place but it needs to be done correctly, for the right reasons and ocassionally reinforced.

 

We agree.

[Mosaicmind]

If this is what was meant then I strongly disagree.

 

Why is memorization only short term? I still remember the poems that I was "forced" to learn in school, I still remember the litany of dates, capitals, rivers, planets ...... all of which I was expected to memorize and was tested on repeatedly.

 

If one does not memorize nations and their capitals then one frequently does not know them. There is little written on the capital of Togo (Lome) but I still expect that my children know it. The only way to do this is through memorization, followed up with a few facts.

 

Further, memorization is a mental discipline, unto itself, and well worth promoting in children. It is through the fitful use of memorization drills that "short term" memorization comes, when constantly employed the time both to memorize and the length of retention are improved.

 

Moving away from memorization of lists is perhaps one of the reasons that American children are seen as singularly ill-informed.

 

I do teach my children how to function and see no reason why both cannot be achieved.

 

I am not saying that memorizing a bunch of facts is the wrong thing to do but I feel our public education system puts this ahead of doing other things. What is the why and how behind memorizing these facts? We teach them what battles were fought when but do we teach them why the battles were fought? That's all I was saying.

 

Plus in my kid's highschool they teach to the test....I hate that. My son would tell you there's no reason to learn anymore about something if he already knows what's going to be on a test. Schools are doing away with home ec and accounting type classes, which I think is very bad. With households becoming more dysfunctional,sometimes for those that only have the option to go to ps, learning lifeskills such as cooking and balancing a checkbook are important things that can be learned in school. These classes just don't exist anymore or are quickly fading away.

 

Of course this is all just my humble opinion.

[Audrey]

If this is what was meant then I strongly disagree.

 

Why is memorization only short term? I still remember the poems that I was "forced" to learn in school, I still remember the litany of dates, capitals, rivers, planets ...... all of which I was expected to memorize and was tested on repeatedly.

 

If one does not memorize nations and their capitals then one frequently does not know them. There is little written on the capital of Togo (Lome) but I still expect that my children know it. The only way to do this is through memorization, followed up with a few facts.

 

Further, memorization is a mental discipline, unto itself, and well worth promoting in children. It is through the fitful use of memorization drills that "short term" memorization comes, when constantly employed the time both to memorize and the length of retention are improved.

 

Moving away from memorization of lists is perhaps one of the reasons that American children are seen as singularly ill-informed.

 

I do teach my children how to function and see no reason why both cannot be achieved.

 

I think the misunderstanding is that what you are talking about is rote, which was done over and over again. Then, we saw those same things posted about the classrooms and on our papers all the time. Of course that information was going to last long term!

 

The kind of "memorizing" that is taught to kids today is the "cram" kind of memorization where you remember A.C.B.C.A.A.B the day before the test you are going to take. It isn't followed up on later, and the material doesn't get applied in any relevant manner either. They promptly forget it because it has no meaning to them.

 

The way you and I were taught to memorize doesn't look remotely like the way kids are taught to memorize today.

 

I dare say this is true of many facets of schooldom today. I was recently observing a high school class and I didn't recognize most of the "methods" that were being employed to teach. It was like watching aliens being programmed, complete with little wires running into their heads.

 

I'll bet little alien children would have actually absorbed something though. I seriously doubt the human children absorbed a single iota of usable knowledge.

Edited December 23, 2010 by Audrey

[creekland]

I dare say this is true of many facets of schooldom today. I was recently observing a high school class and I didn't recognize most of the "methods" that were being employed to teach. It was like watching aliens being programmed, complete with little wires running into their heads.

 

 

 

I agree with you. In general, as the old school teachers retire, the level of education of our students is going down. It's sad.

 

But, in the history class I mentioned, my son loves the teacher and the teacher IS teaching the whys and more than just facts. My son is learning a lot that we then discuss at home. I add more at home and we add things like educational movies from the History Channel, etc (watched Schindler's List as our first netflix trial, etc).

 

The majority of the kids at school still don't care to truly internalize the learning - just learn for test and only what they need to know on the test.

[redsquirrel]

I went to highschool in a state where all juniors were required to take the test. Among my classmates, if you knew you weren't going to join the military, it was a vacation day. We took the test but just filled in the circles and got out of school for the day. We competed to get the lowest score possible. Those who were joining the military studied and tried to do very well.

 

I can't imagine we were the only ones who didn't take the test seriously.

[Mrs Mungo]

I went to highschool in a state where all juniors were required to take the test. Among my classmates, if you knew you weren't going to join the military, it was a vacation day. We took the test but just filled in the circles and got out of school for the day. We competed to get the lowest score possible. Those who were joining the military studied and tried to do very well.

 

I can't imagine we were the only ones who didn't take the test seriously.

 

Again, the study in question was done on high school *graduates* who were enlisting. So, slacking off high school students were not included.

[TechWife]

No - I never took it.

[Snowfall]

Not really. In some schools everyone takes the ASVAB. There are 34 states in which all high school juniors take the exam.

 

OMW! No wonder that recruiter suddenly popped up in my life in high school! I had always wondered why on earth he started calling me and even showed up to my house. I had never expressed any interest in joining the military - it is decidedly not my style. And yet this recruiter kept contacting me for many weeks. I bet my school (in MO) never told us the test had anything to do with the military, because I don't remember ever knowing I was taking such a test and I've ALWAYS wondered why that man kept coming around. I bet they gave our scores out.

[Murphy101]

OMW! No wonder that recruiter suddenly popped up in my life in high school! I had always wondered why on earth he started calling me and even showed up to my house. I had never expressed any interest in joining the military - it is decidedly not my style. And yet this recruiter kept contacting me for many weeks. I bet my school (in MO) never told us the test had anything to do with the military, because I don't remember ever knowing I was taking such a test and I've ALWAYS wondered why that man kept coming around. I bet they gave our scores out.

 

Yep. That's how it went down in my school. :D