"Scoring High On Tests, Doesn't Mean You're Smart". AMEN To That Nwes!
Scoring high on tests, doesn't mean you're smart, says Grawemeyer winner
By Nancy C. Rodriguez
Ever met someone who had a perfect score on the ACT college-entrance exam, but just wasn’t that swift in real life?
It turns out there is a reason for that, and University of Toronto’s Keith Stanovich not only studies it, he has a name for it — “dysrationalia.” The term refers to the inability to think and behave rationally despite having adequate intelligence.
In his 2009 book, “What Intelligence Tests Miss: Psychology of Rational Thought,” Stanovich argues that intelligence tests as well as college entrance exams fail to measure a person’s ability for rational thought. In fact, his research shows that intelligence “is a mild predictor at best” for rational thinking skills, which people use in every day life to plan, evaluate and weigh risks.
“It is ironic because most lay people are prone to think that IQ tests are tests of, to put it colloquially, good thinking,” Stanovich said. “Yet assessments of good thinking — rational thinking — are nowhere to be found in IQ tests.”
The book and its findings have led Stanovich — a professor of human development and applied psychology — to be selected as the 2010 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award winner in Education.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Stanovich said during a phone interview. “It’s not the type of thing that people expect.…You don’t sit around and think about winning.”
Stanovich — who was chosen from among 34 nominations world-wide — will receive $200,000 and will speak at U of L in April.
Bill Bush, a U of L education professor who is the director of the education award, said the Stanovich “makes a good case that current tests miss the mark in measuring the full range of our thinking and reasoning.
“He also encourages us to rethink what intelligence means and come up with a better way to measure this important human trait,” Bush said, noting that Stanovich’s work has potential for changing not only the way we view and assess intelligence but also how we structure learning and teaching goals in schools.
The research is particularly timely for Kentucky, where state leaders and policy makers are grappling with developing new tests that will assess whether school children are acquiring the skills they need to succeed in postsecondary education and the workplace. The ACT — and several other similar type tests developed by ACT for lower grades — are already part of the state’s school testing system.
Editor's note: Go here to continue reading.
By Nancy C. Rodriguez
Ever met someone who had a perfect score on the ACT college-entrance exam, but just wasn’t that swift in real life?
It turns out there is a reason for that, and University of Toronto’s Keith Stanovich not only studies it, he has a name for it — “dysrationalia.” The term refers to the inability to think and behave rationally despite having adequate intelligence.
In his 2009 book, “What Intelligence Tests Miss: Psychology of Rational Thought,” Stanovich argues that intelligence tests as well as college entrance exams fail to measure a person’s ability for rational thought. In fact, his research shows that intelligence “is a mild predictor at best” for rational thinking skills, which people use in every day life to plan, evaluate and weigh risks.
“It is ironic because most lay people are prone to think that IQ tests are tests of, to put it colloquially, good thinking,” Stanovich said. “Yet assessments of good thinking — rational thinking — are nowhere to be found in IQ tests.”
The book and its findings have led Stanovich — a professor of human development and applied psychology — to be selected as the 2010 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award winner in Education.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Stanovich said during a phone interview. “It’s not the type of thing that people expect.…You don’t sit around and think about winning.”
Stanovich — who was chosen from among 34 nominations world-wide — will receive $200,000 and will speak at U of L in April.
Bill Bush, a U of L education professor who is the director of the education award, said the Stanovich “makes a good case that current tests miss the mark in measuring the full range of our thinking and reasoning.
“He also encourages us to rethink what intelligence means and come up with a better way to measure this important human trait,” Bush said, noting that Stanovich’s work has potential for changing not only the way we view and assess intelligence but also how we structure learning and teaching goals in schools.
The research is particularly timely for Kentucky, where state leaders and policy makers are grappling with developing new tests that will assess whether school children are acquiring the skills they need to succeed in postsecondary education and the workplace. The ACT — and several other similar type tests developed by ACT for lower grades — are already part of the state’s school testing system.
Editor's note: Go here to continue reading.
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posted by KYJurisDoctor at 9:19 PM
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