CLASS TESTS BY MACHINE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 202, 11 September 1937, Page 14

CLASS TESTS BY MACHINE

If the inventions of Dr. Sidney L. Pressey can be interpreted as pointing the way, class-rooms of the future may b« equipped with testing maehincs which vend ''IQ's" in neat packages. Dr. Pressey, visiting professor of •ducational phvscology at the TMversity of Hawaii, holds patents on machines designed to eliminate the cleiical drudgery of correcting papers. Teachers as well as stndents, he says he believes, should be less burdened with homework. He has been experimenting for ten years with classroom testing devices. Two of his machines have been in use for five years at Ohio State University To nse one of these machines students punch holes in their test papers under "yes" or "no" or under their clioicc of mnltiple answers. "When all answcrs •ro punched the paper is tnkcn to tho professor's desk, run through a »aehine which swiftly marhs each •■ewer right or wronq, totals the ■core, and tabulates for the- piofcsw..r's benefit the number cf e: rors madc by jUxe class on cacli qucstion. £&£ ijjis jlevicc in his i

classes aboxit once a week; not primarily to grade students, but to allow them to check up on themselves. One of tho- cliief advantages of this mechanical tcster, he says, is that it permits the studcnt to lcnow immodiately what his errors are before they are too firmly fixed in his thoughts. Another advantage is that the testing is done so swiftly the greater portion of the class hour is reserved for discussion to clarify all questions npt thoroughly understood. Experimentation has shown that classes using the machine average 10 to 20 per cent higher grades at tho end of the term than classes in which such "check ups" are not made. Another of Dr. PressCy's inventions is a multiple answer testing machine operated by a keyboard. The machine refuses to progress to the next queStion until the correct answer has been found to tho preceding one. As a fancv accessorv to this device Dr. Pressey has perfected an attachment which releases a piece of candy when Ihe student has found Ihe correct ausj&ers to. ali questions. 9