2008 Woodie Awards
Editorial: GWPE test insults student intelligence
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Opinion
The Graduating Writing Proficiency Exam (GWPE), is a test given every semester to students who have completed 60 units and are preparing to graduate. It consists of two essay questions, each of which students have 45 minutes to complete. One of the questions is meant to be a personal experience question, and the other is an analytical question.
One of the flaws with the GWPE is that it is a mandatory test but you have to pay $20. If you don't pass, and have to take it again, you have to pay a second time. Why should students have to pay for something they are required to do?
Another flaw was one of the latest tests' questions, on April 19. It said (this is not verbatim): "How has your experience at Humboldt contributed to your knowledge of globalization and diversity, or not". Who else but Humboldt State administrators could test people on their intelligence while insulting their intelligence at the same time?
This is clearly an attempt to get feedback about Humboldt State. But please, just call a spade a spade. By slipping an evaluation question into such an important test, the test writers are insulting student's intelligence. People could tell what that question really was, and what feedback information it was intended to receive.
Ironically, the GWPE is a test on writing style, and whether students can support an argument (any argument), so what students write doesn't have to be true. It would not be surprising in the slightest if students made things up to support their statements. Good luck extracting valuable feedback from that.
The only thing that remains to be seen is why administrators chose to use the GWPE as a survey method. A survey just went out asking for student feedback. Did the survey not yield enough responses, or did the administrators not like the answers they got?
One of the flaws with the GWPE is that it is a mandatory test but you have to pay $20. If you don't pass, and have to take it again, you have to pay a second time. Why should students have to pay for something they are required to do?
Another flaw was one of the latest tests' questions, on April 19. It said (this is not verbatim): "How has your experience at Humboldt contributed to your knowledge of globalization and diversity, or not". Who else but Humboldt State administrators could test people on their intelligence while insulting their intelligence at the same time?
This is clearly an attempt to get feedback about Humboldt State. But please, just call a spade a spade. By slipping an evaluation question into such an important test, the test writers are insulting student's intelligence. People could tell what that question really was, and what feedback information it was intended to receive.
Ironically, the GWPE is a test on writing style, and whether students can support an argument (any argument), so what students write doesn't have to be true. It would not be surprising in the slightest if students made things up to support their statements. Good luck extracting valuable feedback from that.
The only thing that remains to be seen is why administrators chose to use the GWPE as a survey method. A survey just went out asking for student feedback. Did the survey not yield enough responses, or did the administrators not like the answers they got?
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Flaw brouhaha
posted 5/05/08 @ 1:01 PM PST
The price as a requirement is hardly a flaw. Sometimes requirements carry a cost, and only those privileged few can afford that cost. But you're a college student, look around you. (Continued…)
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