Can Technology Kill off the Exam?

By Colin Barras

從小到大，無論學(xué)習(xí)什么，人們似乎總是把學(xué)習(xí)成果與考試成績相掛鉤。不管考試大小，在人們眼中，一次考試成績仿佛就說明了一切。有的人通過一次考試被公認(rèn)為優(yōu)等生，甚至能找到好工作；有的人卻因為一次失利而被人們否認(rèn)看低。我們不禁想問，這種測試方法真的科學(xué)嗎？日益發(fā)展的技術(shù)能打破這種考試評優(yōu)的模式嗎？

Major exams are the bane1. bane: 禍害，煩惱之源。of many a student’s life. They represent a one-off chance to scribble months or years of learning onto paper, and can make or break future career prospects.2. 通過考試，人們數(shù)月或數(shù)年的學(xué)習(xí)成果一次性展現(xiàn)出來，未來的職業(yè)前景也由此打開或毀滅。one-off: 一次性的；scribble: 草草地寫。The trouble is that taking an exam at a time rigidly set by the academic calendar has never been an ideal way to determine competence—they may come at the right time for some lucky students,but not for many others.3. rigidly: 嚴(yán)格地；competence:能力。

Perhaps it doesn’t have to be that way. As teaching begins to move online, we no longer need to wait until the end of a course to perform assessments4. assessment: 評估。. Instead, computer software can assess understanding during the learning process itself by analysing a student’s every mouse click and keystroke. So could we finally be able to get rid of the dreaded final exam?5. get rid of: 擺脫；dreaded: 令人畏懼的。

A better option is a system that allows students to advance at their own pace when they have mastered the material, says Julia Freeland, an education researcher at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation in San Mateo, California.6. Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation: 克萊頓·克里斯坦森破壞性創(chuàng)新研究所。This is called competency-based learning, and it requires tailoring7. tailor: 調(diào)整，使合適。the educational programme in a different way for each student. This is clearly something that teachers in a busy classroom may struggle to do. If course material is offered online, though, with the student’s input analysed automatically by computer software, students can be assessed individually—even to the point that the software can identify when a given student is likely to perform to their full potential on an exam.

Competency-based learning software is now being used both in high schools and in colleges across the US,says Freeland. The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in the state of New Hampshire is one prominent high school example.8. Virtual Learning Academy Charter School: 虛擬學(xué)習(xí)學(xué)院特許學(xué)校，旨在通過高新技術(shù)幫助學(xué)生更好學(xué)習(xí)；New Hampshire: （美國）新罕布什爾州；prominent: 杰出的，卓越的。Western Governors University9. Western Governors University: 美國西部州長大學(xué)，是美國遠(yuǎn)程教育領(lǐng)域具有特色的虛擬大學(xué)。,an online institution based in Salt Lake City, Utah,introduced competency-based learning software in 2012. Arizona State University10. Arizona State University: 亞利桑那州立大學(xué)，是美國頂尖研究性大學(xué)，開創(chuàng)了美國高等教育新模式。made a similar move in 2011.

The idea behind the software is relatively straightforward11. straightforward: 明確的。. It takes information about the student’s activity on a course website—the pages they have visited and whether the student has verified that they have read a passage of text or watched a video, for instance—and combines it with data on the student’s performance on informal tests and quizzes to establish in real time how well the student understands a concept.12. 該軟件收集了學(xué)生在網(wǎng)絡(luò)課堂上的表現(xiàn)，比如他們閱讀了多少頁，是否讀了一篇文章或看了課程視頻等等，然后將這些收集上來的信息與學(xué)生在非正規(guī)考試和小測驗中的成績結(jié)合起來，由此判斷學(xué)生對某一理念的掌握程度。verify: 驗證；quiz:小測試。When that understanding reaches a predetermined level13. predetermined level: 預(yù)定水平。, the student is challenged with new concepts, or offered the opportunity to take a formal exam. Since this form of competency-based learning approach was introduced in some classes at Arizona State University, pass rates have reportedly increased.And Philip Regier, the dean of the university’s online arm, says there are now plans for doing “an entire degree adaptively”.14. dean: 院長，系主任；arm: 部門；adaptively:適應(yīng)性地。

Some firms push the technology further. Their artificial intelligence software analyses the data collected to constantly tweak the way it presents new information to the individual.15. 他們的人工智能軟件對所收集的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行分析，不斷優(yōu)化系統(tǒng)，為使用者提供新的信息呈現(xiàn)模式。artificial intelligence software: 人工智能軟件；tweak: 系統(tǒng)優(yōu)化。Within a few weeks, claim their makers,these algorithms can even identify what time of the day a student is most receptive to lessons in a given subject.16. 幾周以后，軟件的研發(fā)者表示：通過這些演算法，人們甚至可以了解到，學(xué)生在既定科目的課程學(xué)習(xí)中，什么時間段吸收知識的效果最佳。algorithm:（尤指計算機(jī)程序中的）演算法；receptive: 善于接受的。

It’s only within the last few years that technology has made this kind of approach to education possible, says David Liu, chief operating of ficer at Knewton17. Knewton: 一家網(wǎng)絡(luò)培訓(xùn)公司，提供多種標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的考試培訓(xùn)課程，使用新一代網(wǎng)絡(luò)教學(xué)平臺進(jìn)行互動教學(xué)。, an adaptive learning company based in New York. In the six years since Knewton was founded, online data storage has advanced so far that Liu says the firm now knows better than anyone how well its students are progressing.

However, students assessed by the likes of Knewton and Khan Academy still haven’t escaped the exam hall just yet.18. 然而，盡管Knewton網(wǎng)絡(luò)學(xué)習(xí)公司和可汗學(xué)院這樣的機(jī)構(gòu)能夠?qū)W(xué)生的學(xué)習(xí)情況進(jìn)行評估，但學(xué)生們?nèi)匀粺o法逃脫考試。Khan Academy: 可汗學(xué)院，一家非盈利教育機(jī)構(gòu)，通過在線教學(xué)視頻向全世界各地的人們提供免費(fèi)的教學(xué)服務(wù)。For that to happen, well-established cultures in the school system would need to change. Fundamentally19. fundamentally: 根本上。, says Freeland, high-school exams are still required in countries like the US for school performance assessment. And professional certification exams, both for highschool-aged and college-aged students, remain an important way for employers to assess candidates.