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What percentage of todays high school graduates do you estimate could pass this 8th grade test from 1912?
Since a much larger proportion of 14-year-olds are actually in school in the year 2013, I think a larger percentage of that age-group as a whole would pass that test compared to 2013 compared to 1912.
Also, the typical mathematics done at the 8th-grade level is well above what is shown on that test. I know - I've had three children go through 8th-grade in the last three years.
If they had time to study the material like the people the test was written for, pretty easily. Since these subjects and questions don't really contain knowledge that is applicible any more it is unlikely they studied it. If people were surprised by obscure questions involving memorization that was even part of their own childhood, many people would fail it. That is the point of the show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader."
Education and intelligence are more than simple memorization. You aren't dumber than a kid that just spent weeks memorizing the provinces of Canada if you get surprised on the street and demanded to name the provinces and can't. Anyone that thinks people are less educated now because they can't calculate how many bales of hay fit in a wagon needs to have a mental evaluation or is special needs.
Since a much larger proportion of 14-year-olds are actually in school in the year 2013, I think a larger percentage of that age-group as a whole would pass that test compared to 2013 compared to 1912.
Also, the typical mathematics done at the 8th-grade level is well above what is shown on that test. I know - I've had three children go through 8th-grade in the last three years.
Doubtful if you take the computers and new gizmos they use today everything we did in school was paper,pencil and your brain. No slide rules no cheat sheets or it was the Board of Education if you violated said rules of student honor.
I seriously doubt that some students at Shawnee State University could pass that test even some of the so called instructors who I have beaten at Triva could pass it hell I don't think I could...lol
The second important piece in this digital age is that memorizing crap isn't nearly as important as knowing how to think critically.
Knowing how much wood is in a cord or about some civil war battle is trivia, not education to a current 8th grader....but they can pull it up in 5 seconds using google.
Doubtful if you take the computers and new gizmos they use today everything we did in school was paper,pencil and your brain. No slide rules no cheat sheets or it was the Board of Education if you violated said rules of student honor.
I seriously doubt that some students at Shawnee State University could pass that test even some of the so called instructors who I have beaten at Triva could pass it hell I don't think I could...lol
The math was easy and there is nothing wrong with using a calculator to perform the grunt work anymore than complaining that someone using a chainsaw to cut down a tree is cheating.
An idiot with a calculator isn't going to suddenly be able to solve real problems.
The second important piece in this digital age is that memorizing crap isn't nearly as important as knowing how to think critically.
Knowing how much wood is in a cord or about some civil war battle is trivia, not education to a current 8th grader....but they can pull it up in 5 seconds using google.
That's the problem in a nutshell. Smartphones and computers are actually making people dumber. The parts of their brains that are used for memory and social capabilities are shrinking. Cut off the electricity and these kids are dumber than a box of rocks.
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