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Questioning comprehension questions
Most reading textbooks have a story or other text, then a series of questions to test understanding. And how much those questions actually test is pretty questionable.
One of my favorite (bad) examples came years ago when I was teaching in a Japanese high school, using a book approved by the Ministry of Education. It contained a story about Helen Keller. Of course, you know she was deaf and blind. What a lot of people don't know is what a brilliant person she was. She was a early feminist. A peace activist. The list goes on. Anyway, after the story, the students got to the questions (which are, of course, in the wrong place. Students should always know why they are reading so questions should come before the story). Anyway, the students got to the first question:
Q: Did Helen sit in the front seat or the back seat of the car?
A: Who cares? (OK, that wasn't the real answer but it was my feeling and I think most of the students agreed. Here's a short article that talks about questions and how we can test more by testing at deeper levels.
Article: Questioning comprehension questions
One of my favorite (bad) examples came years ago when I was teaching in a Japanese high school, using a book approved by the Ministry of Education. It contained a story about Helen Keller. Of course, you know she was deaf and blind. What a lot of people don't know is what a brilliant person she was. She was a early feminist. A peace activist. The list goes on. Anyway, after the story, the students got to the questions (which are, of course, in the wrong place. Students should always know why they are reading so questions should come before the story). Anyway, the students got to the first question:
Q: Did Helen sit in the front seat or the back seat of the car?
A: Who cares? (OK, that wasn't the real answer but it was my feeling and I think most of the students agreed. Here's a short article that talks about questions and how we can test more by testing at deeper levels.
Article: Questioning comprehension questions