COAST. I ARTILLERY JOURNAL, - Air Defense Artillery

MILITARY PEDAGOGY 419
The advantages claimed for the New Type test are that it can be
given and scored quickly; that the marking is objective, equally fair
to all, and can be done by a clerk, thus freeing the instructor for other
more important work; and that it makes the minimum demand upon
the student's nervous energy. The disadvantages are that the reasoning
processes of the student are not shown; that computations are not
shown and hence cannot be checked for method; and that the preparation
of examinations (requiring repeated checking by many persons to
detect all opportunities for misinterpretation or misunderstanding and
to insure the deletion of every ambiguity) is a laborious process, requiring
about as many instructor-hours as are needed for' marking
writen examinations of the Free Answer type.
It is at once evident that the New Type test should not be used in
these subjects where more than one correct answer exists, or where it is
desired that the student show his methods of computation or his reasoning
from point to point. This form is useful, however, when it is
desired to give short tests from time to time to bring out points overlooked,
emphasize those it is especially desired to stress, or to correct
possible confusion of ideas or lack of precision in thought. The results
of such tests not being made a matter of record, the progress of the
class may thus be determined with a minimum demand upon the time
and nervous energy of its members. While the Free Answer type of test
is often preferred for deliberate grading of students in time of peace,
the New Type test may be necessitated by the large size of the classes
and the fewness of instructors in time of war, especially in subjects
of exact character in which examinations of this type have already been
prepared and tested in peace-time instruction.
Xormally, proficiency in a subject is best determined by tests of the
Free Answer type, either alone or in combination with one or more of
the other types, depending upon the subject and the purpose of the
test. Regardless of the form used, it should always be remembered
that the mission of all examinations is not only to test the knowledge or
skill of the student, but also to help him connect up related facts and to
impress the more important points upon his memory.
Actual knowledge cannot be accurately measured, and therefore it
cannot be accurately marked. While it may be difficult to make any
single measurement accurately, it is possible and practicable to reach
a reliable result through the aid of approximate measurements, and
this realibility increases with the number of such measurements made
and the care exercised in making them.
The familiar percentage system, in which lOO~-( is the maximum
and 75';C (or less) is passing, is still largely used today in one form
or another. It is yet the only system by which relati,-e class standing