Call it the age of crowd-sharing and open-source learning if you will, but the nature of how young millennials seek out and consume education is indeed changing. The days of Khan Academy YouTube lecture series have arrived, and gone are the times of Encyclopedia Brittanica, a relic of the pre-internet age.
Test banks fit the bill of these modern times, even if the idea behind some of the repositories is as ancient as Greek life itself. In essence, there is a thin, blurry line between the use of test files and the use of answer keys to textbook problem sets, or even collaboratively working through a worksheet.
I find no reason to differentiate between these study methods. Reviewing old tests and their answer keys is even encouraged by some introductory courses: They provide an extra resource for students to focus on the kinds of questions that reappear on future tests.
But what if the same exact questions reappear on tests, rather than questions that just resemble old tests? I can hardly fault the students for seeking out all the collaborative help they can get, and the blame rests largely on the instructor for not spicing up the test a bit.
My take: There are many reasons to take up arms against some of the problems in the Greek system, but this isn’t one of them.
Reach writer Zackary Bonser at opinion@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @ZackaryBonser
