SILENNNNNNCE!
Scalzi this morning provided a link to an article about the Korean college entrance exam, and how the whole country goes into a cone of silence for this one day in order not to distract the students.
We're all familiar with golfers' need for silence, or tennis players'.[1]
And all I can ever think of when people are grousing about how noise distracts them, is baseball.
One of the hardest things to do in this world is to hit a professionally-pitched baseball. Yet hundreds of guys do it almost every day for 6-9 months a year. The pitchers accurately aim those balls despite a crowd not only yelling--often chanting--but also waving distracting towels in the background of home plate.
Similarly, hundreds of men and women shoot baskets while crowds hoot and wave. Run footballs (both American and soccer) from one end of a field to another in an environment of barely controlled chaos. Shoot pucks. Sling balls.
I think my biggest problem with the Day of Silence for the kids taking a test is that it is not real-world conditions, which makes it not a very accurate test. The true measure of a person's mental skill is not whether they can perform a difficult task in perfect conditions--it's whether they have the ability to concentrate while the guy in the next cubicle is typing on a clacky keyboard, the woman across the way is talking to a client on the phone, and the cleaning staff are trundling large containers down the hall.
General silence? Good and reasonable. I would not have liked to take my SATs in a stadium. I also understand the need for silence when the students are listening to the oral part of the exam. But for the rest... The proctor walking around? A student shifting in his seat? If that's distracting, you need some lessons in how to concentrate.
[1] I'm willing to give it to the tennis players, as they need to hear the linesmen make calls. It's not quite the same as baseball, where the pace is slow enough to see the umpires' gestures.
We're all familiar with golfers' need for silence, or tennis players'.[1]
And all I can ever think of when people are grousing about how noise distracts them, is baseball.
One of the hardest things to do in this world is to hit a professionally-pitched baseball. Yet hundreds of guys do it almost every day for 6-9 months a year. The pitchers accurately aim those balls despite a crowd not only yelling--often chanting--but also waving distracting towels in the background of home plate.
Similarly, hundreds of men and women shoot baskets while crowds hoot and wave. Run footballs (both American and soccer) from one end of a field to another in an environment of barely controlled chaos. Shoot pucks. Sling balls.
I think my biggest problem with the Day of Silence for the kids taking a test is that it is not real-world conditions, which makes it not a very accurate test. The true measure of a person's mental skill is not whether they can perform a difficult task in perfect conditions--it's whether they have the ability to concentrate while the guy in the next cubicle is typing on a clacky keyboard, the woman across the way is talking to a client on the phone, and the cleaning staff are trundling large containers down the hall.
General silence? Good and reasonable. I would not have liked to take my SATs in a stadium. I also understand the need for silence when the students are listening to the oral part of the exam. But for the rest... The proctor walking around? A student shifting in his seat? If that's distracting, you need some lessons in how to concentrate.
[1] I'm willing to give it to the tennis players, as they need to hear the linesmen make calls. It's not quite the same as baseball, where the pace is slow enough to see the umpires' gestures.