jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Got some paper an something to write with? A teacher friend gave me something like this years ago, and I was reminded of it recently. See if you can get the point.
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Get paper and pen/pencil and prepare to write answers to these questions. Read the entire thing before beginning to write.

1. How many hours are in a week?
2. If it is 3:00 AM in NY, what time is it in CA?
3. How many quarters are $100?
4. Are a chicken and a rooster the same species?
5. Which color light has the shortest wavelength, red or blue?
6. Is a shark a fish or a mammal?
7. How many tentacles does an octopus have?
8. Who is credited with discovering King Tut’s tomb.
9. How many ounces are in a pound of gold?
10. Do not write anything.

ayersrl Loc: Palm Beach Gardens,Fl

Also had that test, though #10 said to put your name on the paper and turn it in, you got 100%

mleuck

passed!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

This is along the same lines as RTFM. (If you can't read and follow instructions, can you *really* do anything independently?)

When I worked in a pro lab, I hired seasonal workers to run scanners, printers, order entry terminals, etc.. I had a staff of 70 in my six departments. I always gave them a simple test like that to see if they were patient enough and detail-oriented enough to figure things out by reading on their own. Probably half the candidates I interviewed completely blew it.

Through video surveillance, we learned that only 18% to 24% of employees would read something marked READ IMMEDIATELY — IMPORTANT FOR CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT. Worse than that, only about 8% could tell me what it really said, if it was more than two pages.

We have quit teaching people how to write in cursive. We have forgotten or neglected to teach people how to read for comprehension and analysis. We have turned everything into a 15-second sound bite or a 140 character tweet. Educators can no longer assign 100 pages a night at the college level, because students don't have the attention span for it.

Of course, in the example above, anyone properly trained to take a standardized test knows the strategy to read the last thing of any sequence first...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Ah, yes.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Funny. I think many people ignore caps and red type because they think it's so basic that they don't have to waste their time reading it. DO NOT OPERATE THIS HAIR DRYER UNDERWATER.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

That would be the last operation the person performed...

Natural selection at work, I guess.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

What prompted me to post this "test" is the type of answers people often receive. Answers often have nothing to do with the question, and I wonder if the person answering even read the question.

"What's a good wide angle lens?"

"I've always used the Cotton Carrier StrapShot for carrying my camera. That's the best!"

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Sorta reminds me of Parkinson's law. Work expands to fill the time allotted.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I don't know. I think that law's kinda shaky.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Invalid for me, I used to do things like that with my students. As part of a lesson on following directions and reading the instructions before doing something. The smarter and more success oriented (type A personality) tended to mess it up more. And they were about 50-50 between laughing or getting upset over it afterwards. But every year there were some students who then did the same thing to other students or even teachers.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

All I can say is I will not do a real reply to this because I don't feel like writing a book today. I would be agreeing and expanding on it. One example only, I used to require cursive on written work or lose 1/2 a letter grade. Students didn't know cursive so I had to had out sheets with examples and do lessons on cursive. Then some would bring notes from other teachers or parents protesting the cursive requirement. The notes were always printed, and often poorly.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If I had been given that in school, I would have rushed through it. Reading the whole thing before beginning never appealed to me. When I have several pages of directions to follow to put something together, the first thing they often say is to read through everything before starting. I'd rather just get started.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

And it can often come back to bite you.
Rule of test taking, always read the directions first, always.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right.