Eriday. Jun. 5. m4

SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Three

 

Tom Fullmer

Miscellany and Digression

President Howard R. Bowen
in an address in the fall of 1962
Much has received much at-
tention in the field of education
attacked the reliance of the
American educational system
on grades and test scores as the
standard for the judging of a
student’s ability or progress.
in a more recent talk this
spring Bowen expanded on this
thesis suggesting some innova-
tions which might be introduced
BI. Grlnuell to raise the level of
Grinnell education.

These suggestions included
such innovations as the revis-
ion of the course grading sys-
tem, replacing letter grades
with a three-level high pass,
pass, and failure grading sys-
tem. The letters grades would
be used in the evaluation of in-
dependent projects and compre-
hensives which would probably
include the junior liberal arts
examination. Independent work
and comprehensives would be
considered as one quarter of
the student's total work at
Gl'lllnell.

l have neither the intelli-
gence nor the educational ex-
perience to match Dr. Bowen.
However, I have for the last
four years been a full pracr
ticilig college student. While
this in no way establishes the
presence of a high level of in-
telllgence in the author, it does
indicate a basic cunning that is
required to perpetrate such a
longstanding fraud, More im»
portant, perhaps, this recent
experience as a student gives
me a perspective which an in-
telligent college administrator
cannot possibly hope to obtain.

From this perspective I must
take exception to several of Dr.
Bowen’s suggestions. While I
would agree that often too
much attention is given to
scores of nationwide, standard-
ized, objective examinations
such as the if), College Board,
and Graduate Record examina-
tions, the answer does not lie
in the total rejection of these
tests in favor of all-embracing
subjective essay examinations.
Tile standardized objective test
have many weaknesses. They
Often test the students’ knowl-
edge of isolated facts. Little if
anything can be determined
about how well the student can
evaluate and interpret facts or
evidence and place them with
in a meaningful context.

The Junior Liberal Arts test
and senior comprehensive usu-
ally utilize both objective and
subjective tests to determine
both the student's knowledge of
facts and his analytical and in:
terpretive ability. In theory,

such a combination should be
ideal.

 

However, the subjective por-
tions of the test usually can be
criticized for the failures that
are apparent in the objective
tests. There is no correlation
between the two sections of the
test. It is as if one were at-
tempting to deny the constant
interaction between objective
and subjective thought.

The most common reason for
this failure to allow the inter-
action of objective and subjec-
tive thought is that the essays
are too broad to permit
weighting of the comprehen-
sives and grading them by
strict letter grades would tend
to emphasize the results of
these unreliable and often unin-
formative tests. The validity of
the results of these tests is
questionable, and their value as
a step in the learning process
of a studen‘t has yet to be
proved.

I would suggest that the Jun-
ior Liberal Arts test be geared
more to an understanding of
the contemporary and how the
work of the various disciplines
interact and‘influence each oth-
er in the search for knowledge
to help light our progress to
the future. The interim session
would be devoted to a program
of independent study selected
by the student in a field outside
of his major study.

To further emphasize inde-
pendent study and at the same
time eliminate the weaknesses
inherent in attempting to de~
termine the competency of a
Student in a field of study
through several hours of testing
which seldom require or per-
mit a student to utilize the
tools of his discipline in the or-
ganization and presentation of
facts, concepts. and hypotheses,
I would replace senior Compre-
hensives with a required sen-
ior project to be done by each
student.

In his senior year the student
would select a topic for a pa
per. This paper Would be more
than a research paper. It
would also require by the stu»
dent an understanding of the
procedures basic to his discip-
line. To facilitate work on this
project the student would take
a reduced course load, perhaps
two courses in the semester or
semesters in which the projects
are being done.

This, rather than a reliance
on several hours of testing with
dubious validity would prove
more valuable to the student
in terms of co-ordinating the
knowledge he has gathered in
his major field. It would also
provide a more accurate and
reasonable standard by which
the student’s progress in his
major could be charted.

Scarlet and Black

GRINNELL

COLLEGE

Grinneli. Iowa

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.lohn Moe

John Palmer.

. Dick Faxon

so. NOTE: This is the last at
a series of articles written by

Vince Anku especially for lho
5&3.

Ghana is making a pheno-
menal progress in the field of
education which is considered
the major tool for eliminating
tyranny, slavery, and inequal-
ity. Last year the U. N, statiSr
tics showed that Ghana spends
a greater fraction of her reve-
nue on education than any
other country in the world.
This means a lot since Ghana
jis perhaps the wealthiest state
in Africa (excluding apartheid
South Africa). By 1970 Ghana
will be the first country in Af-
rica and one of the few in the
world to have entirely free ed-
ucation at all levels. It is only
for technical and secondary
school sectors of education in
Ghana that fees are charged.

Before 1951 opportunities for
basic education were restricted
to the urban minority but are
now rapidly expanding to all
parts of the country. In Ghana
the coastal South was far more
advanced than the inland
North. Virtually all the schools
were located in the South. By
1952, primary, secondary, and
university education was made
free for the poor northern
children while the southern
children still had to pay for
their education. This tremen-
.dous educational opportunity
makes it possible for all areas
now to participate freely in all
aspects of Ghanaian life. After
a few years of self govern-
ment, Ghana was rich enough
to institute universal compul-
sory free primary education.
In 1954 mass adult education
was started, aiming to teach

basic literacy and skills to thel
rural population and above all
to mobilize their energy for
rural self-help projects. This
program contributed greatly to-
wards the transformation of the
Ghanian countryside,

In secondary education, the
emphasis is placed on scienti-
fic and mathematical subjects
in pursuance of the Govern-
ment’s policy of producing as
fast as possible enough quali-
fied men for the scientific and
technological revolution. The
secondary school population
grew in ten years from 3500 to
19,000, and the rate of second-
ary school graduation ins
creased seven-fold since inde-
pendence in 1957. However, the
government is not satisfied with
this creditable accomplishment.
A few months ago an eighteen-
member commission was ap-
pointed to study pre-university
educationiit included one ex-
pert from the United States and
one from the Soviet Union—to
find means of improvement.

it is perhaps in the field of
university e d u c a t i o n that
Ghana's achievement is most
significant. After about a cen-
tury of colonial domination,
Ghana had only one university
in 1951 with 200 students. There
are at present about 13.000 stu-
dents in the three universities
of Ghana and about twenty jun-
ior colleges. In addition Ghana
has Over 3.000 students in the
Western countries. The East-
ern hemisphere has generous~
ly offered 3,000 scholarships to
Ghanian students to study
mainly medicine, agriculture,
and engineering.

Ghana's educational progress

 

has always greatly impressed

 

By Felix Lungu

On July 6th, 1964, the British
government will issue an official
declaration of independence for Ny-
asaland. With effect from that
date, the map name, Nyasaland.
will be erased, and the original
name, Malawi, will be printed in
its place.

On that day Malawi will occupy
her rightful place in the world com~
munity of nations. It will be a
day of rejoicing and prayer not
only among Africans but among
all freedom loving people who

‘value the dignity of man and the

right of a people to shape their
own destiny,

The war for political indepen-
dence has come to a close, but
the Malawians are not so naive
as to think all is over; they know
that there remains greater and
more formidable enemies; and
those enemies are illiteracy, pov-
erty, disease, and hunger. The
Malawiuns are. resolved to eradi-
cate all these verminous enemiesr
They know they will never fail;

 

African Country Gains
Freedom; Malawi Now

 

they are used to waging Wars
against enemies and they have al-
ways won their wars. So there is
no doubt they will win the
struggle against the vermlnous en»
emies. Unfortunately, they can’t do
all this alone, but with the help
of those nations which have more
or less conquered killers of man-
kind, lhe Malawians are very hope»
ful.

And so on that independence day,
wherever you may be, echo back
to the beating drums of Africa
celebrating the liberation of Mala—
wi from the chains of colonial rule.
To some people it will be a day
accompanied with grief when they
remember their brothers W110 shed
their blood in the struggle for
human freedom. We as Malawians
won't ask other nations to share
our inner grief; all we ask from
them on that day is to share with
us our joy, and further more we
will ask them to pray that those
people who have been chosen by
the people to lead Malawi will act

 

with wisdom and justice.

Anku Discusses Education
in last Article On Ghana

visitors to the country. A few
months ago. Dr. Malcolm Adis‘
eshiah, Deputy Director-Gen-
era] of UNESCO, spoke highly
of Ghana‘s educational pro-
gram. He remarked that “uni-
versal primary education, the
high level of secondary educa-
tion, and the rapid growth of
universities in Ghana are signs
of Ghana’s determination to be-
come one of the lnost advanced
countries in education in the
world.

“On the countryside, Ghana
is doing one of the most im-
portant works on African cul<
ture, history, drama, music,
and dancing." he added.

The avowed enemies of
Ghana brush aside all these
praiseworthy accomplishments
of Nkrumah and his people and
constantly, th ough falsely,
charge Nkrumah with absolute
dictatorship. Experience has
shown quite well that slavery
and absolute dictators cannot
flourish among educated men.
I believe that Ghanaians‘ have
a. bright future if they con-
tinue to follow their able and
extremely dedicated leader.
who is cautiously directing the
course of their history. This is
the leader some “astute" west-
ern observers call ”the black<
man's burden.” Yes, indeed,
but the lightest and most com«
fortable burden the black men
have ever borne.

in my concluding remarks, I
quote an excerpt from a Niger.
ian radio commentary on Janu-
ary 4, 1964. “The most impor-
tant point, however, is that,
whatever one thinks of Presi-
dent Nkrumah’s policy, few
will dispute the fact that it will
take Ghana a long time to get:
another Nkrumah. Both the
people of Ghana and Africa in
general will certainly need
Nkrumah for many rnorl
years.”

Truesdale Honored
Al Commencement

Grinnell College paused Fri<
day to recognize Dr. John c.
Truesdale for 37 years of serv;
ice.

Dr. Truesdale, who retire:
this year with the rank of pro-
fessor emeritus of physical eds
ucation for men. was singled
out for attention during the
Commencement exercises in
Darby Gymnasium.

Dr. Truesdale, who holds a'
B. A. degree from Bradley Uni-
versity and M. A. and Ph. D‘
degree from State University,
of Iowa. came to Grinnell in
1927 and has remained on the
staff since that time. Durinﬁ
the earlier days of his tenur
he served as basketball coach
and director of athletics. A

-— I

Robert B, Savage, senior, has
been named the winner of the an‘r
nual Personal Library contest, es;
tablished by Harry 1, worth
Grinnell class of 1907‘ - A

 

