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college preparedness article-science/tests
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I thought this a worthwhile read…
RachelThis article may be published on web sites and in publications as long as it’s reproduced in its entirety.
College Professor Critiques Homeschoolers
copyright 2009 by Greg Landry, M.S.I teach sophomore through senior level college students – most of them are “pre-professional” students. They are preparing to go to medical school, dental school, physical therapy school, etc.
As a generalization, I’ve noticed certain characteristics common in my students who were homeschooled. Some of these are desirable, some not.
Desirable characteristics:
1. They are independent learners and do a great job of taking initiative and being responsible for learning. They don’t have to be “spoon fed” as many students do. This gives them an advantage at two specific points in their education; early in college and in graduate education.
2. They handle classroom social situations (interactions with their piers and professors) very well. In general, my homeschooled students are a pleasure to have in class. They greet me when the enter the class, initiate conversations when appropriate, and they don’t hesitate to ask good questions. Most of my students do none of these.
3. They are serious about their education and that’s very obvious in their attitude, preparedness, and grades.
Areas where homeschooled students can improve:
1. They come to college less prepared in the sciences than their schooled counterparts – sometimes far less prepared. This can be especially troublesome for pre-professional students who need to maintain a high grade point average from the very beginning.
2. They come to college without sufficient test-taking experience, particularly with timed tests. Many homeschooled students have a high level of anxiety when it comes to taking timed tests.
My advice to homeschooling parents:
1. If your child is even possibly college bound and interested in the sciences, make sure that they have a solid foundation of science in the high school years.
2. Begin giving timed tests by 7th or 8th grade. I think it is a disservice to not give students timed tests. They tend to focus better and score higher on timed tests, and, they are far better prepared for college and graduate education if they’ve taken timed tests throughout the high school years.
In the earlier years the timed tests should allow ample time to complete the test as long as the student is working steadily. The objective is for them to know it’s timed yet not to feel a time pressure. This helps students to be comfortable taking timed tests and develops confidence in their test-taking abilities.
Greg Landry is a 14 year veteran homeschool dad and college professor. He also teaches one and two semester online science classes, and offers free 45 minute online seminars..
Interesting. I’m wondering about types of tests as well as them being timed. For example, essay type test vs. multiple choice, T/F, etc. It seems that the essay would be easier for CM’ers. So if colleges use mostly mc, fill in the blank, T/F how do we prepare our college bound students for this? Or, do we rely on the fact that they have the habit of attention, so for them it will just come naturally to be able to answer questions of any kind if they have done their assigned readings?
This is very interesting – thank you for posting it.
There are many types of homeschooling, as we all know, and I wonder if the author knows the homeschooling background of his students. I do wonder if there is a difference between unschoolers, classically trained, CM’s, Waldorf, etc. That’s probably beyond the intentions of this article, but I am curious.
In my state, we have to administer standardized tests periodically, and I’m hoping that requirement will suffice to give my children testing experience.
It’s notable that the author mentions it’s valuable to be comfortable with timed tests, not that timed tests themselves are valuable. 🙂
It’s also worth noting that the author stresses the importance of rigorous science studies in high school. We don’t need to rush our little ones toward academic work in the sciences. A gentle, slower approach in the younger years, as CM advocates, is appropriate and lays the foundation for later scientific study. I know I’m preaching to the choir about that, but I know some parents will read that homeschoolers need more science and then assume they need to set up a chemistry lab for kindergartners, when watching polliwogs at the pond is preferable.
Super article…it’s giving me plenty to think about as I look ahead to the high school years. I really appreciate the “good” and “not-so-good” list and the suggestions, which seem to be heart-felt. Thanks again.
I am quite anti test giving but because our daughters want to attend college, I started giving them the odd multiple choice test, at the start of high school. We have also used an SAT book for them to practise the timed essay and the various tests that are expected for that. On a day to day basis we do the tests in the advanced math book and also the science tests from Apologia. We have spent a lot of time on getting the timed essay for the SAT down, and used one of IEWs DVDs to help with that. One of my daughters has a credit in Astronomy and the other in Geology and Oceanography taken at a local college and they have a chemistry credit as well – for these things they did all the tests and labs. They are now doing Apologia Biology, (I know the sciences are out of the normal order of things, but we took advantage of classes as they came up) and one daughter is doing Equine Science as well. For their final year, one wants to do Apologia Physics (maybe) and the other wants to do Apologia Marine Biology. I think that with the SAT practise, the science and math testing and the timed essay course they are pretty well prepared. I do think it pays to get them used to some testing – but I would hate to make that what learning was all about. The ACT/SAT books can be quite useful to show them what to expect, and along with math and science which usually has some form of tests, that is all I would use.
Thanks Rachel. I reformatted the post to get rid of the narrow column and all-bold text. It should be a bit easier to read now.
The points are good, though not profound. Preparing our children for their next stage in life should, of course, be part of what we do. Test taking skills would naturally be part of the training for college bound students.
I must say I’m surprised at the number of typos and mistakes that made it into the article considering it came from a college professor critiquing the performance of homeschoolers. You can tell by the permission to post in its entirety that it’s obviously an article marketing piece for Homeschool Science Academy. Not that the points aren’t valid, but be aware that the emphasis is likely slanted to their purposes. (I don’t fault them for that but wanted to point out the bias as part of the conversation.)
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