WHY???

A few puzzling things on my mind right now:

1. What is the difference between facebook and twitter?

I seriously don't get it. I have followed a few folks "twitters" and they seem an AWFULLY similar to facebook. Both allow you to post links and pictures, both allow you to write little snippets about what you are doing, and people can make comments on your "mini" posts.

So what is the big difference? You can even update facebook on your mobile phone.

I must say I am not impressed with facebook's platform (is that the right term?). It takes me forever to figure out what button I want for what function AND there is not easy access to one's friend list. Perhaps I just need more practice.

I do like the constant updates since I have been cloistered in my house studying.


2. Why am I creating notecards for this test???

I hate memorizing things, but I can do it fairly easily. I have A LOT of terms to know for this educational research class and notecards seem to be the way to go. I have not written notecards for a class since senior year of high school in Latin class.

:(

It just seems a very superficial way to assess what I have learned in this class. I can fully understand why students dislike studying for tests - especially tests where they are not allowed to use reference notes.

This is why I usually allow students to have some sort of simplified reference that they generate for tests. It is not too often in life that you cannot refer to some manual or source for information that you need. Also, those things you use most often become second nature after using resource notes. I am not a fantastic teacher, but I do want students to clearly demonstrate what they know and try to make assessment as stress free as possible (as it affects reliability greatly). Students tend to do MUCH better

Perhaps I should conduct my own research study on the effects of student generated reference notes and academic achievement...

...but that would mean a convenience sample with limited generalization and would do not one any good.

Humph.