the effect o f Sunday school train ing on the outcome o f the test. This was possible since some stu dents who participated had been involved in Sunday school and church and others had not. There was no difference in the scores o f the two groups . This test has since been u sed with Sunday school teachers in many churches. Even with this select group, the results have been fa r from ac ceptable. This test served the purpose o f giving us a measure o f attain ment in th e a r e a o f Biblical knowledge. But testing would be o f more value i f it were used sys tematically as an integral part o f the total church Christian Edu cation program. The advent o f testing into the Sunday school or other church program has been very slow fo r various reasons. Many teachers feel inadequate both in terms o f their teaching and their ability to construct and evaluate tests. Oth ers are fearfu l lest a test infringe upon their class time which al ready is very meager. Churches and teachers have expressed con cern that students would refuse to take tests and even stop attend ing. Another reason fo r the lack o f testing can be traced to curri culum publishers as they would be the logical resource fo r tests. So few have supplied tests along with the materials that many teachers must develop their own. With proper planning and fore thought, the reasons fo r not using tests can be overcome. Tests en able us to measure knowledge, at titudes, the effectiveness o f our teaching. They also enable stu dents to measure their progress. It is an excellent review and learning device. Testing conveys the attitude that the material be ing studied is worthy o f being learned and applied. Progress is evident in many churches. Sunday schools, teach ers and even entire congregations have taken tests periodically to measure their le v e l o f B ib le knowledge. Many who participat-
IN N O V A T IO N I n L e a r n i n g
A Neglected
Method:
TESTING
by NORMAN WRIGHT T he article began “ Are we liv ing in an atmosphere o f testo- mania? A re we living in an age o f testocracy?” The Professor o f Education who several years ago wrote this fascinating piece point ed out a controversy that period ically bursts to the forefron t in public education discussions. This controversy fails to touch Christian Education simply be cause we have been slow to in corporate the usage o f this valu able tool within our church edu cational programs. Occasionally one might hear some one express concern that “ testing will creep into our Sunday school o r Chris tian Education program.” This concern is misdirected and should be reversed. The question to be considered is why have churches failed to utilize this valuable tech nique o f teaching and motivation! Referring to testing in this manner may sound foreign to some and yet any educational pro gram without a means o f evalua tion fails to rise to the stature o f true educational standards. Testing is not an end in itself
but merely one area o f academic exploration which a teacher uses in his or her continual evaluation o f teaching and the pupils’ level o f learning. For the purpose o f this discus sion we are concerned with the measurement o f Bible knowledge. In the midst o f our changing so ciety and culture, there is grow ing concern and alarm over the Biblical illiteracy that is preva lent even among some o f our conservative “ B ib l e - t e a c h in g ” churches. In fa ct the mediocrity o f individual Bible comprehension is a glaring blemish that many wish to eradicate. To illustrate this, we can turn to a Bible knowl edge t e s t administered a few years ago to thousands o f college students in church-related col leges o f a specific denomination. The constructed test was very simple, having just 25 objective general Bible questions. When the results were compiled, the find ings were startling and even de pressing. The average test score o f 25 items was nine correct. The researchers then conducted fu r ther investigation to determine
TH E KING'S BUSINESS
38
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs