Technology alters everyone’s way of life constantly, so in order to prepare for this ever-changing world, students enter college to gain time to adjust and ease into the real world.

However, teachers who stick to old-school methods of teaching and examinations are not doing their part in preparing students for the professional world.

The Internet puts information at society’s fingertips, and a large number of people own phones that could also be considered computers.

People are no longer judged on the information they know but rather on how well they can gather that information. If college is supposed to prepare students for the professional world, then tests should be a reflection of that ability.

Older teaching methods, such as professors lecturing straight out of a textbook and students simply memorizing and regurgitating information on tests, were useful in the past, when information had to be sifted out of a large book or in old documents.

But now, with a simple Find command, thousands of pages of text can be filtered through in seconds. Memorizing the exact formula of an equation isn’t needed when the Internet can provide it instantly.

A teacher is supposed to teach children, not pound information into their brains. And students shouldn’t have to memorize a textbook to get an A on a test. An examination should not just test students on their knowledge but force students to use their knowledge to find other answers.

Tests that require memorization, such as multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank exams, are doing a disservice to students by not pushing them to their limits.

When students know there is a multiple choice test coming up, they will spend days memorizing information. Then, for an hour, they will be able to recite that information and get an A on their test. However, after a bit of time, that information will fade away. They will not need to know that information again, so there is no point.

An example of a more effective test is an essay exam. When an essay assignment is handed out, the professor does not want a reiteration of the materials read but rather wants the students’ interpretation of the materials and the connections that can be drawn.

This, of course, means more work for the teacher in planning out a more comprehensive test and more time grading it. At the same time, students are not exactly getting off easy either.

Today’s college students are tomorrow’s future in the world of business, science, arts and news. To send a student out into the world unprepared is the opposite of what college strives to be.

Stephen Lu is a senior journalism major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].