Another fan?

In a recent op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor, Jonathan Zimmerman takes a line that will sound familiar to readers of the Epistemic Games blog. Writing about Harvard’s recent move to no longer require (or even encourage) final exams, Zimmerman points out:

Final examinations reflect an antiquated and largely discredited theory of learning, which equates knowledge with factual recall. By discouraging exams, then, Harvard is hardly forsaking academic rigor. Instead, it’s clearing the way for a more engaging, challenging, and truly educative college experience.

The recent Gee/Shaffer essay on Looking Where the Light is Bad make the same point–and even goes further…