The idea of the test is not popular with most people, whether they are students or used to be. Tests mean stress, challenge, trickery, and failure.
But surprisingly, tests can mean completion, attainment, success and freedom from educational requirements. The trouble with most tests is that they aren’t available until you have sat in the class for the required time. If the test is available at the beginning of the instructional period, the whole arrangement might be referred to as “testing out”. A student is said to test out of a course if she takes a test, passes it at the required level and is given credit for that course.
Ideally, the test should be the same one as the students who do attend the classes and read the text take. Sometimes, an instructor is nervous about crediting a student with the course if that person has not sat in the class the usual hours. In that case, the instructor might make an especially difficult or detailed test so that a student who passes seems like a safer bet for a passing grade.
Students and institutions often expect the instructor to pass out a syllabus at the beginning of the course. That document usually specifies topics for the classes and may give details about assignments or papers. It doesn’t usually state the test questions that the students will be expected to answer.
It is not unusual for one or more tests to be kept from the students in the class for purposes of secrecy. What if the students study just the answers to the test questions but learn nothing more? Then, they would get counterfeit grades, being labeled as O.K. when they are only partially O.K. But if the test is a good measure of proficiency and mastery, it might be freely available from day one. It can serve as a guide to learning the course content. Sometimes, the test is not shown to the students because at the beginning of the course, it is too frightening. If the students look the test over and realize it is all Greek to them (because the instructor hasn’t worked with them yet and the course hasn’t worked its magic yet), they may become too discouraged or frightened.
I liked the situation the Boy Scouts used. You want a merit badge in biking or first aid. Look at the requirements. For those requirements that you can do now, you are ready to perform in front of a Scout official. For those that you can’t perform or don’t even know that they mean, you have some learning to do. The list of requirements is freely available to all and is a good guide to completing the “course”. Very importantly, if you attempt to demonstrate mastery of one of the requirements but your attempt falls short, you can learn more, practice more and try again. There are many educational situations where failing a test does not open a door to trying to test AS GIVEN (no fair changing the questions or requirements!) further times until you do master it. Note that which requirements you did well and which you didn’t is completely open information, again quite unlike the situation in most formal testing situations.
A basic rule of thumb is "If you can't take the test repeatedly, you are in a contest, not a learning situation."
