Do I teach to the test?

This is an  age old question. Traditional teachers and goal driven learners really support the summative approach that involves testing. It is a clear-cut way to determine whether you have mastered what the course requires you to know, usually to move on to the next level. I understand that some courses may not have the luxury of using alternative ways to measure learning but if our true goal is to see if our students are mastering what we have taught we need to add alternatives to the traditional rote testing that is done. We need to be able to see if our students can apply their learning in the correct context. Many of us have had professionals (doctors, teachers, dentists) who were excellent book learners and regurgitators of knowledge, yet when it came to practical skills they were lacking. Not only should we provide alternatives to data collection we should be using our formative assessments to determine what changes we need to make to our teaching to facilitate the learning of our students. So my answer would be no I don't teach to the test...I teach the learner.

 Teaching to the test vs Testing What you teach