College students struggle on history test
September 18th, 2007Interesting story about how poorly college students performed on a civics test. Students at Harvard scored the highest, but still didn’t crack 70 percent. Take the test yourself and see how you fare.
Wow - that was kinda hard, and I’m in school! I scored 56%.
That was difficult, indeed. On some questions I made pure guesses. I definitely need to shore up on my economics.
But I’m a Union alum who did better than the Harvard students. Go Bulldogs!
71.67%
88 percent for me. Of course, I taught high school civics for a couple of years, and that helped.
The economics questions were my undoing.
Whew… yeah, that was a tough test. I got a 70%, but like Brett and Tim the econ questions kicked my tail.
The other thing is that I tend to read at least some historical and political books. I can’t imagine how “normal” folks would fare (assuming that “normal” doesn’t read much at all). Perfectly smart folks that don’t keep up on that information would probably not do too well.
…not that I aced it, to be sure! Especially in light of Tim’s score. History repeating itself - me, 18 points behind Tim - just like school was.
I scored 80. I am going to dispute one that I missed, however. I was always taught that we won the War of 1812. I mean, didn’t Andrew Jackson chase the British into the Gulf of Mexico with an alligator or something like that?
Tim, you’re a historian, set us straight on this one.
Jackson did win the Battle of New Orleans, but it was after the peace treaty ending the war had already been signed. The war as a whole was a stalemate because neither the U.S. nor Great Britain won or lost any territory.
At least, that’s how I understand it.
Oh.
Ouch, I only got a 61.67%. How embarrassing. Most of the questions I missed economics questions, along with some history events. I got most of the questions about early American history right, but didn’t fare so well on more recent history. My experience has been that no matter the history class I’m in, we never seemed to make it past WWII. Thus, what little I know about the Korean War and Vietnam and the Cold War and Bay of Pigs, etc. is all just information I’ve picked up over the years. Did anyone else experience this in history classes?
Gordon, I answered the same way you did on the War of 1812. Thanks for clarifying that, Tim.
I got 75%, that’s slightly better than the average. Slightly better than the average, doesn’t that mean I get to go to heaven by the world’s standards?
Harvard has nothing on Boyce College
70% for me. Been out of high school nearly 25 years. Didn’t cover this stuff much in seminary.
Way to go, Tim! We need to track how Union grads do on this.
95% I got questions 19, 36 and 58 wrong. It seemed to me that there were quite a few philosophy questions thrown in.
Erin, my history classes usually only made it to the Civil War.
You answered 49 out of 60 correctly — 81.67 %
I was confused with #9 because Washington D.C. was invaded, the Capitol and White House were burned down. England didn’t get hurt as much as the United States did.
I just realized I made another mistake. Posting the answers to my missed questions spoils the quiz. That’s my bad. Sorry! Tim, could you help me out by erasing them? I wasn’t thinking straight.
Well, I’m a Union grad (and a teacher–eek!), so I pull the average down quite a bit.
Done, Cineaste. I didn’t think about that either.
90%
I’m another victim of the economic questions.
98% Dang Question 31
98% Dang Question 31
88%
You should be required to get a 75 on this test before we give you a high school diploma, imo.
I got 80% without really thinking about it. I’m kinda proud of that considering I’ve been out of high school for 12 years and the last time I studied this kind of history was 10-11 years ago in college.
And Peter’s right, some of this stuff is basic high school history.
I got 85%, I should have done better talked myself out of the right answer on a few and misread a few of the answers. Thats what I get for taking the test while working at work. I know excuses, excuses, blah blah blah. =)
75% (45 of 60 correct)
54/60 (90%)
96.7 58/60 and I am embarrased to say I missed 58 and 60, which in hindsight were easier than I made them out to be.
Being a history major didn’t hurt either.
83.3% I missed 10. Sheesh! haven’t been in school for a while.
86.67% here (52/60)
I didn’t see this as a ‘history test’ exclusively though, there were several questions on economics and even philosophy.
55/60 = 91.7% for the physics guy. Couldn’t remember all the federalist stuff so I missed 3 there. Owen I thought too hard on 58, too. And I haven’t read any just-war stuff so I missed that.
All in all, I’m satisfied. Larry F., you’re right. I was expecting history, but it’s a “civics” inventory.
I wonder what all this says about the collective IQ of people who post on this blog?
I got a 61.67%, but hey - I’m only a Senior at Richmond Hill High School. In your face - Notre Dame!! Boy do I hate them.
Apparently, I’m the one wearing the dunce cap in the corner.
I’m on the same side of the bell-curve, misawa. Seems that the average of those reporting on this post is somewhere north of 90%.
…either that, or they’re all “pastorally speaking”.
Misawa, Jason, and I are in the “meaty” part of the every-man curve.
You know…that middle-America, gun-toting, blue collar, heartland section of ……
Man, even I can’t come up with a good excuse for my poor performance on this stupid test.
I got more than 81%, and I’m Canadian.
Scary.