Thomas Edison's Flaws

1392 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thomas Edison Easy

A Light of the Mind Imagine today’s society if Thomas Edison was given forty-five minutes to complete his model of the light bulb. As the last grain of sand falls through the hourglass, a middle aged proctor stops Thomas in his development. He takes Edison’s piece from his sweaty, quivering hands and decides to test it out. If it is a success and does in fact create light, Edison will be a world renowned inventor and living virtuoso. If it fails, however, he will continue to walk on a candlelit path of the ordinary. The middle aged representative trials the filament Edison briefly mustered together. There was no light. Thomas Edison was robbed of his creativity and individualism, a puppet handled by societal norms. Puppets are impetuous; known …show more content…

They are suppressed from expressing individuality in fear of being different than what is commonly accepted. Thinking outside the box is frowned upon, and asking questions is not in the lesson plan. These tests carry a great weight, determining the future of both students and educators. As society bases a student’s worth on this attribute, a student likely exists for this characteristic. Therefore, standardized tests incorrectly and unfairly diagnose aptitude for students.
Tests in this fashion are home to many biases as they do not suit numerous students. Taking into account many public schools have programs for special education, there is a wide diversity in the capabilities of each student. For students with autism spectrum disorders, …show more content…

A student may not read as quickly as his peers, but excel in comprehension. However, with tests administered such as the ACT, the time limit allows for students to display their mere guessing capabilities, rather than comprehension. The ACT/SAT tests may also be discriminatory based on socioeconomic status. For example, affluent families have the capability to hire private tutors for these tests. The United States’ standardized tests rely heavily on multiple choice questions. Therefore, there is no room for students’ creativity to shine through. According to Susan Minarik, studies of older people who practice creativity found that they stayed healthier longer and enjoyed health more, had fewer visits to health care providers, used fewer medications, were less lonely, and more optimistic. This statistic illuminates the fact that exercising the right side of the brain as an adolescent is essential and testing of this sort puts students at a disadvantage for the rest of their adult

Show More
Related

  • Fievel And His Family Analysis

    1644 Words  | 4 Pages

    What new Thomas Edison invention fools Fievel into thinking he has found his Papa? What year was it invented? (4 pts)

    Read More

  • How Did The Light Bulb Change Thomas Edison's Life

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    The light bulb changed how we lived now. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, as he grew up he was learning so much knowledge for chemistry and electronics, and his 40 years of research to get the light bulb to work. Thomas Edison is an inventor of major technology. Threw his years he had studied many books by his parents and been reading many books on chemistry and electricity. The more he grew up he started to pursue his education on chemistry and electronics for many years. The more he tried to invent things he had help making of the light bulb with a group of scientists. Thomas Edison is the one who made the light bulb become possible by pursuing more education.

    Read More

  • Why America's Educational System is Failing

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...

    Read More

  • Opting Out Of Standardized Test Rizga Summary

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The SAT

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Creativity is something that isn’t taught but learned through self-reflection. Creativity requires one to be able to express their thoughts through words or other various forms of expression. Creativity allows students to come up with practical solutions to everyday problems when applying them to real life situations. This teaches students that there may be several ways to solve a problem, but no solution is better than the other. “People who are creatively successful go beyond merely performing a job, becoming sources of new ideas, discoveries, and inventions” (Zagursky). Students that are more creative thinkers; instead of, standardized test takers may find it difficult to advance in class. According to Kim Zagursky, the Torrance test is the most widely used creativity test in the world and is the best predictor of creative achievement. The Torrance test, named for creator E. Paul Torrance, was developed in the late 1950s as a potential tool to individualize student instruction (Zagursky). Unfortunately, as time past creativity is becoming less among our students. There is a growing concern for the ability to form their own opinions about ideas they have read. The questions in the Sternberg’s Kaleidoscope policy was designed to measure creativity, ana¬lytical, practical, and wisdom-based skills and attitudes (DiMaria 55). Sternberg’s policy is currently being used at Oklahoma State

    Read More

  • Thomas Edison Essay

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    He built an industrial research laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, and this was the main research laboratory for the lighting company. He spent all of his time here until he realized it all could not be all done by one person. Thomas never stopped inventing or working. He became a well-known business man. He still invented throughout his later years. He had a major impact on this world and the economy. Thomas and his second wife spent the rest of their lives at their winter retreat in Fort Meyers, Florida. Thomas Edison passed away October 18, 1931 at the age of 84 years old. Now you can see that Thomas had a very good child and was a hard worker as a teenager. His invention of the universal stock printer was a popular and much needed invention and as you all know the lightbulb has been one of the most important inventions in

    Read More

  • Dehumanization Of Standardized Testing

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    The world is no longer concerned with educating whole human beings, but instead, it is focused on collecting “data.” “Standardized testing robs students and teachers of using their creativity and critical thinking. It holds everyone accountable for meeting this one standard when that is nearly impossible to do. It turns us into robots, dehumanizing both teachers and students.” (Gettysburg College, 1) Standardized test are given to schools by the government. The problem with that is that the government is not in the classroom with students every day. They do not know what the students need. Standardized testing takes away time from student learning experiences where they are not able to think critically or be creative. Standardized tests take place in an artificial learning environment. They are timed, students are not allowed to ask questions, use references, talk to another student, and they cannot even get up and move around. All of these things do not mirror the reality of the real world at all. These tests are reducing the richness of human experience and human learning to a number/ set of numbers. A student may have a deep knowledge of a particular subject, but receive no acknowledgement for it because their test score may have been low. Maybe if students could draw a picture, lead a group discussion, or make a hands-on project, they could show all the knowledge that they really have. They cannot do any of these things in a standardized test. As stated before, testing also creates “winners” and losers.” The “winners” get to move on with their life, but the “losers” often suffer from loss of self-esteem and the damage of “low expectations.” Standardized tests do not value diversity either. There are a wide range of differences in the people who take standardized tests. People have different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in the English language, different learning and thinking styles, different

    Read More

  • Unreliability of Standardized Testing in Education

    2121 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lyndsey Layton has been covering nation education since 2011, she has written on many different topics in education, and has been employed by the Washington Post since 1998. In her article about standardized testing she states, “...students should be judged by multiple measures, including student work, written teacher observations and grades. And they overwhelmingly think teacher quality is the best way to improve education, followed by high academic standards and effective principals.” (Layton pg.1). This quote shows that standardized tests only judge certain measures of a student's intelligence. Students should be graded in multiple areas not just how well they can answer multiple choice problems. Standardized tests only grade students on one way of thinking and discourage creative, out of the box thinking. Kira Zalan is an editor for the U.S. News Weekly, she first appeared in September of 2011, and has been writing since. Zalan states, “...there are multiple paths to the same outcome and that engagement is an extremely important aspect of the equation.”(Zalan pg.1). Standardized tests only allow for one path of thinking. There can be multiple different ways to find an answer, but if students do not answer the “correct” way they will be graded as wrong. Because these tests are graded by machines and not people, the participants answers

    Read More

  • Knowledge Is Power In The Great Gatsby

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    The light bulb is the way we see in the dark, the way we find our way, the way we know when to go at a stoplight. How did Thomas Edison achieve this invention? Knowledge. Knowledge of electricity and the needs of those around him. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan claims that she wants her daughter to be “a beautiful little fool.” In other words Daisy is saying that ignorance is bliss. Some others believe that knowledge is power. The advancement from candles to light bulbs changed the culture entirely. People could easily do the work they needed to after sunset, and it even led to more inventions. We need knowledge to advance, and for this reason powerful knowledge is more valid than blissful ignorance.

    Read More

  • Why Standardized Tests Are Not Really Reliable Assessments

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the United States standardized testing is a popular way that educators measure a student’s academic ability. Although it may seem like a good idea to give a bunch of students the same test and see how each one does, it is not that simple. The results do not represent how smart a student is or a student's potential to do great things in the real world. In taking a standardized test one student may have a greater advantage over another for many reasons. Reasons that are not shown in the standardized test score.

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing is NOT Effective

    2388 Words  | 5 Pages

    Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.

    Read More

  • Thomas Edison

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edison searched for the proper "filament" or wire, that would give good light when electricity flowed through it. He sent people to the jungles of the Amazon and forests of Japan in his search for a perfect filament material. He tested over 6,000 vegetable growths (baywood, boxwood, hickory, cedar, flax, bamboo) as filament material.

    Read More

  • Light Bulb Essay

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Light bulb is one of the most influential inventions in the word. It makes us work more productive at night and helps us enjoy more activities at night. It significantly change people lives all over the world. The born of light bulb also helped us by making more inventions that related to light, such as phones, televisions, and computes. By using light bulb, we actually reduced the probability of having fire accidents because if we don’t have light bulb, we will use candles instead which can cause fire easily. There are a lot more benefits we get from light bulb, and all of these are credited to Thomas Alva Edison.

    Read More

  • Electricity

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thomas Edison was another intelligent scientist that used the findings of Ben Franklin to invent a contraption called the light bulb. At the time of Edison?s findings, there was only gas and cand...

    Read More

  • Thomas Edison Contributions

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many of people came to see the showcase of the phonograph. In 1878, Thomas Edison starts expanding his inventions factory, and also builds a shopping store behind the laboratory. So he could sell his inventions to the public. Later Thomas Edison starts continuous to his other inventions. He starts to investigation how to create a light bulb that can stay longer time. Before Thomas Edison start making the light bulb, there have other inventor was working on it, but no one can let the light bulb work longer. Eventually, on October 21, 1879, Thomas Edison’s light bulbs can continuous work forty hours. Thomas Edison and his team try to use the incandescent light bulb in the laboratory and his home. In 1880, Thomas Edison believes the incandescent bulbs can able to produce and sell it to the public. Also he builds the Edison Electric Light Company to find way to use electricity to light the incandescent bulbs. In 1882, Thomas Edison uses his incandescent bulb in all the office building and houses on the Pearl Street. Many people came to the Pearl Street see the all of the building and houses is light with electricity. This became a great achievement in Thomas Edison’s life. Also Thomas Edison became a rich and famous people. Many of business and investors want to invest Thomas Edison’s

    Read More

More about Thomas Edison's Flaws

Open Document