For many students, taking tests and quizzes is one of the least pleasant aspects of the classroom experience. Yet when one extracts quiz taking from the school environment and strips it of the pressures associated with the consequences of grading, taking a quiz can be an entertaining, addictive and fun activity. (This is evidenced by the popularity of games like Trivial Pursuit.)
Think you’re smart? Can you name all the U.S. presidents? Can you list the 50 U.S. state capitals? How many European countries can you name? If these types of questions pique your interest, consider taking a trip over to Sporcle. Founded in 2007, Sporcle has grown to host thousands of quizzes across all topics, from the dry academic to the inane pop cultural. Whether you visit Sporcle to enhance your knowledge of a subject, improve your memory, kill time or measure yourself against other test-taking addicts, you’ll likely find your time on the site to be thoroughly engrossing.
This past weekend a teacher friend of mine told me he introduced the site to a group of his students. Now, on days when he has time left over at the end of a lesson, his students beg him to do a Sporcle. (The idea of students begging to be quizzed is wholly foreign to me.) Although Sporcle quizzes are list-based and don’t test a student’s depth of understanding on a subject, they do have the power to spark one’s interest in accumulating knowledge, which is a rare and valuable characteristic.
James Sullivan
Editor
Think you’re smart? Can you name all the U.S. presidents? Can you list the 50 U.S. state capitals? How many European countries can you name? If these types of questions pique your interest, consider taking a trip over to Sporcle. Founded in 2007, Sporcle has grown to host thousands of quizzes across all topics, from the dry academic to the inane pop cultural. Whether you visit Sporcle to enhance your knowledge of a subject, improve your memory, kill time or measure yourself against other test-taking addicts, you’ll likely find your time on the site to be thoroughly engrossing.
This past weekend a teacher friend of mine told me he introduced the site to a group of his students. Now, on days when he has time left over at the end of a lesson, his students beg him to do a Sporcle. (The idea of students begging to be quizzed is wholly foreign to me.) Although Sporcle quizzes are list-based and don’t test a student’s depth of understanding on a subject, they do have the power to spark one’s interest in accumulating knowledge, which is a rare and valuable characteristic.
James Sullivan
Editor
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