The QRC test is once again administered during students' senior year in order to see what progress the students may or may not have made during their four years at Longwood. According to Dr. David Shoenthal, associate professor of mathematics and department chair for mathematics and computer science, the QRC "covers some basic statistical pieces looking at graphs and visualizing things, and then turning them into information that can be pulled from that graph, relating word problems back to pictures, and things of that nature."
As the department chair, Shoenthal was also selected to lead the committee for the QRC testing of freshmen and seniors. Shoenthal went on to talk about how the testing is a state requirement and said, "The SCHEV, or State Council for the Higher Education of Virginia, leads these exams, making them a state requirement for all state universities. For the QRC, they let us [the university] decide how to measure these, so we've decided to test freshmen at New Lancer Days and a sample of seniors. There is a full list of seniors and then we randomly choose as many as we need to get a sample size to run a valid statistical test."
Longwood administers this test to a random sampling of freshmen and seniors, not tracking individuals who took the test their freshman year, something that some students question whether or not the test accurately measures the growth of students over their four years at Longwood.
Travis Lyles, a Longwood freshman and one of the approximate one-quarter of students to take the QRC, said, "I think it would help them [Longwood] out more if they tested the same students, because if you take a random group of seniors, maybe they have known the information since their freshman year. To me, it leaves too much room to skew results." Lyles went on to comment that as a student pursuing a Bachelors of Arts, he would only take one mathematics course during his time at Longwood.
Some students are also skeptical of the accuracy of the QRC. Students such as Gwendolyn Prince, senior and QRC attendee, felt as if the test may not be worth taking. When asked about taking the QRC, Prince said "Most Longwood students only take one math class during their time at Longwood, and fewer still take a statistics based course. I know all students have goals they need to meet, but for the most part I don't understand why all students are being tested."
Prince said the test was inconvenient, stating, "While I know that it's a requirement, I've got too many things to worry about other than this test which effectively has nothing to do with me."
Shoenthal has heard complaints of students such as Lyles and Prince, yet their position on the necessity of the test remains the same. When asked about his views on the need for the test, he said, "In Longwood's opinion, quantitative reasoning happens in classes across the board, not just math classes. It has more to do with critical thinking and turning those word problems into problems that you might have to use math to solve, but the problems might not just be math."
However, the issue upsetting most students is the repercussions for not completing the test. In an email from Shoenthal and the QRC Committee, seniors who did not complete the test will be charged with a hold on their account preventing them from signing up for courses, registering for housing and even possibly graduating.
When asked about his feelings on being potentially tested again his senior year, Lyles said, "I'd be pretty upset, having to go out of my way to take a test that means nothing to me, and having a hold placed on my account if I couldn't find a way to make it."
When asked about the issues and repercussions, Shoenthal said that students would be handled on a case-by-case basis, but that the university does intend to use holds for those who do not show up for testing. While the students may not be a fan of the QRC, it does not look like the test is going anywhere any time soon.
