Beyond the incredible inspirational moments of these Olympic games, I’ve learned sooo much from these athletes and they’ve reinforced thoughts and feelings I already had. I thought I’d share a few thoughts on scoring today.
MEASUREMENT OF ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
Measurement-wise, we observed 2 basic approaches to the evaluation of athletic performance to award 3 medals: (1) the 3 best times and (2) the 3 highest scores by a panel of judges.
TIME-BASED
The time-based event is the objective “gold standard,” with which no one can quibble, even the 4th place skier who was .02 sec behind the bronze medalist. Unless the stopwatch or clock is miscalibrated or starts at the wrong time, it’s the most accurate measure available.
JUDGMENT-BASED
In contrast to the clock, the judgment-based approach for Olympic sports, such as freestyle skiing with aerials and figure skating, has been a percolating Olympic cauldron of controversy for as long as teachers scored essay exams in ancient Greece. It seems that no matter how detailed the Educational Testing Service-type scoring rubric is structured, for figure skating, in particular, there will still be a deluge of criticism by some who consider the system flawed and unfair, even with a really manly quad jump.
In fact, the NEW figure-skating scoring system has benefitted those skaters (don’t forget to credit their coaches) who can wring every point out of the rubric. Gold medalists Evan Lysacek and Kim Yu-Na played the system with panache. Those skaters who are still struggling to master the system weren’t as successful. It’s kind of skating to the answer key; assessment-driven skating. Hummm. Does any of this ring a bell in our world? As the commentators noted, however, something is missing in the new scoring system. In skating, the program falls short on artistic grounds; it’s all about the technical elements, as silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko would vehemently argue.
Despite the illusion of objectivity in the scoring process, it’s all about human judgment. In fact, the interpretation of each jump, spin, and footwork and the corresponding assignment of points are judgmental, even with video replay. Can bias creep into that scoring by the panel of judges? You bet, but the impact is less pronounced and evident than in previous scoring methods. The current system is probably the best to date.
Can we learn anything from these scoring procedures in the Olympics? How do they relate to education and the testing issues with which we struggle? Those educational implications will be examined tomorrow.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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