About Testing

Purpose of Testing

Motivation. Tests motivate students to train harder than if there were no tests. Taekwondo tests provide extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The reward of receiving a higher rank belt at the end of a test provides extrinsic motivation. The belt ranking system provides goals for students, giving them a purpose to continue training. Peer pressure causes a student to want to keep up with the promotions of their peers. It also causes them to try to do better than their peers. Due to the drive to succeed and face new challenges, the mere presence of a test motivates students to keep training and trying to prove and improve themselves. This is the intrinsic motivation.

Measure Progress. Testing is a way to measure student progress. The belt system indicates progress and, since belts are earned at testing, testing measure progress. 

Analysis and Feedback. Testing helps the assessor and the instructor analyze the strengths and weaknesses of students. Feedback is a useful part of a student's learning process. The more detailed the feedback, the more useful it will be. Testing provides an instructor feedback on the standards of the school as whole and on individual students. It lets the instructor gauge the effectiveness of his or her teaching. Testing allows the assessor to see how instructors are doing, whether standards are uniform, and which areas need more attention. For example, testing may highlight weaknesses in a region or particular school or in a specific area of the curriculum. Students test for promotion. For them, tests are not for receiving feedback on problems, that is the role of instructors at mock testing.