[hardy263]

But how would you quantify the amount of learning that you've actually retained? Would it not be through some sort of question-answer based system on the material that you've covered, and using a weighted scale for each question depending on the difficulty of the question and how you applied the concepts?

As much as I enjoy learning about computers and circuits in class, how would I actually know I understood how they all interact with each other something without testing myself?

Acing an exam easily is a pretty good indication that you've learned the subject material fairly well.

[aik]

I've aced a fair amount of exams in my lifetime, and knowing what I know now about "knowing", learning and understanding, acing a majority of those exams were in fact a TERRIBLE indication of the amount (and quality) of learning that had taken place. For example, all those A's in my electromagnetism and thermodynamics courses, or calc courses -- completely unwarranted. I would say about 95% of it was mindless memorization of formulas and the application of the formulas mostly through the usage of algebra. Testing/performing on deeper conceptual understanding = virtually non-existant (which I can easily prove to myself by the lack of understanding I have at the moment when I actually try to apply the concepts).

[keiferski]

Agreed, there potentially is a need for some sort of "test" as to whether or not you learned the information. I'm just not sure if the standard question:answer format is really the best solution. Some form of essay or project seems like it would be more effective, to me.