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<p>The study Coase mentions refutes this claim. In this case, teaching to the test didn’t work. ** The students who did better on the tests ended up knowing the class material less well.** That’s the point: the authors discovered that some professors prepared their students well for the calculus exams, but then those students were unable to actually use the calculus to solve physics problems.</p>
<p>A student takes a calculus class to learn calculus, not to pass tests. Passing calculus tests but not knowing how to use calculus? Useless. It would be like getting an A in French class, but not being able to speak, understand, read or write French: useless.</p>