Hello there. I have a question here about a phrase that I came across on a podcast. The phrase is " I can spew it back out for the test". Below a bit of context.

Person 1: I'm sure that's the case, because my daughter, Annie, was doing an assignment recently on I guess Social Studies or whatever they call it and her assignment had to do with systems of government and economic systems.
Person 2: That's pretty heavy for an 11 year old.
Person 1: Pretty heaving going, I thought. And her she's got to be explaining, you know, what a free market system versus…
Person2: That's ridiculous!…
Person 1: you know, a managed or a communist or whatever they call it -- I can't even remember the term they used -- and, you know, she has no interest in that at all. So it's just a matter of, okay, I've got to try and remember this stuff, that's essentially gibberish to me, so I CAN SPEW IT BACK OUT FOR THE TEST and, phew, that's over. You know, what did she learn there?

Thank you ahead of time and if there is any error in this massage, I'd be pleased if you coud point that out for me.

Question

Hello there. I have a question here about a phrase that I came across on a podcast. The phrase is " I can spew it back out for the test". Below a bit of context.

Person 1: I'm sure that's the case, because my daughter, Annie, was doing an assignment recently on I guess Social Studies or whatever they call it and her assignment had to do with systems of government and economic systems. 
Person 2: That's pretty heavy for an 11 year old. 
Person 1: Pretty heaving going, I thought.  And her she's got to be explaining, you know, what a free market system versus… 
Person2: That's ridiculous!… 
Person 1: you know, a managed or a communist or whatever they call it -- I can't even remember the term they used -- and, you know, she has no interest in that at all. So it's just a matter of, okay, I've got to try and remember this stuff, that's essentially gibberish to me, so I CAN SPEW IT BACK OUT FOR THE TEST and, phew, that's over.  You know, what did she learn there?

Thank you ahead of time and if there is any error in this massage, I'd be pleased if you coud point that out for me.

Deleted user · Answer

The phrase means to only learn something so that you can answer something correctly on the test.

joshwhetstone · Answer

Yes. This refers to memorization and immediate forgetfulness of some information and really doesn't count as learning at all. That's where standardized testing often misses the mark and is incapable of assessing whether students actually know and retain the material they were supposed to learn.