My HN friend, my argument was that the writer isn’t daft, and neither is his complaint, and I stand by that. My argument is that the writer raises interesting and useful questions, and I stand by that too.
As to the fact that the question doesn’t test internal modelling, of course it does. If you made it a question about something nobody has ever seen before, then it wouldn’t test knowledge of microscopes. But it does ask about microscopes.
Perhaps, in aggregate, the test covers enough subject areas that the students tested will be exposed to a roughly equal mix of things they have experience with and things they don’t. But as I noted elsewhere, the fact that it’s possible to answer this question from the text alone in no way changes the fact that it’s easier to answer the question with prior experience. And from that, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to ask whether this is a good question.
Yes, if it were truly just about reading comprehension, then the test-writers would be horrifically incompetent, and therefore unfit to test anyone. Anyone who competently designs tests (experimenters, pollsters, etc) knows to address such biasing factors.
But I think the testers aren't total morons, and know that such a question is biased towards children with proper (privileged) backgrounds where microscopes and the respective training are commonplace. They'll be faster at answering the question and not feel ignorant — crucial advantages on tests.
(The testers may not even like this facet of their jobs, like ad industry developers who use ad-blockers, but it sure beats unemployment.)
And the whole question smacks of "scientism", where tools are confused with science. You never see a question like, "Scientists have believed something for 200 years. Is it necessarily true?"
As to the fact that the question doesn’t test internal modelling, of course it does. If you made it a question about something nobody has ever seen before, then it wouldn’t test knowledge of microscopes. But it does ask about microscopes.
Perhaps, in aggregate, the test covers enough subject areas that the students tested will be exposed to a roughly equal mix of things they have experience with and things they don’t. But as I noted elsewhere, the fact that it’s possible to answer this question from the text alone in no way changes the fact that it’s easier to answer the question with prior experience. And from that, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to ask whether this is a good question.