Examinations, or exams for short, are a vital part of education and act as a definitive way of assessing how well a student is performing. However for all their uses and positive points, exams still have many flaws.
The main disadvantages of exams are as follows:
· The pressure of performing on the day can be too much
Many students do not like exams and would much prefer their grade to be more heavily based on coursework and how they do throughout the year; rather than one day and one exam paper.
Some students struggle to revise and find they cannot remember everything they need in order to do well in an exam. Others may have revised as much as they should but when it comes down to sitting the exam on the day they just freeze up and can't perform to their usual ability. This will leave the student with a disappointing grade no matter how well they may have done throughout the year.
· The exam can only indicate the knowledge they have for those particular questions
Several topics will be covered in a class throughout the year. Even coursework will have a lot of variety in what it covers. However an exam can consist of randomly picked areas of the course; missing out other parts completely. Therefore someone may be excellent at most of the subject areas but the exam questions consist of the area they struggle in. Again this will mean poor exam results even though the pupil may be a great student.
Being able to categorize and grade someone instantly obviously has its uses and exams do this best. They are set in a rigid environment with no outside influence allowed; unlike coursework. Therefore although they have their disadvantages it is hard to come up with a viable alternative that is so efficient.
The main disadvantages of exams are as follows:
· The pressure of performing on the day can be too much
Many students do not like exams and would much prefer their grade to be more heavily based on coursework and how they do throughout the year; rather than one day and one exam paper.
Some students struggle to revise and find they cannot remember everything they need in order to do well in an exam. Others may have revised as much as they should but when it comes down to sitting the exam on the day they just freeze up and can't perform to their usual ability. This will leave the student with a disappointing grade no matter how well they may have done throughout the year.
· The exam can only indicate the knowledge they have for those particular questions
Several topics will be covered in a class throughout the year. Even coursework will have a lot of variety in what it covers. However an exam can consist of randomly picked areas of the course; missing out other parts completely. Therefore someone may be excellent at most of the subject areas but the exam questions consist of the area they struggle in. Again this will mean poor exam results even though the pupil may be a great student.
Being able to categorize and grade someone instantly obviously has its uses and exams do this best. They are set in a rigid environment with no outside influence allowed; unlike coursework. Therefore although they have their disadvantages it is hard to come up with a viable alternative that is so efficient.
