Three Reasons Why Exams Are Unpractical

Exams are the evil in the education system that must be purged.  How many good and potential students will be crushed under the system of exams?  The system of testing that has been created in American education has done nothing but promote a culture of students who study to pass a test and move on to the next project. Educators argue that testing allows teachers to effectively monitor a students progress and mastery of a particular topic. However, testing has created a system of students who view education as a system of successive goals that must be met in order to graduate and earn a degree. Passion for learning material just for the sake of learning is a thing of the past. Exams are an unpractical way of grading and has degraded present day education. In college, the flaws of testing are more prevalent than anywhere else in the education system.

Below are three reasons that point out just how misguided the system of testing in American education is.

Image credit: flickr.com

 1. Students Study ONLY to Pass the Test

Instead of college classrooms being environments where students learn and apply their knowledge, students are being taught to pass exams.  In college classes, exams constitute the majority of a students’ grade. As such, during class students only play attention to things that will help them pass exams.  Students know that no matter how hard they work on homework or how much they participate in class, exams are what really make or break their grade. We have created a system where the bulk of a students grade rest upon how well they do on one or two tests. Students don’t care about how well they understand a topic, just if they know the right answer to put on their test papers. Very few college professors create assignments that measure how well a student can take the knowledge they have learned and apply it to a real world situation. What’s even worse is that after a test has occurred most students forget everything they have learned because their is no incentive to hold on to that knowledge.

2. Exams Don’t Always Measure a Students’ Knowledge

While testing is a good way to measure how well a student has mastered a given topic, one test cannot measure all of a students’ knowledge.  In college, midterms and finals cover such a broad range of topics that one test given in a strict time period cannot possibly cover every topic that has been taught. Professors pick what ends up on a test and students are left to guess what might show up on a test and what might not. Studying is hit or miss. A student might have studied extensively and find that the one thing they forgot is worth the most points on the test.

For example, tests that include vocab words taught over the course of a semester rarely measure a students’ knowledge. Out of thousands of vocabulary word taught in a class, professors expect students to remember all of them and to be able successfully define five words that are hand picked.  Students might get lucky and happen to study the words that appear on a test or they might not and their grade begins to plunge.

Additionally, students that have test anxiety are left struggling in a system that measures how well they can focus and answer questions in a rigorous and often stressful environment. These students might be very intelligent but simply do not do well under the pressure of exams.

3. Exams Can Cause Unbearable Amounts of Stress on Students

Because the stake for exams for students are so high, a lot of students find themselves in a pass or fail situations after just one exam.  How can one test have so much power? Even with ‘A’ students, if they are bad at exams their grade could drop considerably after one assessment.  Students are forced to study for long periods of time and sometimes even pull all nighters.  Some students even go as far to take drugs to enhance there studying.  All these unhealthy acts and more are caused by exams.

Some colleges take steps in order to limit the amount of underage drinking on campuses.  I find this goal laughable because college exams are a big factor in drinking.  People drink as an escape from their stressful reality.  Exams are so stressful, people can’t wait to drink more before, during, and after exam season.  Colleges need to learn that they contribute a lot to drinking on campuses and by extension hold some responsibility over the accidents that are caused by this.

So fellow students I  ask you to rise up against the tyranny that are exams.  Fight for different or better options and make college a better pace for you and future students!