Does anyone agree with me that exams are a needless idiocy?

Question

I think exams are stupid. They test nothing but the short-term memory powers of students. They filter out lazy and/or forgetful students, but not nessesarily those who mastered too little on the subject.

"Learn the concept, not memorize" is a scam and a sham. If people are to understand the concept, they MUST Fremember what the facts are. It's not that they can answer Pharmacology questions with "xxxxx is an antagonist of both B1 and B2 type adregenic receptors". They could be punished simply for not remembering, not because they don't know or have no understanding of it.

Speaking of memory powers, after we graduate and work we all resort to books once in a while to refresh our memories. It's not that having photographic memory of everything with 0 percent decay will help you in your job, unless you are in a telemarketing show advertitzing your memory power guidebook. Just take a look at your professors. Are they reciting everything out of memory?

Anyway anyone agrees with me

Answer 1

Speaking as a college professor, I have to say that the KEY to an effective exam is the quality of the questions. Yes, I do know of some who ask either stupid questions or ones where you can simply guess at the right answer.

However, with my exams, that's not the case. I use a mix of scenarios, matching, fill-ins, true/false, multiple choice, etc., where you cannot simply memorize answers or just guess right. And I require my students put things in their own words rather than simply repeating it my way or the book's way. This forces them to think for themselves.

Yes, I agree that exams alone aren't the best measure of student performance. Your day to day performance in class is the best judge of your mastery. And that's why I don't focus so much on the exams, but rather what I actually see from you. Some just aren't good test takers, but do demonstrate a solid understanding of the material. I give more credit to showing that you understand and can apply the material more than can you do well on a test.

But it all boils down to the quality of the exams and assignments. Simply asking students to repeat things, or present them with ways of just guessing doesn't help them learn, nor does it show that they've learned. But giving them situations or asking them to explain why something is right or not does force them to apply the material, which is a much better way to measure their mastery.

I tell my students to first identify the concept involved, and then define it. Learning the concept is critical, and that's not memorization per se. For example, the concept could be fractions. OK, define it. A numerator on top and a denominator on the bottom. What kind of a number can be a numerator and denominator? For example, is 3.5 / 4 a fraction? What about 3 / 4.5? Or 6.35 / 0.9? What does a numerator represent? With 3/4, the 3 means ....... What are the different ways a fraction can be worded? 3 out of 4, 3 over 4, 3 in 4, 3 to 4, etc. This goes beyond simple memorization and involves some more thinking and assessment (analysis).

And I can tell you that in my classes, I will sometimes bring in radio or TV. I will also just happen to come across something relevant to class that I heard that day on the news or read in the newspapesr. There's no reciting out of memory here, but rather some quick thinking.

Yes, some profs simply repeat things the exact same way with each and every new class, but I don't because it's boring for both myself and for you. Not every group of students is the same, and so I don't run things the exact same way, nor do I explain things in the exact same way, nor do I use the same assignments and exams.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to change anybody's mind or get you to agree with my opinions, but rather I'm explaining that you cannot simply lump us all into the same category because we don't all work the same way.

And I try to do what I feel benefits the students most, and simply rehashing the same material and presenting it the exact same way all the time, and using the same exams without changes is not teaching. Teaching is modifying things to that particular group of students. However, that takes work, and there those of us out there who want to take the easy out. But I am willing to put that effort in and not take the easy way out because it only hurts the students in the end.

Rest assured that in my classes, you cannot simply memorize things and get by.

Answer 2

I hate exams as much as the next person (particularly since I recently finished my candidacy exams), but there needs to be some way to evaluate students on their understanding of the course material. If all exams were replaced with papers, people would instead complain that the paper only tests how well you can look stuff up, rather than actually knowing the material. The simple fact is that no assessment tool is perfect, so instructors are left to decide what seems the most appropriate to them. Much like students, some prefer papers while others prefer exams.

And as for whether professors recite everything out of memory...you'd be surprised. It's unbelievable how many studies professors are able to cite and describe out of thin air.

Answer 3

Well, as stupid as the social laws, court laws, commercial laws, and most of the laws. But we need a system to run the society, some social order.
Like wise, the exam is a needed system, and was never claimed to be an intelligent system. This fact is well established long ago and since a long time. Many Many successful men did very poorly in school exams, but were geniuses in life !
That is why there are tests and interviews for jobs, but they need the exam certificate to filter out the preliminary level people in most cases !
No exam needed for a politician ! ha ha ha ! (at least in India)

Answer 4

That was my thinking when I was teaching history at university. It's amazing how college students resent not having tests to prove their standing in class... Any exams i gave were open notes or books but a lot of them still couldn't figure out the question to begin with. Well, at least not until halfway through the course... My finals were always oral exams btw..

But I do think that licensing exams are necessary for certain professions where being able to recall facts are essential.

Answer 5

Completely agreed. All it tests is short term memory and/or the cramming capacity of the student, and places unnecessary stress on those involved.

They're just completely horrible.

Answer 6

What I do to avoid moronic conflicts such as doing exam's is I home-school (the cache is that I home-school myself), only problem is that I can't provide myself with a meritable and recognisable certificate.

Answer 7

i think u are wrong because exam test u on your IQ .actually is not that i disagree,i also agree but what to do we take it no matter what or else we cannot go to next level

Answer 8

I really agree. The educational system is exactly that, a "system."

Answer 9

ya