Exams are BAD for students. Do you agree?

Question

Exams encourage a very unproductive way of learning. Unlike in school, university students have no time to study properly, and must resort to cramming to catch up with the exams. And in the end, they end up not remembering anything.

Instead of emphasizing on understanding the facts, they had to shove, shove and shove copy-pasted ultra-simplified notes up their brains in a day, hoping that it makes sense.

Actually of course it makes sense. Make sense enough to be able to do well in exams, whose questions are hardly anything above plain note-recalling challenges (eg. What is the antagonist of H2 receptors?). But does it make sense in REAL job situations?

Employers don't want to have employees with photographic memory - they have books and computers to do that for them. They want good problem solvers. People who KNOW ( as in understand) what they learned and are able to apply those knowledge in everyday situations.

Please take note everyone that I am not someone who crams last minute, nor that I did terribly in exams ( not getting 80% and above though).

You keep on forgetting my argument that paradoxically people who memorized everything for exams forget everything after it.

And people who emphasis on understanding facts, actually remember more than those who attempt to memorize.

Hmm. Linkin, try weighing the entire one semester syllabus of Pharmacology with the entire 3 years of your High School science subject.

Can you tell me which one is heavier?Hmm?
So shut up retard.

Answer 1

Okay... so if you weren't spending so much time getting your freak on, you'd have more time to study. More time to study means you know more (and less freak, but that's just the cost of knowledge...) and therefore, would know the answers to more questions.

So the first answer is "Less freak, more knowledge"... Now on to part two...

So what you're saying is that you would feel really good driving over a bridge built by an engineer who really didn't remember much of all that math stuff, but had some pretty creative ideas on how else he could get you from point A to point B. Or the doctor that figured all those Latin names were for p-ssies but has got this cool new procedure he just thought of that he's dying to try out.

Of course you gotta know stuff fool! That's the commitment required to become educated. Don't nobody want to just hear what you "think" or your "ideas." Why? 'Cause unless they grounded in some real knowledge, they probably suck.

Now I agree, there are some jobs where you don't end up using a lot of the specifics of what you studied. I don't play the violin anymore neither, but does that mean it was a waste of time studying? Hell no.... It taught me all kinds of sh!t that's applicable, not the least of which was discipline and commitment --- which I can assure you are not only valued by employers, but in extremely short supply among your peers.

So get your butt off of Yahoo and back in the books so when I gotta pay you to do something in about 5 years, you drop straight spit and not some crazy made up stuff.....

Answer 2

Well, they're not necessarily always the best route, but they aren't horrible I think. And I think you're generalizing about exam questions; they aren't all memorization exercises. As someone who went through college studying the sciences (and now am a TA), my impressions are as follows.

In introductory courses, exams are probably closest to what you are talking about. A lot of them have multiple choice parts (in the sciences, this format oftentimes doesn't make much sense), and the problems tend to be fairly straightforward or are closely related to homework problems. But that doesn't mean they're just fact based: I've seen plently that require you to understand the basic principles (though generally not the nuances of them) pretty well to get right. Moreover, in some ways exams in introductory science courses are a compromise. After all, these classes tend to be large, and someone needs to grade the exam and be able to do so in a reasonable amount of time. And there's also the fact that many intro courses serve as "weeding out" courses: I remember introductory computer science being pretty tough unless you already had a handle on basic programming concepts or could learn them quickly.

At the same time, these same intro courses generally have a fair amount of homework, which in many ways *is* the best way of learning the material. And as you get deeper into the curriculum (at least in the sciences), the deeper the reliance of grades on homeworks and projects. I've had upper level classes without any exams whatsoever, just homework and/or projects.

But most classes do have exams, and for a good reason. For one thing, they are something of a level playing field: everyone has the same amount of time, does the work on their own, in the same environment, and so on. And exams in no way are limited (particularly in upper level classes with smaller numbers of students) to asking simple memorization questions. Indeed, these tended to be in the minority in my upper level classes. And at the end of the day, even showing that you can remember some things is important (in some fields, such as medicine maybe, more important than others).

In the end, a class with no homework and only exams probably isn't the best class in the world. But, in my experience at least, and particularly at higher levels in the curriculum, exams are only part of the grade and coursework. And in that context, they help form an important part, but not the only part, of learning (and grading; after all, part of college is showing prospective employers and such what you are capable of, and you need some way of measuring that).

Answer 3

I agree with what you said, only within the scope of the method you used for your own studying.

Why do you CHOOSE to memorize facts, and why did you choose to take so many classes - not leaving enough time to properly understand the material and study the logic behind the subject matter?

Out of 24 hours a day, taking out the time necessary for sleep, eat, and other activities, how did you conclude, you did not have the time to study properly?

I work full time in high-tech industry and trust me when I say I am NOT the genuis type or one with photographic memory. I returned to college and this time, I decided to study PROPERLY. Taking one class at a time (remember I work full time) and spending 20 to 25 hours a week outside of the class studying, I was able to actually understand and get nearly perfect score on every test on the subject I had so much trouble before.

I say, your statement is false and your problem is a result of your own choosing. Well designed tests are a great tool for setting a goal and checking the mastery of the subject.

Answer 4

Bahahahaha. You were a lazy student weren't you?

College kids have TONS more time than high school kids to study. I took a normal load and in one week of college classes (cuz I was liberal arts) were still less than 1 day in high school.

My tests were all different. Depends on the class. Knowing facts like the antagonist of H2 receptors is very important for science jobs. Problem solving is more important in engineering and some liberal arts majors and their tests reflect that.

This is a retarded "question".

You've only proven me right when you said what grades you got. And comparing a semester of a college class to a bunch of high school classes is apples and oranges. One is a concentrated subject. The others are building blocks. You don't do calculus before taking years of addition, subtraction, fractions, etc. Doesn't tie in to anything you're arguing b/c rote memorization and understanding the concepts well are both techniques to pass a course, but to really do well, you need to apply both. Are you just throwing crap out there hoping something sticks to justify why you're not doing well? Which one is "heavier"? What the hell?

Answer 5

Exam are not BAD for students. We should have exams but not excessive.

Some educational system is screwed up that they make pupils memorise every dam thing they study, and throw it all our during exam... what's the point? Texting memory skills? HELLO???

I did my degree abroad and realised how the westerners learn and undertand so well because they grasp the fundamental right from the start. It definitely does not work for us who "memorise" everything by heart. I like the system at the uni. 20% assignment, 10 presentation, 20% team project, and 50% exam. A blended learning makes it more fun!

Answer 6

Out of curiosity, why do you think that students have less time to study for exams in university? They may CHOOSE to not spend as much time studying, but I know I have far fewer hours of class per day in college than I did in high school.

And how else do you plan to make sure that students know the material? I would be perfectly in favor of having open-book/open-note tests that test your comprehension of the knowledge rather than just regurgitating facts, and I've had exams like that. But without testing, there's really no way to evaluate a student, and with no way to evaluate the students, a degree becomes completely worthless.

Answer 7

exams aren't made with the intention for students to cram the night before....exams are the only way for the teacher to know if the students learned anything in their class
the correct way to study for an exam is to keep up with school work and studying a little bit each day so that when the exam day comes up, you don't have to study so much about things you learned 3 months ago, because you should already know that...
unfortunately most people, myself included, are procrastinators and leave it till the last minute, so cramming is a curse invented by its own victim.

Answer 8

exams are not bad at all...it just depends on what kind of student you are. if you study something as soon as it is taught, you will not have to cram before the exam.

even if students cram, exams are still a good way of assessing a student's abilities. obviously, whichever student works harder or has a higher intelligence will be able to score better in exams.

this is exactly what employers are looking for-people who are willing to work hard or who can quickly grasp ideas and facts.

so, exams are a good thing. besides, how else are you to fairly and efficiently evaluate students?

Answer 9

Well that's what term papers are for! As for not having enough time to study, that's your fault because you don't plan wisely. Make yourself a schedule and stick to it and reveiw regularly.

As for needing to know the basic facts? I don't think employers want employess that need to look every little thing up and then look up how it relates to whatever and so on until they can get to the problem. Saves time when you can just remember. Of course, there will be things you'll need to look up, but everything? Come on now.

Answer 10

Don't wait until the last minute to study. I have far more time to study for exams and less information to learn for an exam now than I did in high school.