Essay/Term paper: Exam are unfair assessments of progress

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Critical Essays

Exams Are Unfair Assessments of Progress



Most educators believe that exams are the best way to judge a student"s ability. They believe that students" ability can be judged depending on the marks or grades that students get in the exams. They also think that studying for exams can help students review and absorb the things they have learned. Actually, many people hate exams because they disagree that exams are realistic tools for rating progress. The three main reasons for me to believe that exams are unfair assessments of progress are: the effects of pressure, the reliability of the exam result and the purpose of study.

First of all, exams cause too much pressure for students. Some students commit suicide before they take an exam because they do not have self-confidence to face to the exam. Some students commit suicide after their exams because they can not get good marks in their exams and they can not stand the pressure of their parents. In addition, many students usually forget all of the things that they have already learned when they are taking their exams because they are too nervous, but they can remember all the things again after they finish their exams. Also, many students suffer insomnia because they are too worry about their exams. They do not have enough sleep, so they can not do well in their exams.

Secondly, the exam results of the students are not reliable. Some students cheat in the exams. For example, they just copy the answers from their cheating papers to their answer sheets. Although their answers are correct, they do not really know the answers. Also, some student guess what questions might appear in the exams and only study that part of the course material. They can get good results in their exams without studying hard if they are lucky. Furthermore, many students get poor results in the exams because they do not have enough time to finish the exam papers, but not because they don"t know the answers. The marking standard of examiners is also very unsteady. Sometimes, the marking standard might depend on the emotion of the examiners.

Last of all, the original purpose of studying is distorted. It is not the right way that people only study for exams. The worst thing is that people do not do anything else except studying for their exams.

In conclusion, I agree that exams are unfair assessments of progress because the pressure caused by exams is too large, the result of exams is unreliable and the purpose of studying is misunderstood. I this that day-to-day work done by students is a fairer way for rating progress.