Please Review My Task 2

Topic: Many people believe that formal 'pen and paper' examinations are not the best method of assessing educational achievement. What is your view of examinations?

My essay:

Assessment of educational achievement is very important. All over the world, formal 'pen and paper' examinations are traditionally used to measure learning at schools as well as colleges and universities. Nowadays, a lot of people think that this method is not the best. Altogether, I agree with that opinion. Knowledge and skills of students cannot be fully measured by 'pen and paper' exams.

These exams have certain advantages. They contain a variety type of tasks so that a range of different abilities can be tested. Besides, students who take the same exam with pen and paper are assessed fairly as they did the exam in the same condition. However, 'pen and paper' exams are often predictable so students may prepare by rote learning. And in fact, a lot of students who had well prepared did not get the deserved marks just because of anxiety.

There are other ways to assess educational achievement effectively. A good case in point is the use of oral examinations. First, oral examinations can measure educational knowledge and skills relatively exactly through the way a student answer the questions. Second, candidates' confidence is also measured. Certainly, a candidate who is lack of confidence cannot do the exam well. One of the disadvantages of oral exams is time-consuming because students take the exams in turn. In addition, it is not easy for examiners to spot all of the mistakes in long answers.

Overall, 'pen and paper' examinations are somewhat advantageous but not the best method to assess educational achievement. To measure learning exactly, different methods with different advantages should be well combined.