Whether or not exams are effective?

Question

There seems to be an increasing trend towards assessing students through exams rather than continual assessment. What are the advantages and disadvantages of exams as a form of assessment?Today, exams are more likely to be taken to test students’ performances instead of frequent testing. As beneficial this form of assessment is, it still includes several drawbacks.It is undeniable that examinations are advantageous to students. First, they provoke examination anxiety which is positively influential to their mentality. Once they experience the pressure of exams and get accustomed to it, they will be able to withstand that of their career in the future. Second, exam results are the basic requirements for students to receive scholarship and rewards. Thus, if they score well, the chances of being sponsored money for their education are truly high. Finally, an exam motivates students to focus on their study more than a constant test, because the former takes place only once, which means that they are not supposed to blunder, whilst they tend to make mistakes on the latter sometimes.Notwithstanding, exams do include negative sides that are worthwhile to be considered. The way they assess students’ knowledge is seemingly inaccurate. Unlike regular assessments which provide a variety of tasks to rate their understanding intensively, such as homework, presentations and quizzes, helping teachers to get an overall insight into how well they study, examinations solely test students on paper, which means that their abilities are judged on one side, causing wrong judgments on them. For instance, a multiple-choice exam do not reflect students’ true performances due to the fact that whoever is lucky can choose the correct answers randomly. Furthermore, the chance of cheating on exams is higher than continual tests, resulting in unfairness in education.To summarize, students benefit from exams in terms of strengthening mentality, receiving prizes and being motivated to study. Nonetheless, there are harms to this trend, including incorrect testing process and plagiarism.Please help me to fix this! I truly need advice from you guys! Thank you!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

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AlpheccaStars · Answer

18 Ð? Qu?nh HuongToday, exams are more likely to be taken to test students’ performances instead of frequent testing. As beneficial this form of assessment is, it still includes several drawbacks.

You did not understand the term "assessment." It does not mean "frequent testing."

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Today, exams are more likely to be taken to test students’ performances instead of frequent testing. As beneficial this form of assessment is, it still includes several drawbacks.

It is undeniable that examinations are advantageous to students. First, they provoke examination anxiety (I do not understand. Is being stressed and anxious a good thing? Most psychologists would not agree, since there is a strong correlation between suicide and anxiety.) which is positively influential to their mentality. Once they experience the pressure of exams and get accustomed to it, they will be able to withstand highly-stressful jobs ~~that of their~~ ~~career~~ in the future. Second, exam results are the basic requirements for students to receive scholarship (wrong form) and rewards. Thus, if they score well, the chances of being ~~sponsored~~ awarded money for their education are truly high. Finally, an exam motivates students to focus on their study more than a constant test, because the former takes place only once, which means that they are not supposed to fail ~~blunder~~, whilst they tend to make mistakes on the latter sometimes.

Notwithstanding, exams do include negative sides that are worthwhile to be considered. The way they assess students’ knowledge is somewhat ~~seemingly~~ inaccurate. Unlike regular assessments which provide a variety of tasks ~~to rate their understanding intensively~~, such as homework, presentations and quizzes, to rate their understanding continually, and thus ~~intensively~~ helping teachers to get an overall insight into how well they study, examinations solely test students on paper, which means that their abilities are judged in only one way, ~~on one side~~, causing wrong judgments on them. For instance, a multiple-choice exam do not reflect students’ true understanding, ~~performances~~ due to the fact that whoever is lucky can choose the correct answers randomly. Furthermore, the chance of cheating on exams is higher than continual tests, resulting in unfairness in education.

To summarize, students benefit from exams in terms of strengthening mentality, receiving prizes and being motivated to study. Nonetheless, there are harms to this ~~trend~~, including incorrect testing process and the risk of plagiarism.

You should define the terms "exam" and "assessment" in the opening paragraph. That will provide more coherence and cohesion.

Here is an example opening paragraph.

e.g

In many educational systems, the students' grades depend entirely on one exam given at the end of the term. In other systems, continual assessment is done, meaning quizzes, homework assignments and class projects are given throughout the term and combined to give the final mark. Although the examination system has some advantages in that it is less burdensome on the teachers, there are many disadvantages from the student's perspective.

Argument points: (my brainstorm)

Advantages of exams:

1. It is easier for teachers to just administer one exam, resulting in a final grade. They do not have to pay attention to the individual students and continually evaluate their progress.

2. The exam can be standardized across the whole school district or country, which gives fairness in picking out the top students nationally for awarding scholarships.

Disadvantages of exams:

1. They are very stressful for students, because their entire future is riding on a one-time performance. If they are sick or unwell on the exam day, it may affect their entire life. Depression and mental illness results if they fail, and suicide is not uncommon.

2. Cheating is easier for one exam than for continual assessment. Students can research the answers before the exam and memorize them.

3. Students who are very smart, but have exam phobia, get a better chance of showing their true abilities with continual evaluation.

Whether or not exams are effective?

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