There seems to be an increasing trend towards assessing students through exams rather than through continual assessment. What are the advantages and disadvantages of exams as a form of assessment?

Examinations, in layman’s terms, are graded assessments to determine a student’s knowledge on various topics. Nowadays, it seems that the trend towards assessing students on continual assessments are increasing as compared to having exams. It is beneficial as lesser stress is induced on these students as they are only required to excel in the final exams. At the same

time

, teachers are unable to gauge the understanding of their pupils, unlike continuous assessments which allow them to. Certainly, evaluating students based on examinations can be a drawback as

this

system does not grade the true ability of their knowledge on the topics tested. To exemplify, exams occur only at the end of the year when teachers have completed the syllabus of the module, whereas, tertiary education – Colleges, Polytechnic, University have tests done bi-weekly.

This

way, it enables teachers to view the constant effort and the diligence of the students.

Therefore

, it is conclusively clear that the lecturers can have a better overview of the pupil’s ability to grasp the concepts taught in class when assessments are conducted

instead

of the one-

time

examination. Yet, students taking exams subject to lesser stress.

For instance

, rather than exams, there is an increase in workload when taking continual assessments. On top of the need to study for tests, lecturers give out projects.

As a result

, the majority of the students are subjected to immense pressure and often pull an all-nighter to finish off their assignments. Typically,

this

occurs when one advances towards higher education levels, and most often, these pupils lose the motivation to study. Henceforth, isn’t it better for students to progress at a pace where they find most comfortable before sitting for examinations where lesser stress is felt?

Moreover

, students sitting for examinations have more

time

to prepare.

For example

, in Singapore, secondary school pupils have the entire 4 to 5 years to prepare and do well for the important examination, O’ levels. But, many argue that doing away with

such

a system has its pros as students are not able to score by luck when they do

last

-minute studying. Yes, one

time

may happen, but not all the

time

. It deters students from cramming as

this

is highly negative for employers as well as society as a whole to have

such

young graduates with little or absolutely no knowledge of their subjects. To conclude, it is advantageous to use examinations as students are subjected to lesser pressure and have a long

time

to revise for their examinations.

Although

the case, unlike tests, lecturers are unable to evaluate the student’s true ability in grasping the key concepts of the lesson and sometimes, students may be able to score well in exams even though they study until the very

last

minute. Ultimately, be it ungraded tests or graded assignments, undergraduates need to plan out their

time

and put in constant efforts to be able to score well in their finals.