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?

It is true that schools tend to assess the performance of

students

through

exams

,

instead

of assessing them continually via assignments.

Although

examinations in the traditional way are the most reliable method of testing

students

’ knowledge,

this

form

also

has some drawbacks.

To begin

with the positives, the main advantage of

exams

have as a form of

assessment

is that they are likely to reduce cheating.

This

is because

students

often undertake

exams

with the presence of invigilators, whose responsibility is to prevent examinees from breaking the rules.

In contrast

, the form of continual

assessment

may increase the risk of plagiarism because

students

can copy their assignments from the Internet or other

learners

.

Besides

diminishing cheating intentions, conducting

exams

also

promote competition among

students

. The reason for

this

is that the results of

exams

are often used in categorizing

students

, contributing to

students

’ qualifications.

Thus

,

learners

need to study hard and prepare carefully in order to a better category.

However

, assessing

students

via examinations does present some problems, the most common of which is high pressure.

For example

, many

students

are highly intelligent and creative, but when putting them under an exam’s pressure their minds can go blank.

Consequently

, the brightest candidates may

also

perform poorly, achieving an unexpected score. Another issue with

this

method of

assessment

is that

learners

can cram for it. As

exams

are conducted one or two times per semester,

learners

can start preparing in a window of time before the final day.

As a result

, some

students

may choose rote learning or squeeze themselves with a huge amount of knowledge. In conclusion, the planned

assessment

instead

of regular assignment has little room for cheating and increases learning competition, but in turn,

this

method puts a high strain on examinees and causes

cramming

Correct your spelling

cramping

show examples

among them