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?

In recent years, the approach of using
exams
to assess
students
has risen in popularity over the alternative of continual
assessment
.
This
essay will highlight
/
illustrate
/
discuss
/
explore both the benefits and drawbacks that result from
such
an approach. (no need for opinion, did not ask for opinion).
To begin
with the advantages
/
positives, a crucial advantage that examinations have as a form of
assessment
is that they leave little room for cheating.
This
is because
exams
are usually undertaken in the presence of an invigilator, whose job it is to detect any candidate breaking the rules.
In contrast
, continual
assessment
increases the risk of plagiarism since assignments are often completed with the help of the internet.
Besides
reducing cheating,
exams
are
also
more time-efficient. As they tend to only appear once or twice per year, they free up more time for
students
to revise and prepare.
Nevertheless
, assessing
students
via examinations does present some problems.
For instance
/
for example
, some
students
are extremely intelligent and creative, but when put under pressure, their minds can go blank. Considering that
exams
are situations of intensely high pressure, it is no wonder that even the brightest of
students
sometimes perform poorly. Another significant disadvantage of
this
system is the narrow range of information that
students
are tested on. Unlike with continual
assessment
, the small window of time in tests limits how many questions can be asked,
thus
not testing
students
’ knowledge in full. In conclusion,
although
formal examinations are beneficial in terms of cutting out cheating and improving efficiency, it is important to consider that they
also
harm some
students
’ concentration and are arguably not as thorough as continual assessments.
Submitted by dandantotoro on

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