Hinder

by Ying Yang

Created on: August 17, 2009   Last Updated: August 19, 2009

The frantic scribbling of notes, the frenzied tapping of calculators, late nights at the library and copious amounts of coffee... Yep, sounds like exam time to me. Final exams are designed to test students on how much they have learnt and ensure that they have enough knowledge to be able to move through to their next year of study. It sounds like good intentions, but I think just having one set of exams at the end of the year actually makes study more challenging for students and hinders the education process.

Firstly, the actual process of learning in preparation for an exam is very different to learning in general. Learning real concepts and ideas requires students to take notes in class, do their homework and develop a good understanding of the material covered. Teachers are supposed to teach the course material in fun and interesting ways which will encourage students to want to learn more about the subject. However, with final exams being such a big part of the teaching year, teachers are sometimes more focussed on teaching students how to pass the exams rather than teaching the course material. For example, a maths teacher may spend more time explaining what is on a given formula sheet and when to use it, rather than teaching them what the formulae actually mean and how to derive it for themselves. The focus on final exams causes students to miss out on these other aspects of learning; therefore, final exams can hinder students from gaining all they can from a complete educational process.

While some good students will actually study weeks in advance for exams, I find that many students have a very different approach to exam-learning. In most schools, students usually know the exam format, have past papers and model answers to look at and are given a formulae sheet or glossary list in the exam. All that is required of them is to learn all the given material and rock up to the exam feeling confident and prepared. The students who rote-learn in this way may not do as well as the students who put in the effort to study, but they will usually still pass. Generally, the final exam determines the overall grade and this in itself is a great flaw in the idea of final exams. It encourages students to take short-cuts and learn only what is needed for the exam, rather than rewarding those who have worked hard to learn all that they can throughout the year. It also adds a lot of pressure to students and some students who work very hard but do not do well in exam conditions may end up getting worse grades than the student who crammed the night before and was cool under pressure. This is very unfair and makes the students' overall grades less credible as evidence of their academic ability.

Furthermore, it has been proven that rote-learning for final exams is not a good way to learn because everything is crammed into the short-term memory. Students will remember facts and figures just long enough to be able to write it down during the exam. That knowledge is all but lost almost immediately after the exam because nothing was retained in their long-term memory. Students may fool themselves into thinking that they must know everything, because they managed to pass. They will have no motivation to study during the year if they think they can get away with cramming a few days prior to the exam and pass. Year after year, students may fall further behind and may eventually graduate without a lot of the prerequisite knowledge they should have gained from the previous years. Aside from their lack of knowledge, students going to work in the real world will also lack the discipline to work hard and manage their time wisely, resulting in them doing only the bare minimum, and only at the last minute. Thus, final exams may not only hinder the education process but it will also instil in students bad habits and attitudes towards work which will hinder their careers and their future, too.

Final exams can have their uses in that they show, however superficially, whether or not students have learnt what they should have learnt. Gaps in achievement indicate biases in the teaching or examination system. Acknowledging these gaps can lead to improvements which help improve the education process. However, in order to get a more accurate view of students' academic performance, there needs to be less emphasis on final exams. More coursework, projects and short tests during the semester will test students more regularly, thereby forcing students to learn more during the year. Without the stress of final exams, I think all students would have much better opportunities to actually learn.

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