Formal examinations have been used as means of assessing students on their understanding of various subjects since time immemorial. Considering it in isolation or in combination with other continual assessment such as course work or projects, it remains a subject of controversy as to the best method of assessment. In my opinion, a combination of the two may be a better way of assessing students.
First and foremost, the aim of the assessment is to quantify how much the student understands the taught subject in its totality. An examination is usually administered on a single sitting. The outcome depends on various factors such as whether the examination is conducted in a conducive atmosphere, whether the student is healthy during the time of the examination and also the student’s mood. These are all non-academic factors that may affect the result of the examination.
Secondly, a single examination may not cover the scope of the subject completely especially in broad subjects such as medicine and law. Continual assessments may then come in handy.
In addition, formal examinations are not flexible enough to assess other qualities possessed by a student such as confidence and the ability of a student to present a topic to the public. These can only be done through other assessments such as presentations and other course works and projects.
In conclusion, formal examinations are a good means of assessment but should not be used in isolation due to some of its shortcomings such as its inability to cover wide topics, being affected by other none academic factors such as a student’s mood or health. Therefore, continual assessments such as course work and projects should also be considered.
Formal
examinations
have been
used
as means of assessing
students
on their understanding of various
subjects
since time immemorial. Considering it in isolation or in combination with
other
continual
assessment
such as course work or projects, it remains a
subject
of controversy as to the best method of
assessment
. In my opinion, a combination of the two may be a better way of assessing students.
First
and foremost, the aim of the
assessment
is to quantify how much the
student
understands the taught
subject
in its totality. An
examination
is
usually
administered on a single sitting. The outcome depends on various factors such as whether the
examination
is conducted
in a conducive atmosphere, whether the
student
is healthy during the time of the
examination
and
also
the
student’s
mood. These are all non-academic factors that may affect the result of the examination.
Secondly
, a single
examination
may not cover the scope of the
subject
completely
especially
in broad
subjects
such as medicine and law. Continual
assessments
may then
come
in handy.
In addition
, formal
examinations
are not flexible
enough
to assess
other
qualities possessed by a
student
such as confidence and the ability of a
student
to present a topic to the public. These can
only
be done
through
other
assessments
such as presentations and
other
course works and projects.
In conclusion
, formal
examinations
are a
good
means of
assessment
but
should not be
used
in isolation due to
some
of its shortcomings such as its inability to cover wide topics, being
affected
by
other
none academic factors such as a
student’s
mood or health.
Therefore
, continual
assessments
such as course work and projects should
also
be considered
.
10Linking words, meeting the goal of 7 or more
31Repeated words, meeting the goal of 3 or fewer
0Mistakes