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In the modern world, there is a movement away from written exams to more practical assessment. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this trend

The written exam was the only possible evaluation method in the past and thanks to the technological advancements for numerous other techniques to assess a student's academic performance nowadays. It is quite obvious that schools and other educational and training institutions are opting for a combination of different assessment methods and this shift has both advantages and demerits, which I shall examine in this essay. To start with the advantages, practical approaches to evaluating students not only consider the overall learning and understanding of a student but also the accuracy and depth of their knowledge. For instance, in a paper based exam, a student can easily memorise the answers and perform well in written test; but when he is asked to demonstrate the knowledge his knowledge in a lab, his memorise-and-answer ability would help him a little. In practical exams, students who have really learned the lessons would pass with flying colours. Furthermore, assessment methods like interviews, group assignments, presentations and lab experiments prepare pupil to face the challenges in professional life. Turning to the disadvantages of practical assessment, many students can cheat the evaluation process and pass the exam with a little devotion to study. For instance, a recent survey conducted on students in five different colleges revealed that students prefer group assignments, online presentations and lab experiments than written exam as they need to study more for the later one. On top of that, sometimes, teachers favour particular students and mark some students poorly due to personal reasons and the authority has little to do to reassess this marking scheme at a later date. To conclude, genuine assessment of a student is quite an essential task for the schools and a combination of evaluation process should be implemented. Practical assessment offers many benefits and subsequently prepare students for the future challenges in both academic and professional environment

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