Some people are of the opinion that exams are best way of assessment while others believe regular appraisals are better. Discuss both views.

The effectiveness of examinations as a standard evaluation tool is debatable. Some people believe that it is the preferred approach instead of continuous appraisals while others do not. This essay will discuss the positive and negative aspects of exams as a modality of assessing students. There are two important benefits of examinations such as uniformity and thorough evaluation. To begin with, students are subjected to a common set of questions, in theory as well as practical, which prevents any kind of bias in the exam. For instance, an exam conducted by a national board will have the same questions all across the country, thereby assessing students in the same manner. In addition, exams test all aspects of human brain, which helps in complete assessment. To explain, various components of cognition such as memory, reasoning and problem solving are tested at the same time. However, there are two distinct drawbacks of exams such as its conventional approach and absence of regular feedback. Most importantly, the age-old methodology tests all students in one particular framework. To be precise, it leaves very little scope for certain students, who have impaired memory, to excel in such periodical exams. Another point to be considered here is that, there is no evaluation on daily basis, which leaves many students pondering about their systematic progress. For example, with the help of presentations and interviews, students can be assessed frequently and mistakes can be pointed out on regular basis, which can help them to improve their studies and skills. Examinations continue to be an important tool in the hands of various institutions. In conclusion, while the examinations have their own merits such as equal and complete assessment, they also have demerits such as being an old system which is devoid of constant feedback.