Are tests good?

Are tests good?

1. Pro

   • Educators create tests to measure their students' understanding of specific content or the effective application of critical thinking skills.
   • According to the Glossary for Educational Reform, summative assessments are defined by three criteria
     • .They are recorded as scores or grades for a student’s academic record for report card or for admission to a higher education
       • l.They are used to determine whether students have learned what they were expected to learn or to level or degree to which students have learned the materia
       • They may be used to measure learning progress and achievement, and to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs.
         • Tests may also measure student progress toward stated improvement goals or to determine student placement in programs.
   • Exams help us learn and digest information more easily. Because students are under pressure to get good grades, they strive to do their best. They work hard, making sure they are well-prepared. Without exams, students would be able to put off their revision and find it hard to keep up in class.
   • Exams test what a student has learned in class. Exam grades help the teacher evaluate their own performance and motivate them to work harder in the school.
   • Standardized tests are subject to rapid updates and effective improvements. They promote equality among students who have different backgrounds.
     • If it were not for SAT or GaoKao, you wouldn't know whether you are fit for higher education. If it was not for TOEFL, you wouldn't know whether you would survive under an academic atmosphere in an English-speaking country. If it was not for medical Licensing Examination, you wouldn't know whether you could prevent unnecessary deaths when you become a physician.
   • It is easier to identify cases of cheating. When a student is copying the answer of another student, the same answer will give them away.

2. Con

   • Almemorizing.so most of the exams are based on just one point of view, the teachers, some students will have a different answer that is also correct, but in their point of view. Learning is analyzing, not just
     • There are different ways to test an student avoiding exams.
       • EXAMPLES
         • Student-Proposed Project
         • Op-Ed piece to be sent to local newspaper (the Op-Ed piece is a “real world” exercise that requires not only a thorough understanding of both sides of an issue, but an ability to understand the audience).
         • Reflective paper (if the class ask the students to write a reflective paper/critique of their experience. The key here is to make them tie this to theory or themes in the course so that it doesn’t become an effusion of personal feeling).
           • Annotated portfolio of work throughout the term (portfolios in place of a test have been used for a number of years in the College Writing Programs. Students compile their best or representative work from the term, write a critical introduction to the portfolio and a brief introduction to each piece).
   • Exams measure only how fast you can write or how good your memory is, because you have a certain period of time. An exam is basically how much you can take in, and the amount that you can remember and put it in the amount of paper.
     • Everybody is different, you can't give everyone the same test, due to different capacity, and velocity.
       • There are more kinds of intelligence besides the academic, there is the naturalistic, musical, Logical-mathematical, existential, interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, intra-personal, and spatial. It is not fair to measure all those different types of intelligences in only one test.
     • Qualities that standardized tests cannot measure include "creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy, self-awareness, self-discipline, leadership, civic-mindedness, courage, compassion, resourcefulness, sense of beauty, sense of wonder, honesty, integrity."
       • According to late education researcher Gerald W. Bracey, PhD
       • How are we supposed to messure all this intelligences and qualities in just one test, that normally just focus on the academic intelligence and the memorizing quality.
     • The way that exams are structured means that in order to yield good results, students are required to memorise information and regurgitate it onto exam papers, but not necessarily understand what they are learning. An emphasis on exams as primary modes of assessment means that many students are led to focus on cramming and revising information. Preparing for exams rarely gives students the time to absorb the information they are studying.
   • You might know the lessons covered in class, but still be unable to translate that into performance once it’s up for a grade. Your mental and emotional state are powerful factors. If you’re stressed or anxious, your brain will want to do a thousand things other than complete a complex assignment. So it is not surprising if a person underperforms on a test; maybe it’s because they’re too stressed to focus.
     • .More than 2 million reported to have been experimenting depression, and this has affected their daily life. Almost 30 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys have had a kind of anxiety disorder. 65% of this cases are because of the stress caused by tests and homework
       • Reported Times.
       • At the present time 3 millions of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 have experience at least one episode of anxiety.
         • According to the national health and human services department.