Poll: exams vs assignments

redshoegirl · November 2009

OK, so this might be a kind of strange poll, but I'm curious what the average (American) opinion on this might be.

In Australia, not all undergraduate degrees have final exams for any of the classes you take for the degree - your results for all classes are judged solely on the assignments that you turn in (it depends on the policies of the college you attend). In a conversation with several coworkers today, I heard two sides to a debate about this:

The first is that it's ridiculous not to have exams, as they are proof that you've retained the information at least until the end of the semester and not just to pass one particular assignment.

The second is that all exams do is teach you how to pass exams and don't provide any particular proof of knowledge (it wasn't clear whether this was solely regarding multiple choice only exams, or those that included essay questions, but I believe that the people on this side of the fence were generally referring to both).

Although there were believers on both sides, the general consensus was that exams were usually pointless.

[Poll]

sanae78 · November 2009

I voted for #2 because I know that a lot of people are just bad at test taking or freak out and it doesn't necessarily indicate their level of knowledge. (Never was this more evident to me than in nursing school.) However, I happen to be a great test taker so it all worked out well for me. I did tend to cram and purge a lot of the information after the tests, though, so I probably would have retained more through different assignments or writing papers. Luckily, I always did well on papers, too...I just hated doing them. Stick out tongue

RD913 · November 2009

I am not a good test taker. I manage, but the stress always drove me crazy. This is especially true about multiple-choice exams (and exams like the SAT, GRE, etc). Essay exams are a better measure of scholarship, I think.

lelekay · November 2009

I think it really depends on the type of class. For example a history or math class should have a final exam. This kind of class you need to prove that you have retained the info given. But for a class like my education classes, I don't think a final exam is really needed. Projects that you have created throughout the class are the important part here.

MrsNFB · November 2009

I voted #2 although I don't think exams are totally pointless.

How a person retains information best is unique so while I learn better applying the material throughout the course (via assignments and quizes) versus cramming to remember everything for one final exam, there are people that probably learn better in other ways.

I'm taking an accounting class right now and I don't think that memorizing all the formulas and such is paramount to understanding the concepts presented in class.

irishmilla02 · November 2009

I voted for number two because I hate to think that a majority of my grade is based off of an exam that either may not be well written or I may just have a bad test taking day (which happens quite a bit).

In the Air Force, you have to take a test for promotion. There are a few other things that add to your overall "score" to see if you make the next rank but a majority of the points that you get are from your tests. I think it's absolutely ridiculous because it doesn't show that you are good at your job... it shows that you are either good at taking a test or memorizing some material. I know quite a few people that are great leaders, great at their job but horrible test takers so they are stuck at the same rank... and vice versa, some that are very intelligent and great at taking test but HORRIBLE leaders or don't even really care about the military.

PugRolls · November 2009

I'm pretty strongly in the # 2 camp, despite the fact that I am a great test-taker and my career has benefited greatly from having them at important points along the way (e.g. SAT, LSAT, bar exam). I learn by doing assignments. If I study material and write an essay about it or work through math problems or whatever, I'm much more likely to retain that information. For tests, on the other hand, I will cram whatever I have to into my brain and then promptly forget it the minute I'm done with the exam. I can assure you that passing the bar exam proves absolutely nothing about my ability to practice law; all it does is show that I can memorize rule statements and regurgitate them on command. I certainly think that there should be some sort of measure to prove competency at the end of a particular course of study, but I think that assignment-style work product is a more reliable measure of that competency.

mrsdarling · November 2009

PugRolls:
I'm pretty strongly in the # 2 camp, despite the fact that I am a great test-taker and my career has benefited greatly from having them at important points along the way (e.g. SAT, LSAT, bar exam). I learn by doing assignments. If I study material and write an essay about it or work through math problems or whatever, I'm much more likely to retain that information. For tests, on the other hand, I will cram whatever I have to into my brain and then promptly forget it the minute I'm done with the exam. I can assure you that passing the bar exam proves absolutely nothing about my ability to practice law; all it does is show that I can memorize rule statements and regurgitate them on command. I certainly think that there should be some sort of measure to prove competency at the end of a particular course of study, but I think that assignment-style work product is a more reliable measure of that competency.

Excepting that I'm not a lawyer, we are twins.

mrspresley · November 2009

I suppose if there were enough assignments, then that would be sufficient to learn the course material...however, in my own personal experience, I found that there were things that I never fully learned/grasped until I started cramming for an exam. Of course this applies more to classes like physics than art history.. but in general I feel that for some courses, exams are very useful and for other classes they are kind of pointless.

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