To Exam or not to Exam -that is the question!

TO EXAM OR NOT TO EXAM – THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Exams – that time of the year where students, teachers and parents feel like throwing up and putting together a strategy for war. This unwanted and unwelcome time of the year often leads to a heated debate whether or not exams and testing should be given the boot in schools. But let’s just think logical before storming the Department of Education armed with protest signs and frozen eggs. There are two ways of looking at this question like the objective beings we know we can be:

Points in favour of abolishing exams and testing:

• Some people think that exams are not a reliable test of gauging the ability of the students as luck plays a major role.
• Present examination systems encourage cramming, unnecessary expenditure on books and also encourage private tutoring which has resulted in mushrooming of a large number of tuition shops in every city and even small towns by inexperienced persons.
• The present examination system doesn’t specify the exact criteria for how the marks are rewarded to students. (Nobody can deny that external factors can sometimes influence the distribution of marks – for example if the teacher is in an angry mood or having a bad hair day or whether the teacher was upset with the class and giving them a nasty test as punishment.)
• The pressure of performing to maximum capacity is so hectic, that if the student has not studied up to the required standards, he/she even sometimes uses unfair means in the examination hall to copy from a near sitting intelligent student and get good marks.

Others have also said:

• It is impossible to test every aspect of a subject within the short exam time, if a student is lucky and what he studied for is tested, he will score higher and they don’t properly assess people’s grasp of the subject. You can get higher/lower marks than you deserve.
• It is impossible to set the questions at the same difficulty every year, if it is easier, the student will score higher.
• It is possible to study the tested subjects for the exam, then forget everything and yet, score high marks.
• Some cheaters go undetected and score high marks.
• Huge (unnecessary) emotional burden, provides stress etc. Better alternatives include:
  – put more emphasis on research work 
  – less stress

In whichever camp you stand, abolishing exams and testing or not, exams don’t need to cause life-altering ulcers and rare skin conditions! Managing stress in the way to go!

How to manage exam stress:

• Learn to recognise when you’re stressing out. A break or a chat with someone who knows the pressure you’re under will get things into perspective.
• Avoid comparing your abilities with your mates. Those “Oh my God I’ve only read Macbeth 17 times” conversations are such a wind up. Everyone approaches revision in different ways, so just make sure you’ve chosen the method that works best for you. Make a realistic timetable. Stick to it.
• Eat right. Treat yourself like a well-honed machine! Eat fresh fruit and veg and have a proper breakfast. Fuel your brain as well as your body – no one can think straight on coffee and chocolate (or WINE!)
• Sleep well. Wind down before bed and don’t revise under the duvet – your bed is a sanctuary, not a desk. Get your eight hours.
• Nothing destresses the mind faster than physical activity, so build it into your timetable. Being a sloth makes our mind sloppy too.
• Quit the bad habits. Cigarettes and alcohol never stopped anyone being stressed for very long.
• Panic is often triggered by hyperventilating (quick, shallow breaths). So, if you feel yourself losing it during the exam, sit back for a moment and control your breathing. Deep breath in and out through the nose, counting to five each way.
• Steer clear of any exam ‘post-mortem’. It doesn’t matter what your mate wrote for Question 3(b), it’s too late to go back and change your answers, so it will just make you worry even more.