Over the last few centuries, examinations have become the main method to measure people’s knowledge of certain subjects, especially in schools. Is this the best way to assess educational achievement? Some people assert that examinations are one of the most relevant methods of assessing student’s performance in schools. However, in my view, this is not the only means of measuring student performance, instead there are some other methods that can be more appropriate.
Formal examinations have become one of the main benchmarks to value student performances in class. This method is relatively easy to conduct since students only have to solve some tasks on paper based on their knowledge and then teachers can evaluate the results of the test. If students get many correct answers, they will be valued as good students, but if do not so, they will be considered as stupid students. However, examinations can not guarantee to be free from cheating activities. Students may get key answers to the exam one day before so that they can easily answer the questions without any difficulties. Therefore, in this case, examinations cannot measure student performance in schools because they only provide a value of grade from the result of examinations without ensuring the truth.
On the other hand, assessing educational achievement can be conducted in several ways. First of all, it can be done by giving individual projects that are related to study subjects, and hence it will avoid cheating activities. For example, students can create a computer program to solve certain mathematical problems after they fully received an IT course. The advantages of conducting a research project mainly are sharpening student’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which is more worthwhile for them in the future. Moreover, rather than examinations, students can be involved in group-based projects. In this way, students will foster their teamwork and leadership skills that may be beneficial when they want to become politicians.
In conclusion, examinations are not the only one method of measuring student’s performance in schools, instead, it opens to cheating activities during or before the exam. Alternative methods such as individual and group-based projects are more useful for students rather than only relying on the grade of examinations.