Standardized testing has been the norm since accient times in human’s history, and up until today, it is still highly regarded as an effective way to assess a student’s ability and knowledge. Despite this, continuous assessment through coursework and projects is slowly being seen as a more accurate method of evaluating a student’s overall performance. In this essay, I will look futher into the discussion between traditional testing and the new way of testing a student’s ability and knowledge.
Standardized testing is the method that requires students to fill in or choose the correct answers based on the given questions. This form of testing can be seen as a quick and effective way to evaluate a student’s knowledge as well as their abilities to remember and connect certain knowledge together in order to find the correct answer. However, it is solely focused on paper-based knowledge; therefore, not so practical when it comes to specific fields that demand practice and real life work experience. As simply put, trandardized testing primary evaluates the ability to memorize and link information.
On the other hand, assessing a student’s overall performance through their designated coursework and projects can be simply understand as a method of evaluating a student’s hand-on experience, flexibility in the workplace, and their ability to handle immediate issues. This new form of testing is considered to be highly effective in practice-based workplaces such as surgeons, electricians, and the like.
All things considered, both standardized testing and continuous assessment through coursework and projects have their pros and cons, one is primary focused on knowledge and the other aims for practical hand-on skills. Based on my experience and personal cognitive thinking ability, each serves their own purposes corresponding to the tester’s demands and requirements. Nevertheless, a combination of both may be more preferable as an accurate way of evaluating the overall ability of the students.