The moment I think about exams I wonder what are we trying to prove by taking exams? Like what is the main use of it? I can understand why schools require some sort of test to assure that students have been learning but without tests there would be no way to tell if someone has learned anything properly. Well, I feel that exams prove only a fraction of what others are learning.
For test preparation I could study for several hours and it could be a specific chapter that I learned which might come up in the paper. Then when my exam starts I would write down every little thing I remember and hand over the paper before it's time then walk away.
A few days later, ask me some of those questions again I might stare back at you like being confused because I would feel like I have never seen it before, hehe 😅. So do you think remembering something for the exam is knowing it? Another issue I have is if I understand a lesson but explain it differently than what the text book does maybe my idea is right but I use different words than the examiner may not take it in a good way. So I could lose marks because my answer doesn't look right according to him/her. In my country it's very common, teachers often ask students to follow their formula only and if you use something different even though the answer is correct then you wouldn't get any marks.
Moving to another fact, some student may remember every sentence from the book and write it exactly as the same. So, they understands the lesson better than me? I don't think a number on a paper can always answer that. I think parents and teachers should know that exams create a situation that is not visible to everyone. Like we are given a limited time and we gotta write down the answers while someone is watching us. Someone who is nervous they can forget the answers during the hours. Others might need extra time before an idea becomes clear.
Anyway, in real life we have more freedom. If I don't know something then I can look for information. I can ask questions or I can make an attempt then I might get it wrong after that I will try to notice the mistake and try again. Nobody is obliged to remember everything on command. And in my opinion, we should ask questions to ourselves "What can you do with this knowledge?"
Imagine, it's the day of the math exam and you have studied hard all night to revise and you know all the math but during an exam your hands are shivering and you are struggling to write down the right answers, does it mean you are no longer good at math? Or if you remember everything from the text book but unable to explain it with your own words, does it mean you have poor knowledge? I don't think so! Test exams helps us but I think that they should not be mistaken for true knowledge.
The results of a test exam can describe our performance of a particular day but it can't describe our creativity or IQ. So whenever I receive a mark, I try not to treat it like a measurement of my entire ability. Just think of it normally as it is just a result from a test. It shouldn't be taken as highly as people does.
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Thanks for reading 🌷
