Exams: should they sat or should they go?

The dreaded exams day: we’ve all been there, suddenly we begin to doubt every piece of knowledge we’ve somehow absorbed into our brains and our stress level surpass their optimum level. Our brains feel blank despite the endless preparation we have done for them. Yet despite this, many of us still achieve highly, whilst some of us crack under the pressure.

So, the question is, is the continuation of such examination really necessary?

The difficulty with this situation is that, of course, to measure knowledge in alternative ways is rather difficult, especially with the inevitability of cheating in conditions which are less closely invigilated.

However, the exams conditions themselves have been psychologically proven to hinder performance. Research into memory was conducted in which participants took part in several variables, including learning in one room and being tested in the same room or a different room. The findings suggest that learning in a different room to testing, actually lessens the availability of memories of the content learned. This, of course, is the case for invigilated exams, taking place not in classroom but in unfamiliar school halls.

My earlier mention of anxiety as a result of examination be both a hindrance and a help when it comes to exams. The Yerkes-Dodson effect suggests there is an optimum level of anxiety in which memory retrieval is the strongest. Some anxious arousal must occur for this optimum level to be reached, but if it is surpassed, as is often the case with exam induced anxiety, memory retrieval is actually impaired. And with classical exams being a test of memory as opposed to intelligence, this poses a problem which one could argue is highly pertinent in out society. Perhaps such archaic ways of testing knowledge should be replaced with new ways that are less stress inducing and an actual measure of how creativity and individual flair, as opposed to our ability to route memorise hard facts.

Ultimately, the education system faces difficulties in the sense that examination in new, innovative ways is often more trying, yet this is arguably a very necessary implementation to ensure students feel more comfortable in their environment during examination, and avoid stress and are encouraged as creative individuals.