The Need for Change: Making Exams More Effective and Relevant


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I had a conversation with my sister recently about the educational system and how things have messed up so bad. She is having some challenges with her courses in Germany as she is studying for her masters in an engineering course. Her struggles in her German courses highlight some limitations of the traditional exam system.

She's expected to memorise and pour back the way it is all 400 slides worth of information, not giving her the chance to demonstrate her true understanding or application of the material.


I encountered a similar thing while in school as most lecturers want you to pour back as it is in the material, thereby going through the rote memorization, and any mistake or distraction would make everything varnish from your head.

The worst of all is how lecturers would mandate students to buy their course materials, which is sometimes as boring as something else, it is always a criterion to pass their courses and in the end, it's all a waste. Most of the materials have no interesting things there and you must buy it, read it and pray you pass it, not giving room to research more online with technology.

This made me wonder: is this really the best way to evaluate or assess student learning? Shouldn't students be free and have flexibility in their learning, thereby allowing them to express and demonstrate their knowledge in the way they understand? Can't the use of technology be leveraged to make the examination more relevant and effective rather than relying on cramming/memorization?



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From my experiences and those of others, it is obvious that the educational system needs to step up its game to prepare students for the modern world and not the old way. By blending in more flexible and technology-driven approaches, we can move beyond the regurgitation model which has been outdated and focus on building creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

In my opinion, there are some changes that I feel when incorporated and focused on, students are being ensured of ways to tackle the challenges of the 21st century and even if they have access to their phones or the internet during exams, it won't make any difference; it all about finding methods and modalities to ensuring they aren't misusing it.


The changes include:

Competency-based assessments: An example of this is where a student is required to prove his or her proficiency in solving some problems rather than just ticking a multiple-choice test. In this way, the student's mastery of specific skills or competencies is measured rather than limiting them because of age or grade level.

Project-based learning: This approach focuses on students learning to work on real-life problems and projects that demand their critical thinking, creativity and collaboration with others. One of the ways students learn is by doing and not just listening to boring and long lectures where most of them are irrelevant.

Technology-enhanced exams: When there are exams that require technological devices to be utilised, the process of assessment would be more efficient, effective and engaging. For example, a student completes an online simulation of a science experiment which demonstrates his or her understanding of how to apply scientific and lab techniques.


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Thanks for your time reading. Looking forward to your interaction.

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27 comments
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I loved the part when you said students should be given projects to work on right from the start. Sadly in Nigeria and maybe some other parts of the world, students are given more workloads and you will only get to realize that out of these workloads, the only need few of them.

The educational system is struggling with specialization. At this point, we should focus more on division of labor, trying to make only one person do all the work when more persons can do it and get even better results is absurd.

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Rightly said. The workloads on students are too much and in the end, you see them selecting just few while discarding the rest making it seem as if they just wasted their efforts.

Focusing on division of labour is another sure way to get things done and achieve better and efficient results. It's high time the educational system had wake up.

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Yeah, although we know that no knowledge is lost but then it shouldn’t be made compulsory.

That’s right mama 😊

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I never thought that the education system of Germany be the same way. I mean it ranks among the list of most sophisticated technology and advancement.

Well, yes as the time has moved and technology has grown there is a need to develop education accordingly

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I was surprised too when I heard of my sister's struggle in Germany, I thought it's only in Nigeria we are facing such issue, not knowing it also cut across other places.
Technology is evolving, so should education system be.

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(Edited)

You see one thing I have noticed is that we go to school for the purpose of sitting down and passing exams and then we repeat the same process again. But then when it comes doing our job as an employee,we can't even make use of that knowledge again because we have been brought up with that mindset of just cramming ,go into the exam hall,pour out everything and then pass the exams. In my school now, computer science students are paying about 1.2million naira per year and they don't even do much practicals only theory. Now imagine when is time for them to apply for jobs won't they have a problem?? That is the problem we are facing in educational fields in the country. Me I have sha adviced some of them to stop wasting their money and just leave school to go and apply for a course somewhere where they can even pay less and get the best practical and efficient learning because that is just the best thing for them and their future.

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Just imagine such scenario. This is why students would say school is a scam. They aren't teaching the core things they should while preparing students fully for the outside world. Well, to me, I would say they should finish their school, then take more professional courses online to get themselves abreast of lots of information needed to continue their career or even switch to a more profitable one.

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All the points you mentioned here are necessary and I feel those should be included to make our education system better. I think most of us know we need such kind of change but we are still following the traditional way which is boring and irritating.
!PIZZA

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Yes, exactly. It's time the system needs to change to the modern way and not relying on the traditional way.

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All the suggestions you gave is super on Point. Technology is advancing rapidly, education too should follow trend, a massive use of Technology can improve the educational practices

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I also have same blame system for evaluating students. They put 400 slides with boring stuff, we need to endure them for changes. You are right, there should be project based course and competency based exams. Good luck, princess you are going to be a good teacher!

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Yes, exactly. When these changes are made, sincerely, the system would become better, at least. Technology is ruling the world now.

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Perhaps these expectations of teachers condition the way in which students are prepared, with a predominance of theory and memorisation, when in the labour field not everything works like that. I liked your recommendations. Regards @princessbusayo

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(Edited)

Memorization isn't available in the labour field. You have to apply creativity and problem solving skills to get a good result. Thank you for your time.

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A lot of changes are required. However, it has to be a balance between technology and improving cognition. Understanding the theory is very important for one to understand the application.

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Rightly said. Both should be balanced and not just to focus on the old method alone.

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Well said..So the art of La Cram La Pour is not only for Nigerians 😂. Germane also Dey enjoy am. 😂.

There is this exam we did at school then. It’s called German CBT. So crazy. It’s fill in the gap on the computer without objective and little time. 😂. Since then I knew German people are gonna be crazy ones 😂

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Hahaha. I was shocked to hear that from my sister too. La cram la pour...not everyone can cram though just like my sister. So crazy.

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I guessed we all are aware of how messed
up the educational system of our today's world is, but what are we doing about it?
I stand to be corrected, there are still educational institutions which modality of learning is pragmatic and student oriented but they aren't affordable to the masses,I mean the entirety of the public- pointing at the imbalances of our society. So,if has an individual you opt in for a study in one school like that,you shouldn't be expecting much from them,you can't eat your cake and still have it.
@princessbusayo

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there are still educational institutions which modality of learning is pragmatic and student oriented but they aren't affordable to the masses

You actually have a point here and I agree with you. Some institutions are doing good when it comes to education, but not everyone can afford it. This is something the society could work on too because among the masses, we have the brilliant ones and I feel scholarships should continue to be made possible for people in this category to make it less easier too.

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