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According to many teachers, exams set us up for success. While exams may help with some skills, they are also a huge source of stress and anxiety for many students.
With anxiety and stress already reaching 77% of students according to college transitions, is testing really the best way for students to be evaluated? Many students will learn an entire unit, test over it and completely forget afterwards. If students forget material after studying for the unit test, how is studying for an exam going to be any different towards the material?
Many students will come to school every day and struggle to pass a class. While there are other students who don’t always show up to class and pass with flying colors.
Exams can be tedious, however, they are a good way to assess a student’s progress towards learning a subject. Tests can help students identify their academic strengths and weaknesses and can even play a big role in scholarships.
“I believe exams are important,” Latin teacher Daniel Beaven, said. “They are one of the best ways to really gauge whether or not a student has learned and understands the material that has been taught throughout the semester.”
Students also learn a number of lifeskills while preparing for and taking exams. Time management, communication, organization and planning are all key skills you develop while preparing for an exam. The act of taking an exam can improve problem solving, memory and critical thinking.
While exams help develop skills, they can also cause stress and anxiety. Test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety which can be seen in a student experiencing academic failure, psychological distress or insecurity about succeeding academically.
In universities, testing anxiety can mean setbacks. These setbacks include increased dropout rates, exam failure and even psychological distress. Students will complain about the short time they have to study for the exam and their grades when experiencing testing anxiety. It can also affect cognitive function and memory capacity.
One opinion on testing is to break up the exam over multiple days. Rather than studying for the quarter and taking the test all at once, this could improve anxiety and make it easier for students to study.
Some students, however, don’t find it necessary to study. Joseph Burr, ‘25, never studies for his exams. He finds that a quick review of mandated homework before taking the exam is sufficient for a good grade. Other students will spend weeks to months preparing for the exam.
“There should be some sort of benchmark like a board breaking if you are going into martial arts… I will sit there and get bored halfway through the test and boom, 20 minutes is gone,” Burr said. “Split it up into multiple days. I know that may take away from some of the curriculum, however, this allows people to have more time to detox from the previous exam and study.”