In today's educational system, a huge emphasis is being placed on a students test score. End of semester cumulative tests, or finals, can account for a huge percent of a students grade as well as regular tests taken in class. This means that students with test anxiety or students who are just bad at taking tests are being judged on their ability to answer questions in a limited period of time, and not on the distances they have gone to truly understand the depth of the course. All of the work they have put into the class prior to the test is considered less important than a series of questions they answered in one class period, or in the case of finals, 90 minutes.
In one of my favorite classes, tests account for 80% of my grade, despite the fact that we cover at least two weeks of material and complete assignments on it beforehand. I have a significantly lower grade in my quiz & test section than in my class & homework section, meaning that my grade in the class reflects a very narrow portion of what I actually do. This both confuses and upsets me because I don't think it's fair that I, or any other students, be judged so heavily because of a test score that could be influenced by so many outside factors and quite obviously represents a less accurate picture of academic achievements than all of the work done over the course of a section or chapter.
I do not think I am the only one who feels this way, as I have talked to other students about it and they also see this system as unfair. A students grade could drop significantly if, when taking a test, they had gotten into a fight the previous night and had too little sleep, if they forgot their calculator, or if they didn't have time to review properly because of some unforeseen reason. This single occasion makes up more of their grade than all projects, in class assignments, and homework they have done in the class. To me, it just doesn't make sense. I don't think it is reasonable or fair that grades reflect so little of the work we accomplish, and I hope this will change.
I completely agree with you. Tests are valued way too highly in the educational system. I can see how teachers think they might be valuable, but the ability to absorb and regurgitate information only to forget it to make space in the short term memory area for the new unit is much less useful than knowing the information actually entered the students' long term memory. We need to be able to understand what is being taught to us, instead of simply memorizing a list of formulae or definitions for a test.
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