My mind goes blank.
I hate exams.
I believe exams are an inappropriate way of measuring skill and intelligence, as someone may progress through a year gaining A-grades and B-grades, but may find the exam situation too stressful, and receive instead an E-grade or U-grade for the exam.
Little regard is given to students' previous achievements and, if it is considered, it often only contributes to a maximum 50% of the final grade.
Why must creative, intelligent and perfectly capable students be forced to prove their intelligence level in 2 hours of writing? Some students actually find the process of exams extremely damaging to their mental health, some may suffer multiple panic attacks or extreme anxiety, and some may even use more drastic and potentially harmful methods of escapism, purely due to the pressure placed on them to be near flawless in an exam on a day which they have no control over, at a time where life for them may include substantially more stress than normal or expected.
This day and time, and whether they can write the correct answer or not, then determines a letter which will potentially change their life.
Creative and intelligent students do not necessarily suit the exam environment of being placed in a room and forced to prove themselves through writing predetermined answers. More often, these students show fantastic promise in more practical applications.
"If you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
The above quotation perfectly encapsulates the debate behind this essay. Allow me to explain in further detail.
The "fish" in question is used by Einstein as a metaphor for a human being, however by using the image of a fish, it immediately provides connotations of water and swimming, which is the creature's natural environment, where it thrives.
The quote then uses this to show how questioning "its ability to climb a tree" will falsely show it's true potential and intelligence level.
This particular extract from the quote provides an example of something that, notoriously, aquatic creatures cannot do.
The quote then further explains that, by making a judgement on such a test, it causes the "fish" itself to believe it lacks intelligence and ability, purely because it cannot "climb a tree," rather than increasing its confidence by judging its ability to swim.
Therefore this quote can be summed up to mean that judging someone's level of ability, skill, intelligence or other mental capability on its performance in a task which is catered to a completely different type of individual, could in fact potentially negatively impact their self-perception.
I have, and continue to, live my life believing I am incapable and not good enough, because I find exams difficult, and have been brought up with the idea that anything that is not 100% or an A-grade is not enough. This causes an obscene amount of mental instability in many cases over the years that a student is exposed to this ideology, and is a severe and previously unpacked issue caused by the current education system.
In conclusion, if you cannot find a suitable and fair way to test mental capability, which is purely individual and cannot truly be tested, then it should not be judged or measured.
Stop making students believe they are talentless due to a mere capital letter.
I hate exams.
I believe exams are an inappropriate way of measuring skill and intelligence, as someone may progress through a year gaining A-grades and B-grades, but may find the exam situation too stressful, and receive instead an E-grade or U-grade for the exam.
Little regard is given to students' previous achievements and, if it is considered, it often only contributes to a maximum 50% of the final grade.
Why must creative, intelligent and perfectly capable students be forced to prove their intelligence level in 2 hours of writing? Some students actually find the process of exams extremely damaging to their mental health, some may suffer multiple panic attacks or extreme anxiety, and some may even use more drastic and potentially harmful methods of escapism, purely due to the pressure placed on them to be near flawless in an exam on a day which they have no control over, at a time where life for them may include substantially more stress than normal or expected.
This day and time, and whether they can write the correct answer or not, then determines a letter which will potentially change their life.
Creative and intelligent students do not necessarily suit the exam environment of being placed in a room and forced to prove themselves through writing predetermined answers. More often, these students show fantastic promise in more practical applications.
"If you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
The above quotation perfectly encapsulates the debate behind this essay. Allow me to explain in further detail.
The "fish" in question is used by Einstein as a metaphor for a human being, however by using the image of a fish, it immediately provides connotations of water and swimming, which is the creature's natural environment, where it thrives.
The quote then uses this to show how questioning "its ability to climb a tree" will falsely show it's true potential and intelligence level.
This particular extract from the quote provides an example of something that, notoriously, aquatic creatures cannot do.
The quote then further explains that, by making a judgement on such a test, it causes the "fish" itself to believe it lacks intelligence and ability, purely because it cannot "climb a tree," rather than increasing its confidence by judging its ability to swim.
Therefore this quote can be summed up to mean that judging someone's level of ability, skill, intelligence or other mental capability on its performance in a task which is catered to a completely different type of individual, could in fact potentially negatively impact their self-perception.
I have, and continue to, live my life believing I am incapable and not good enough, because I find exams difficult, and have been brought up with the idea that anything that is not 100% or an A-grade is not enough. This causes an obscene amount of mental instability in many cases over the years that a student is exposed to this ideology, and is a severe and previously unpacked issue caused by the current education system.
In conclusion, if you cannot find a suitable and fair way to test mental capability, which is purely individual and cannot truly be tested, then it should not be judged or measured.
Stop making students believe they are talentless due to a mere capital letter.
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