The counter-arguments: key words

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 395.

1 Exams are a well-tried system: many advantages.

2 They offer the best quick way of assessing a candidate.

3 Their reliability has been proved again and again.

4 They are marked anonymously: therefore reliable.

5 Not possible to do well relying merely on memory and exam tech­niques.

6 They are often not the only way of assessing a candidate: used in connection with teachers' assessments.

7 Exams are constantly being improved.

8 There are complex checking systems used by examiners to ensure fair results.

9 There is a lot of research into objective testing techniques to eliminate human error.

10 Computers are already widely used to mark specially devised tests.

11 Pernicious aspects of system (cramming, etc.) are not the fault of examinations, but of the teacher.

12 Teachers cram weak pupils to push them through; able pupils don't need cramming.

13 Teachers want examinations: they provide a clear objective.

14 The exam system may not be perfect, but it's the best we have; it may be painful, but so are many things in life.