Final exam: to be or not to be?

Question

How do you like about taking your examination?

I believe that it is a big fair for all the students -especially for college-students. Because when you are ready for an exam, you may have unforeseen problems or in the examination room you are in an unusual atmosphere to answer your questions. I really like study but I think the way of studying or getting knowledge is really important. And I’m saying again it is a big unfair to determine level of the students. If someone lost your exam he/she is an unintelligent learner. There are many ways for learning. And I believe this present ways of testing must be change very soon.

Here I have some ways as a substitute:

1. Taking some quizzes after every chapter or part of lesson.

2. Oral exams for some courses like language learner could be better.

3. Observe all ones activities in the class and take some marks for researches and team working.

But what do you think about it?

It is my pleasure to have your best ideas about it.

Answer 1

It doesn't matter what you or anyone else thinks about it.  Final exams have been done for hundreds of years in countries around the world, and will continue to be given for as long as you or I will be around.  The things you mention are good ideas, but they usually are done in addition to, not instead of, final exams.  Sorry, but you are stuck with the exam.   It usually works out to be very fair for most students.

Answer 2

there are a few issues with your three alternatives

1. taking multiple quizzes throughout the semester or year allows students to simply push aside what they've learnt shortly after the quiz, in a final exam setting they are encouraged to recall it after a longer period promoting deeper learning (or crammed surface processing the night before).

2. Languages taught here in Australia do have an oral and written part to their final assessment although must be performed in front of external judges.

3. Observing marks throughout lessons removes the external comparison between schools and states which remove monitoring of the schools efficiency and possibility of improvement.

Final exams may seem flawed when you consider the amount of students that cram the day or night before and don't retain a large amount of knowledge, but the global validity of such a process is beneficial to advancement of education as a whole. It is the onus of the teacher to teach good study habits as well as the material covered in the exam.