Article: Are exams rubbish?
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Hey i would really appreciate feedback from everyone on TSR about the following issue:
For the October/November exam timetable i have noticed that CIE have placed several exams applying to all levels over very religious Jewish holidays. I would like to find out if anyone else has been affected by these exams as CIE dont seem bothered to help out with this issue. i would really appreciate if i could get assistance on this matter as i feel as though have been left alone to deal with an issue which i am sure others are also facing.
I look forward to your responses
Laila
Posted from TSR Mobile
For the October/November exam timetable i have noticed that CIE have placed several exams applying to all levels over very religious Jewish holidays. I would like to find out if anyone else has been affected by these exams as CIE dont seem bothered to help out with this issue. i would really appreciate if i could get assistance on this matter as i feel as though have been left alone to deal with an issue which i am sure others are also facing.
I look forward to your responses
Laila
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by lailapianai
Hey i would really appreciate feedback from everyone on TSR about the following issue:
For the October/November exam timetable i have noticed that CIE have placed several exams applying to all levels over very religious Jewish holidays. I would like to find out if anyone else has been affected by these exams as CIE dont seem bothered to help out with this issue. i would really appreciate if i could get assistance on this matter as i feel as though have been left alone to deal with an issue which i am sure others are also facing.
I look forward to your responses
Laila
Posted from TSR Mobile
For the October/November exam timetable i have noticed that CIE have placed several exams applying to all levels over very religious Jewish holidays. I would like to find out if anyone else has been affected by these exams as CIE dont seem bothered to help out with this issue. i would really appreciate if i could get assistance on this matter as i feel as though have been left alone to deal with an issue which i am sure others are also facing.
I look forward to your responses
Laila
Posted from TSR Mobile
Just the way it is, I'm afraid - plenty of other boards held exams as scheduled in June despite a large overlap with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Exam boards can't be rescheduling exams for religious holidays. It messes up other things like the amount of time they have to mark the exams, which has implications for accurate marking and university admissions/applications.
Original post by lailapianai
Hey i would really appreciate feedback from everyone on TSR about the following issue:
For the October/November exam timetable i have noticed that CIE have placed several exams applying to all levels over very religious Jewish holidays. I would like to find out if anyone else has been affected by these exams as CIE dont seem bothered to help out with this issue. i would really appreciate if i could get assistance on this matter as i feel as though have been left alone to deal with an issue which i am sure others are also facing.
I look forward to your responses
Laila
Posted from TSR Mobile
For the October/November exam timetable i have noticed that CIE have placed several exams applying to all levels over very religious Jewish holidays. I would like to find out if anyone else has been affected by these exams as CIE dont seem bothered to help out with this issue. i would really appreciate if i could get assistance on this matter as i feel as though have been left alone to deal with an issue which i am sure others are also facing.
I look forward to your responses
Laila
Posted from TSR Mobile
Someone has posted a similar post to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cie.org.uk/posts/10154252204913426
I doubt they will consider changing the date.
I suppose you are scheduled for the 12th lol. I would just sit it, but it's easy for me to speak as I'm not religious anymore.
Original post by 2016_GCSE
You should get graded based on your learning in class through:
Doing homework
Listening to the teacher
Not overly talking
Not been distruptive
All this shows that you are working to the best of your ability.
Doing homework
Listening to the teacher
Not overly talking
Not been distruptive
All this shows that you are working to the best of your ability.
That will lead to a lot of problems (especially homework, which students can copy each other as well as get help from others). The others aren't a good measure of how well you are learning and can be very easily be manipulated.
I think TCA (time controlled assessments) could be the way to go you get the assessment at say 9 hand it in at 4 or something.
For instance in science you'd have an hour to preform an experiment to do whatever and draw conclusions.
Posted from TSR Mobile
For instance in science you'd have an hour to preform an experiment to do whatever and draw conclusions.
Posted from TSR Mobile
@2016_GCSE That dosen't really measures one own ability to problem solve and be able to recall subject knowledge in order to help answer questions. What you're suggesting its hard to monitor and can be copied and manipulated and suddenly everyone will get A/A*s. Exams are there to test someone's independent knowledge, not something copied out of a textbook or from the whiteboard.I just want an overhaul of exams and it to be completely redone.
And behaviour dosen't play a factor into it you can be very we,k behaved but dumb a a pile of bricks. And that may be good in a job but it dosen't really help if you're lets say a Doctor and you don't know how to diagnose someone.
And behaviour dosen't play a factor into it you can be very we,k behaved but dumb a a pile of bricks. And that may be good in a job but it dosen't really help if you're lets say a Doctor and you don't know how to diagnose someone.
Do you guys think that having a higher and lower tier exams are fair? Or everyone should do the same exam?
Original post by Hydeman
Just the way it is, I'm afraid - plenty of other boards held exams as scheduled in June despite a large overlap with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Exam boards can't be rescheduling exams for religious holidays. It messes up other things like the amount of time they have to mark the exams, which has implications for accurate marking and university admissions/applications.
Exam boards can't be rescheduling exams for religious holidays. It messes up other things like the amount of time they have to mark the exams, which has implications for accurate marking and university admissions/applications.
Thank you for your reply. Find it beyond unfair that CIE would expect students to write an afternoon exam when fasting for more than 12 hours (no food or water).
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by EricPiphany
Someone has posted a similar post to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cie.org.uk/posts/10154252204913426
I doubt they will consider changing the date.
I suppose you are scheduled for the 12th lol. I would just sit it, but it's easy for me to speak as I'm not religious anymore.
I doubt they will consider changing the date.
I suppose you are scheduled for the 12th lol. I would just sit it, but it's easy for me to speak as I'm not religious anymore.
Yea, the 12th. Thanks for the link, I really appreciate it! Very difficult decision for me as its in the afternoon. So inconsiderate these exam boards👎🏻
Posted from TSR Mobile
I think people are simply not seeing the skills that employers want that are assessed in exams.Like misinterpreting the question or missing some small but significant thing this tests an ability a lot of employers want "Attention to detail".Science questions and maths questions require students to break down problems into easier to manage parts and this helps them to solve the problem and quite a lot of questions can be completely new most of us have probably sat what we call a "strange" exam or many "strange" exams that was/were very unlike past papers.
Exams aren't assessing your ability to write with a pen quickly - I can prove this actually because I had difficulties with messy handwriting for my Geography AS so I was allowed to type my answers instead and if you write too slow with a pen you will be allowed a computer instead.Exams are testing thinking fastly under pressure though which is a skill employers will want because if you work fastly you will produce more work for the same amount of hours as someone else and in many jobs quick thinking is utterly essential like in the Police and NHS.This skill is actually a vital life skill like my house once had an emergency we had accidentally burst a pipe of the Washing Machine and the house was flooding at a fast rate and I needed to turn of the water in a quick time something which I didn't even know how to do, most of my family was panicking but I was told what to do not that clearly though and I simply had trust my instinct as to what to do and I managed to turn the water off.How I felt in this situation was actually quite similar to how you feel under time pressure in exams when you don't know what to do.
You will find that a lot of the skills employers want are assessed in exams through similar analysis and for those that aren't included these are often covered during your learning like team working will usually be something you will do at some point like in most Science practicals(non assessed).
As for exams being about short term memory this isn't that much of an issue as I think exams are more about measuring potential.If you do well in an exam then this illustrates that you are likely to be able to learn what employers will try and teach you.
Anyway for students who can't seem to manage to relate their exams to how this will help them in certain job roles, this is a very bad sign that indicates you won't be getting interviews or passing interviews for jobs, which will list a Person Specification full of skills which will you need to demonstrate you have shown in the past.
Exams aren't assessing your ability to write with a pen quickly - I can prove this actually because I had difficulties with messy handwriting for my Geography AS so I was allowed to type my answers instead and if you write too slow with a pen you will be allowed a computer instead.Exams are testing thinking fastly under pressure though which is a skill employers will want because if you work fastly you will produce more work for the same amount of hours as someone else and in many jobs quick thinking is utterly essential like in the Police and NHS.This skill is actually a vital life skill like my house once had an emergency we had accidentally burst a pipe of the Washing Machine and the house was flooding at a fast rate and I needed to turn of the water in a quick time something which I didn't even know how to do, most of my family was panicking but I was told what to do not that clearly though and I simply had trust my instinct as to what to do and I managed to turn the water off.How I felt in this situation was actually quite similar to how you feel under time pressure in exams when you don't know what to do.
You will find that a lot of the skills employers want are assessed in exams through similar analysis and for those that aren't included these are often covered during your learning like team working will usually be something you will do at some point like in most Science practicals(non assessed).
As for exams being about short term memory this isn't that much of an issue as I think exams are more about measuring potential.If you do well in an exam then this illustrates that you are likely to be able to learn what employers will try and teach you.
Anyway for students who can't seem to manage to relate their exams to how this will help them in certain job roles, this is a very bad sign that indicates you won't be getting interviews or passing interviews for jobs, which will list a Person Specification full of skills which will you need to demonstrate you have shown in the past.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by lailapianai
Thank you for your reply. Find it beyond unfair that CIE would expect students to write an afternoon exam when fasting for more than 12 hours (no food or water).
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
This isn't unfair as Muslims are allowed to delay Ramadan and fast at a different time, as long as they still fast.
Original post by Tiva4Eva
Exams are flawed in the sense that they are unrealistic. In reality you don't always get do overs or repeats, however you do have access to countless resources that ensure you do not need to repeat it. Understanding is implied but not necessarily there.
Personally I understand topics and am able to explain a concept, but ask me to list key words and hit the exact points on a mark scheme and I am stuck. Exams don't suit me, I can do well because I understand but not as well as I should because I can't memorize.
A lot of my classmates/friends/family are the same. Give one of my friends a maths question and he will get the right answer. But his method is one that he has come up with based on his understanding of the topic and not the one required. He is better than me mathematically, yet I do better in a maths exam as I am able to recall the method slightly better (due to practice... not memory).
GCSE's and A-Levels are not as important as you are told throughout your education, but they are a pathway you have to take in order to get to what does matter... A uni education/apprenticeship/experience/ a Job. But exam results aren't always a good indication of intelligence in the same was that IQ tests aren't. People can be naturally intelligent but not apply themselves so fail exams. People could understand obscure, harder concepts than those tested but would not say what is needed as they say too much about the topic or write too slowly (on that note don't most of us type more than we write anyway?). Some who do well in exams do deserve it, are intelligent and learn the right way. But in the same way some people do well because they can recite mark schemes and textbook quotes, but the understanding is not there. As the article says, there are other qualities that people need but exams don't give you. Team work, dedication, communication. Skills like teamwork are sometimes hindered by exams.
Personally I understand topics and am able to explain a concept, but ask me to list key words and hit the exact points on a mark scheme and I am stuck. Exams don't suit me, I can do well because I understand but not as well as I should because I can't memorize.
A lot of my classmates/friends/family are the same. Give one of my friends a maths question and he will get the right answer. But his method is one that he has come up with based on his understanding of the topic and not the one required. He is better than me mathematically, yet I do better in a maths exam as I am able to recall the method slightly better (due to practice... not memory).
GCSE's and A-Levels are not as important as you are told throughout your education, but they are a pathway you have to take in order to get to what does matter... A uni education/apprenticeship/experience/ a Job. But exam results aren't always a good indication of intelligence in the same was that IQ tests aren't. People can be naturally intelligent but not apply themselves so fail exams. People could understand obscure, harder concepts than those tested but would not say what is needed as they say too much about the topic or write too slowly (on that note don't most of us type more than we write anyway?). Some who do well in exams do deserve it, are intelligent and learn the right way. But in the same way some people do well because they can recite mark schemes and textbook quotes, but the understanding is not there. As the article says, there are other qualities that people need but exams don't give you. Team work, dedication, communication. Skills like teamwork are sometimes hindered by exams.
If you use a different method on a maths problem you will always get all the marks this sounds like rubbish to me, unless a question specifically states to use a method or not to use a certain method.
Original post by Dalek1099
If you use a different method on a maths problem you will always get all the marks this sounds like
rubbish to me, unless a question specifically states to use a method or not to use a certain method.
rubbish to me, unless a question specifically states to use a method or not to use a certain method.
that not always true, if you use a method that is not algerbraic or similar to the one they want you to use, then you wont get all the marks
Original post by theBranicAc
that not always true, if you use a method that is not algerbraic or similar to the one they want you to use, then you wont get all the marks
So we should allow people who have faulty methods but the right answers to get full marks?
Original post by Mr.cool
So we should allow people who have faulty methods but the right answers to get full marks?
no you dont get me, what i said is that people who dont use an algerbraic method, then they wont get full marks,
Original post by theBranicAc
no you dont get me, what i said is that people who dont use an algerbraic method, then they wont get full marks,
Oh but i do. You wants marks for guessing or using trial or error.
Original post by Mr.cool
Oh but i do. You wants marks for guessing or using trial or error.
Basically yeah.
Invigilated closed-book assessments/essays are good, but at uni (esp in science subjects), there is too much emphasis on these exams - you only have one shot of 2hours, and no opportunity to make up for it if you do poorly. in the world of work, you are continually assessed and are not defined by just 2hours of the tens of thousands of hours you work. - every hour counts. so yes i think exams should get less weighting in final scores.
Yes - especially when you spend hours learning content for the exam paper to have like 0% content in and all data analysis.
Original post by danielwinstanley
Yes - especially when you spend hours learning content for the exam paper to have like 0% content in and all data analysis.
Literally every single gcse ocr exam I had Literally one of them had a table showing how deadly a banana could be,
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