Improving Education, the Ultimate Test of Patience by Hayden
Hayden's entry into Varsity Tutor's July 2022 scholarship contest
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Improving Education, the Ultimate Test of Patience by Hayden - July 2022 Scholarship Essay
Tests, we've all taken them. They're by far the most common way to gauge academic ability across all parts of school from massive standardized exams to small vocabulary quizzes, and yet they're quite possibly the most unfair and inaccurate assessment of ability out there. The entire success of one's academic career is often hinged on these singular assignments, requiring days upon days of study and practice in order to succeed. With that being said, why are tests still in place even though students hate them, and how could we improve them or introduce new methods of testing in order to make education more representative of every part of a student's ability rather than just a singular test.
Even though there's no way that we'll just collectively all decide to get rid of tests within the next ten years (or ever, most likely), there are definitely some ways that they could be improved, plenty of which we've already seen. For subjects like literature and history, there are options like research papers or reports that can offer a more in-depth look at certain subjects without having the stress of cramming small bits of information in that you'll likely forget a few days after you take the test. STEM classes have hands-on projects that can be used to apply the skills you've learned in a more interactive way. I can guarantee that everyone that's gone through school has done all of these at least once, and that people probably retained information from those better than other tests they've taken. The added interactivity and depth that comes from projects or papers allows students to engage themselves in their classwork in a more unique way, helping them actively absorb information from the classes they take, allowing them to be better educated as a whole. Like I mentioned, these are existing solutions that have already been shown to offer benefits over tests and the like. There are disadvantages, such as them being harder to grade, but overall if these were implemented into academic curriculums more often, students would have more opportunities to engage more thoroughly with their coursework and absorb and retain information better than they would with tests.
Of course, that's not the only solution to the problem. No matter how many science projects or book reports there are, tests will always be there. So, how do we improve them? Well, there are a few ways to further improve the quality of tests and exams. Giving students more accessible study resources, offering more open note or open book tests, or allowing students to collaborate on problems are a few options that could make tests more engaging and helpful. There's nothing worse than staying up until 12 in the morning cramming for an exam only to bomb it afterwards because you weren't actually able to gather any information since the resources you had to actually study from were very limited. This scenario is applicable to tons and tons of tests on all scales, and it especially ends up being a problem for massive tests that cover entire courses such as AP tests or final exams. Providing more accessible and easy to use study sources helps mitigate this, reducing test anxiety and encouraging students to absorb information instead of just cramming it all in the night before the test. To further encourage less cramming and more actual studying, open-note tests offer a reward for taking thorough notes and engaging with the material, and allowing students to work together on tests could allow them to come up with creative solutions to problems that they wouldn't come up with otherwise, encouraging working with other people on solutions, helping better prepare them for the highly collaborative jobs they'll have after school. All of these changes to how tests work would allow for students to have more opportunities to actually learn the material in their classes improving the education they receive and better equipping them with skills they'd need for the real world, unlike the memorization-filled mess that is the current testing system.
Overall there are a lot of ways that we could reasonably improve what I believe to be what gets in the way of students' education the most. Tests, as they are today in most cases, are dated and don't actually benefit people in that many ways. However, there are many already existing alternatives and improvements that could offer more engaging experiences that encourage collaboration and critical thought about the material, giving students more motivation to actually learn, therefore improving education. While getting rid of tests entirely is far from achievable within the next decade, having these small changes and improvements offers better alternatives for students in the near future and allows all of them to make the most out of their school experience.