We reviewed the arguments for and against ‘high-stakes’ exams. The evidence for using them doesn’t stack up

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 20:08:30 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/we-reviewed-the-arguments-for-and-against-high-stakes-exams-the-evidence-for-using-them-doesnt-stack-up-219595>

"Across Australia, students are receiving and digesting important exam results.
University students began receiving their semester 2 results at the end of
November. This week and early next week, Year 12 students are also receiving
their final marks.

Love them or loathe them, exams have featured prominently in education for
centuries.

For almost as long, debate has raged about whether they are useful for
assessing learning. And while there has been a shift towards course work or
other forms of assessments in some contexts, exams are still a major part of
the way we assess student learning.

To understand why exams remain so heavily favoured, we reviewed the arguments
for and against their use in higher education. We found surprisingly little
hard evidence to justify their widespread use in university assessment."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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