Are Exams Reliable?
25 September 2004
Ever since the introduction of public education over a century
ago there has been controversy over how student learning can be
evaluated and reported. In universities, for example, exams versus
some form of periodic assessment has been raging as a debate for
decades.
As in most universities, the costs associated with exams at USC
are substantial and in the 2005 budgeting process this week I was
struck with how much exam venues and external invigilation actually
cost the University.
Most of the debates surrounding examinations seem to come down
to the results, what they prove or reflect, and their long term
implications for the student, especially those with poor grades.
They can influence confidence and shape people's views of
themselves and their capabilities quite profoundly, and not always
accurately.
The exam debate has been in the international spotlight again
recently and the issue permeates schools and universities.
At a time when there is State and National interest in
increasing testing at certain ages, in the UK for example, the
national examinations for seven-year olds have just been dropped.
It is claimed they were unreliable and were making many children
feel like failures at an early stage of their lives.
One or two hour tests taken in silence have been consistently
questioned by some as having little or no bearing on real life
situations in the modern world. Some with photographic memories
waltz through, whilst most, in their nervousness, have a much more
uncertain and not always predictable outcome.
There is also growing evidence that exam grades used for
University entrance are not marked in the same way. Recent studies
in the UK showed that science, maths and modern language exams were
more severely graded, thus making them of questionable value for
those universities concerned with fairness and equity - especially
as so many miss out on the top UK universities despite getting the
required grades.
An allied problem with exams is the use that is being made of
results for media, political or funding purposes.
The results are increasingly being scrutinised to create league
tables, where institutions that produce the best results attract a
higher level of funding because of their standing on league tables
- often enthusiastically pressed by some media, politically backed,
and selectively used by parents to choose schools in
particular.
On these exam results, often the poorest schools see their
funding further decline and the wealthy schools get wealthier. If
such a model were applied to universities it would do similar
damage. Those 'New Generation' universities, and schools in poor
areas, that admit a disproportionately high percentage of
disadvantaged students are not viewed for how far forward they have
taken students, but on the absolute results they have achieved -
even though elite institutions may not strictly have added as much
value for their already socially advantaged students.
The power of professional judgements by educated teachers and
lecturers has been arguably diminished too far, and examinations
themselves should be carefully re-evaluated to gauge their worth
and educative value. It is an international problem that will not
go away and deserves considered attention.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast