What Do Exams Really Test? The Problems With Our Testing System.
Yesterday, finally my engineering first semester exams got over and I took off some time to sit down and analyze the list of valuable things I learned, the skills I developed and the practical knowledge I gained during the semester. Frankly, I was not surprised at all to find the list empty after the analysis. In the span of 145 days of my journey as an engineer, I appeared for around 26 tests (including 8 class tests, 12 sessional tests, and 6 university exams), 10 practical exams (including 5 internal practical exams and 5 external practical exams), and completed around 10 assignments . I hope you get the point. After appearing for so many tests, practical exams and completing so many assignments I literally gained nothing. I did not learn anything new nor developed any real-life skills. So the question that arises here is, "What do these tests and exams really test?" Though I'm not completely sure about the answer I can firmly say that skills and knowledge are no