In the last week of January, lasting from the 23rd of the month to the 28th, the school witnessed a surge and swerve in emotions as exams took place in classrooms. An external and internal amount of pressure was placed on students as the dates approached, and the survey conducted further suggested that mental health deteriorated as a result.
In an interview with teachers, the following questions were asked: What do you think about exams? Are there any changes you would make to the current evaluation system in terms of learning disabilities/needs? What advice would you give to students?
Mr. Chagani explained that exams are meant to sharpen students, and make them more capable for post-secondary environments. He expressed his feelings about exams being too easy on students, resulting in a loss in rigor. Chagani expressed that exams should be harder and worth more. When asked about any changes he would make to the current evaluation system, he replied saying there are more than enough accommodations for students and there shouldn’t be any changes. The advice Chagani wants to give to students is to write good notes, spend time studying, understanding how to write tests, and to understand their true potential.
The next teachers interviewed were Ms. Chou and Ms. Hlavnicka. Chou believed that exams held value in testing the understanding and knowledge of students in areas of mathematics like algebra and arithmetics. She continued by saying, “We should do our best to accommodate, but I think there is a big difference between accommodation and making it too easy.” The advice she wanted to give students was to start studying early and make a study plan which students will stick to.
Ms. Hlavnicka believes in the importance of exams, especially for senior-level math courses, and that, “It is the solid proof of knowledge that they acquire during the learning time.” She also pointed out the fact that time limits were removed from many assessments done in class and even final exams don’t have a rigid time limit. Hlavnicka said that continuous practice will be helpful for students, especially while looking at math.
Ms. Trivedi believed that the education system had come a long way in terms of evaluating students, like instead of one exam worth 30% of your grade, it’s split up into different parts. She liked how there were already different ways through which they could evaluate students. It should always reflect what the students have learned throughout the term. She advises students to not put too much pressure on themselves, but to plan ahead to make notes, study, attend classes regularly, and to do your best to take care of yourself.
Mr. Dunkley said that exams are important since they are the only way students can demonstrate their learning. He made it clear that there were enough accommodations for students and there wasn’t any need to add more. The advice he suggested was to start studying as early as possible.
To get student perspectives, an anonymous Google form was published asking if they thought exams should be conducted, if exams have an impact on their mental health, how they feel during exams, if they think exams should be discontinued, if they agree with the current evaluation format, and alternate ways to evaluate students.
In a survey of 12 participants, 58.3% believed that exams should NOT be conducted, 66.7% agreed with the question of their mental health being affected, with the ranking of mental health issues being: anxiety, feeling burnt out, insomnia (having a hard time falling asleep), depression, dissociation from family and friends, OCD-related behaviours and feeling annoyed.
The question on whether or not exams should be discontinued or not had the consensus in a 50-50 split between yes and no. Further, 50% said that exams do NOT measure their knowledge according to their method of learning, with only 8.3% saying yes, and 41.7% not sure.
The final question, which asked for suitable replacements to measure student knowledge, had different responses like portfolios, school work, and normal tests and quizzes.
Based on the interviews and survey, exams place a lot of pressure on students, which lead to different mental health issues. Mental health should come first and needs to be prioritized over, what is simply, just a number.
In my opinion, students should get to choose what they are evaluated on. Maybe a student doesn’t need to know biology for their future career, but since it’s a part of the grade 10 science curriculum, their GPA and overall average severely suffers. That in no sense is fair.
Photo Credits: Himanshi G.
THE NORTH STAR 