This article highlights issues with exams and more meaningful alternatives.
A child learning robotics at KEY academy
"We need an education system where the primary goal is to empower learners to find their purpose, creatively express themselves, become wiser humans, and solve the global challenges facing our species."
Raya Bidshahri, Founder and CEO of School Of Humanity
There’s a saying in education that what gets measured, is what gets taught. And when it comes to how we measure learning in schools, the focus is often on exams.
Most teachers are evaluated based on their students’ grades. The vast majority of teaching hours are focused on teaching the curriculum in accordance with board exams. For most nations, this becomes the metric that policymakers evaluate. For most parents, these exam scores become the main indicator of their child’s success.
We continue to let students (and society at large) believe that a greater number of A’s is an indication of success, whilst anything lower than a C is often an indication of failure. For many students, it becomes the main measure of their talent, potential, self-worth, and even status in society.
But as many of us know, there are several fundamental issues with exams as they exist today.
They focus more on recall, rather than future skills
One of the core issues with international board exams is that the curriculum that informs them is content-heavy and takes a lot of time to memorise.
In order for a learner to be able to recall an entire textbook's worth of information in a 1-2 hour test at the end of the year, they need to have spent a lot of time trying to understand and memorise curriculum knowledge. This is all time that takes away from the meaningful development of skills and dispositions that would allow real-world application of that knowledge.
They are not a holistic measure of intelligence
Howard Gardner’s renowned theory of multiple intelligences differentiates intelligence into distinct ‘modalities’, as opposed to a single general ability. These include musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential, and pedagogical. Based on two decades of brain research and evidence, the theory suggests that we all have these competencies to varying degrees and strengths in different bits of intelligence.
However, traditional paper-based exams and standardised tests measure specific modalities such as verbal-linguistic or logical-mathematical. This leaves many students, particularly the artistic, athletic, social, or existential ones, with the feeling that they are “stupid”. But the reality is that their specific type of intelligence is simply not being measured.
They fail to measure progress, effort, personality, or values
Most standardised tests and international board exams measure the ability of a student to take a test, in an average of a two-hour setting. The final result does not give an indicator of the student’s progress (let’s say in the last year) or the effort and determination that they put in.
Another failing of exams, which is symptomatic of our educational model, is that we don't put enough emphasis on developing positive personality traits such as self-responsibility, kindness, empathy, wisdom, love for learning, wisdom, curiosity, or even powerful enlightenment values.
Their learning and determination are reduced to their ability to take one exam and as a result, a lot of information is lost.
But wait… Let’s start with the first principles
At the end of the day, we need some way of measuring learning outcomes. If not, how do we know if learning has happened? This data is useful, not just to educators but to learners themselves as they evaluate their learning progress.
In addition to measuring outcomes, we need a way of communicating and showcasing learning outcomes to others (employers, universities, etc.) and for this, as a society, we use the report card but that too can be too reductionist.
Are there alternatives?
Many of us struggle to imagine an education system without exams and report cards, but alternatives have been around for many years.
In a workforce impacted by rising artificial intelligence and a world of information at our fingertips, we need to move towards assessment models that put less emphasis on measuring recall, and more on a learner’s ability to create value in society.
Project-based assessments
The best formative assessments are often project-based as they involve students working on tangible products and ideas, whether it be posters, podcasts, blogs, or research projects. These projects can become evidence of different skills, knowledge, and dispositions and are often evaluated against rubrics. They can also be interdisciplinary by nature.
Multi-modal evidencing of learning
What if assessments were personalised, and learners had the opportunity to evidence their learning in a way that worked best for them?
And what if instead of testing a student's knowledge on a subject, we measured their ability to use that knowledge to create something new and innovative? Imagine if we evaluated students’ learning based on their unique works of art, film productions, scientific findings, philosophical musings, startup ideas, and performances.
Real-world solutions & Impact
Ultimately, the most powerful indicator of success is the impact that the learner goes on to have on the world.
The most significant indicator of this would be a learner’s ability to solve local and global challenges. Consequently, a curriculum focused on developing this capability would focus on the skills, mindsets, and knowledge required to engage with, investigate and act on pressing issues in our world. This may then be evidenced through a range of learning experiences, from internships to real-world projects.
We need an education system where the primary goal is to empower learners to find their purpose, creatively express themselves, become wiser humans, and solve the global challenges facing our species. Traditional exams and tests fail to measure or evaluate whether we are meeting this goal.
In order to create an education system that better serves all learners, we will need to expand the ways that we measure learning.
Raya Bidshahri is the Founder and CEO of School Of Humanity, an organization dedicated to empowering learners and reinventing education.
Original article published here:
KEY reflections
The limitations of traditional exams are more profound than we often realise. These exams tend to emphasise memorisation over the development of essential 21st-century skills, overlook the diverse intelligences of students, and fail to measure critical aspects such as progress, effort, and personal values.
At KEY academy, our holistic approach to education allows us to explore and integrate various types of assessments that better align with our commitment to fostering 21st-century skills. We recognize that traditional exams are just one aspect of assessment, and while they have their place, they do not fully capture the breadth of our students' learning experiences or their potential.
To address this, we've embraced a broader educational methodology—project-based learning (PBL)—which goes beyond the narrow confines of traditional exams. PBL enables us to create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment, where students are encouraged to apply knowledge creatively, solve real-world challenges, and demonstrate their progress in ways that truly reflect their abilities and growth.
This is such an engaging read!
"Exams emphasize memorization over development of essential skills."
Too real!
Personalized and project based assessments will truly help students grow. This actually applies to students at all stages (including those in higher institutions)
Well done, KEY Academy!