Styles of testing vary among teachers

Some students prefer exams while others want more papers and presentations

LAURENSHARKEY STAFFWRITER LJS725@CABRINI EDU

One of the main differences between high school and college is the way your knowledge is tested and conveyed to your professors. Many professors require that you write a paper every week, some ask that you give presentations, and others base your grade on the final and the midterm. However, I feel that examinations are more effective than papers and presentations.

There are many reasons as to why I think examinations are more efficient than papers and presentations.

Firstly, examinations are cumulative, whereas papers and presentations tend to focus on one or two topics at a time. Tests cover more material and give you a better understanding of what you have not already mastered in that particular subject. You do not have to stress out about working little by little on a project. Atest is a one shot deal, you take it and it’sover with.

Also, tests do not require that you find outside information to support your thesis. This way it is easier not to get sidetracked and deviate from the task at hand. All you have to do is prepare for what your teacher tells you what is going to be on the test.

In addition, papers and presentations discriminate against students who are not technologically savvy,exceptional writers oroutstanding public speakers. I don’tknow about the rest of you, but even after taking IST,Istill have a great amount of difficulty creating a power point presentation.

In fact, I will spend more time on trying to make the presentation look nice rather than doing the assignment itself. It’sto easy to get sidetracked working on a presentation. Also, I find that there is never enough room to include all of the information into a few slides.

For many students, writing is astruggle. Writing my sociology final last year was a battle of epic proportions as I battled against adjectives, triumphed over the run-on sentence but lost to prepositional phrases.

You can know absolutely everything there is to know about a particular subject, but if you can’t express your thoughts on paper, then it doesn’t matter. I think that it is unfair for professors to base most of your grade on your writing skills as opposed to your knowledge of the subject.

You should at least receive creditfor understanding the topic.

My other fear is public speaking. Whenever I have to get up in front of my fellow classmates and present a topic that I have researched, the only thing I can hear is my heart pounding. All I can feel are my palms sweating. And all I can see are the bored and tired faces of my classmates who have no interest in what I am about to say and whose attention is solely focused on the clock.

Iwill admit that papers are easier to put together, especially if the work is not your own.

Ifeel that tests cut down on the amount of cheating that goes on and that papers and presentations allow for more plagiarism.

I feel more comfortable knowing that everyone is getting afair chance to show their understanding of the material in the classroom, rather than knowing that academic honesty is not always taken into consideration outside the classroom.

Ifeel that examinations serve as a better representation of your grasp of the material and give the teacher more of an understanding of what needs to be conveyed to

SHANEEVANS STAFFWRITER SME722@CABRINI EDU

We are given one of about three or four ways in which to get those good grades we all strive for. We have the tests and quizzes and then the projects and presentations.

The argument is made about which type of work, test or quizzes or projects and presentations, has a bigger impact on how we learn as students. Which genre, if you will, ultimately will present us students with the best c hance to succeed. In my esteemed opinion, I feel as though the answer is clear as day.

Just think about it this way. What would you rather do? Cram for a week for a test where you know once you are done taking it, for many of us failing it, and realizing afterwards you got nothing out of it, except giving your professor another reason to scorn you. On the other hand, you can work on a project or paper over a few weeks and put some hard work into it and have something tangible at it’s conclusion that you can proudly call your own.

Ithink the choice is pretty simple.

When it comes right down to it, people will learn an on-the-spot essay about a topic you don’t understand.

Knowledge comes from reviewing the material in a stress-free environment, where there are no limits as to how long or when you must complete the work by.

The thing about tests is that the environment is so forced. When you have to sit down and extract all those facts from your brain, with no reference, it sometimes will adversely affect how well you do. That kind of pressure is something only a select few can respond well too. Yeah, weare getting older now, and have taken a million tests in our day, but when you stop and think about it: How much have they actually helped?

In my personal experience, I have never once learned something from a test. Granted, they are supposed to be a review of what we already know,but in my eyes, their only purpose is to give teachers some concrete to base a usually huge portion of our grade off of.

Now, on the much better, more productive and efficient, other hand, we have the marvels that are projects and presentations. Yes, these are very general words, but meaningful nonetheless.

It’scommon sense that when someone has time to prepare and work hard at something, they will obviously do much better and take more from the experience. When you do a presentation, its obvious that you’ll want it to be good because in most cases, you’ll have to present in front of the class. And no one wants to be embarrassed, especially in front of his or her peers.

With papers, it’spretty much the same thing, but on a more personal basis. I know with me, I never turn in a paper that I feel doesn’t reflect my level as a writer. I feel as though I am cheating myself when I do. In an essay test or whatever the case may be, that attitude is changed, because you have no choice but to write hastily and there is no time for correction.

We pay a lot for the education we get here at Cabrini, and the majority of us want to make the most of it. With that said, I hold fast in my opinion about which way to learn is better and whoever disagrees might just have to write a counterpoint to it. But for those of you who care about their