I wouldn't exactly call this a debate, but to an extent..it could be. but me personally I feel the concept of exams is quite ghey as all we're being tested on is what we remember; memory. I remember a friend of mine saying "a not so clever person (academically) could easily revise everything they've been taught and remember it, get an A but that wouldn't actually make them smart" and I agree.

quite fed up of education itself to be honest, too many things that don't make sense to me

Originally Posted by quotes

I wouldn't exactly call this a debate, but to an extent..it could be. but me personally I feel the concept of exams is quite ghey as all we're being tested on is what we remember; memory. I remember a friend of mine saying "a not so clever person (academically) could easily revise everything they've been taught and remember it, get an A but that wouldn't actually make them smart" and I agree.

quite fed up of education itself to be honest, too many things that don't make sense to me

In my opinion, it is like that through up until college, but once you get to college, you are actually learning stuff that matters.

Originally Posted by quotes

I wouldn't exactly call this a debate, but to an extent..it could be. but me personally I feel the concept of exams is quite ghey as all we're being tested on is what we remember; memory. I remember a friend of mine saying "a not so clever person (academically) could easily revise everything they've been taught and remember it, get an A but that wouldn't actually make them smart" and I agree.

quite fed up of education itself to be honest, too many things that don't make sense to me

True. Although some exams like sciences have applied questions which you may not be able to answer if you don't understand the information, and be able to use it. General studies are virtually impossible to revise, possibly the maths yes, but it looked at actually being able to use your own knowledge to write a sensible answer and to look through the text, and understand it to answer. In vocational subjects, it's hands on work so it can't be done much by memory. So it depends purely on the subject?

Originally Posted by Fireandearth

True. Although some exams like sciences have applied questions which you may not be able to answer if you don't understand the information, and be able to use it. General studies are virtually impossible to revise, possibly the maths yes, but it looked at actually being able to use your own knowledge to write a sensible answer and to look through the text, and understand it to answer. In vocational subjects, it's hands on work so it can't be done much by memory. So it depends purely on the subject?

Yeah, the key to a subject not just being mindless memorising of data is applying the knowledge

Originally Posted by quotes

I wouldn't exactly call this a debate, but to an extent..it could be. but me personally I feel the concept of exams is quite ghey as all we're being tested on is what we remember; memory. I remember a friend of mine saying "a not so clever person (academically) could easily revise everything they've been taught and remember it, get an A but that wouldn't actually make them smart" and I agree.

quite fed up of education itself to be honest, too many things that don't make sense to me

i agree with u as, if u have a good memory u could succeed.
but there are subjects like maths and physics which require mostly implementation rather than memory

Originally Posted by dhayane

i agree with u as, if u have a good memory u could succeed.
but there are subjects like maths and physics which require mostly implementation rather than memory

Yeah,I don't know if this is actually true, as this is second hand evidence, but according to some of my friends who study law, you just have to memorise the details of loads of cases and refer to them in the exam.

Originally Posted by DanH

Yeah,I don't know if this is actually true, as this is second hand evidence, but according to some of my friends who study law, you just have to memorise the details of loads of cases and refer to them in the exam.

With law (I do a-level law) you do need to remember a lot of case law, but you also need to understand it. You can't write about it if you don't, because the questions vary and so knowing the answer for one and then sitting the exam means you probablly won't know the answer for the other and then fail ^^

Originally Posted by DanH

Yeah,I don't know if this is actually true, as this is second hand evidence, but according to some of my friends who study law, you just have to memorise the details of loads of cases and refer to them in the exam.

U know - the difficult bit is learning the cases and that. Its information overload at its worst!!!

Originally Posted by Fireandearth

With law (I do a-level law) you do need to remember a lot of case law, but you also need to understand it. You can't write about it if you don't, because the questions vary and so knowing the answer for one and then sitting the exam means you probablly won't know the answer for the other and then fail ^^

Well a level law has got harder. I dont know if i want to carry on with it tbh. I mean theres SOOOOOOOOOOO much to learn - i mean like psychology you have to learn like the whole text book.
BTW psychology - if ur doing aqa it is like that - where u just need to learn stuff and basically rite it all down. - But yeah the only diff between psychology and law exams is that the law book is even more bulkier!!

But yeah.

Originally Posted by Hafsa

U know - the difficult bit is learning the cases and that. Its information overload at its worst!!!



Well a level law has got harder. I dont know if i want to carry on with it tbh. I mean theres SOOOOOOOOOOO much to learn - i mean like psychology you have to learn like the whole text book.
BTW psychology - if ur doing aqa it is like that - where u just need to learn stuff and basically rite it all down. - But yeah the only diff between psychology and law exams is that the law book is even more bulkier!!

But yeah.

exams are cool, ain't they Hafsa???

Originally Posted by quotes

I wouldn't exactly call this a debate, but to an extent..it could be. but me personally I feel the concept of exams is quite ghey as all we're being tested on is what we remember; memory. I remember a friend of mine saying "a not so clever person (academically) could easily revise everything they've been taught and remember it, get an A but that wouldn't actually make them smart" and I agree.

quite fed up of education itself to be honest, too many things that don't make sense to me

You do have a point. To a certain extent, exams (especially at GCSE) are all about memorising a set of information, regurgitating it int he exam, and then forgetting it so the next lot can be memorised.
Even though it has its faults, I believe coursework is a valid form of examination, because it tests your ability to apply information, rather than just remember it.
Of course, in real life, the important skill is being able to remember certain facts and then appropriately apply these to the situation that you are in. Therefore, a combination of coursework and exams is best