Full transcript
Noah
0:01it's been five years since I sat my
0:04University finals and I still have
0:06nightmares about turning over a test
0:08paper and not knowing the answers uh it
0:12was the most stressful experience of my
0:14life
0:15after that I promised I'd never do an
0:18exam again
0:19and I haven't I'll admit that passing
0:21those exams helped me land a decent job
0:23but I have never needed to use any of
0:26the information I learned while working
0:28here employers seem to think that by
0:30hiring someone with a high level
0:31qualification they are getting a better
0:33worker but um that's not strictly true
0:37either some people at my workplace have
0:39amazing grades in their postgraduate
0:40qualifications but they are no better at
0:43their job than anyone else
0:45actually some of them are awful to work
0:47with people can be trained to do most
0:49jobs and the skills you need like having
0:52good people skills of being creative and
0:55being able to respond effectively to
0:56different situations just can't be
0:58tested in exams
Olivia
1:03when I was in school I was always at the
1:05top of the class and aced my exams my
1:08teachers loved me and my classmates
1:10parents wish their kids were more like
1:12me
1:13my classmates hated me of course but
1:16that didn't bother me to be honest
1:18doing well in exams gave me confidence
1:21and a sense of Pride although I confess
1:23I also felt I was better than everyone
1:25else which I now realize is not true
1:29I simply have a better aptitude for that
1:31way of learning I suppose
1:33now I work with people whose grades
1:35aren't even close to mine and they do
1:37better than me in the office you would
1:39think that would make me upset but
1:41that's not true although I haven't seen
1:44any real Financial benefit from taking
1:46exams they have made me a disciplined
1:48person who values knowledge and I still
1:51take them now for the Hobbies I do in my
1:53spare time I think they are a valuable
1:56way to reflect on my progress and how
1:58well I'm doing
Ava
2:02many people think that exams don't test
2:05anything except your ability to take
2:08exams you know how well you can memorize
2:10and recall information they think that
2:13students would learn better by doing
2:15projects based on their own interests
2:17where what they learn isn't limited by
2:19an exam syllabus well that method might
2:22work for a few people but in my view
2:24most people don't have enough motivation
2:27whereas an exam serves as a clear
2:30objective for students plus I personally
2:34think exams test all sorts of skills
2:36besides just your ability to remember
2:38stuff like your thought processes
2:40analytical ability logic intelligence
2:43and your application of knowledge
2:45honestly I wouldn't want anyone in a
2:48powerful position of responsibility who
2:50hadn't proved they had those skills so
2:53in that sense exams are essential
2:57of course the design of the paper is
3:00critical a multiple choice paper isn't
3:03going to test those sorts of things