In middle school, I was studying for an impending math test when the COVID-19 lockdown hit. My math teacher made the test open note and said she would make the questions easier. I immediately stopped doing homework for the last couple lessons of the unit and did not review the unit. Many of my classmates did the same thing. Without testing, students lose motivation for their classes, leading to an unproductive learning environment.
As we progress into a future where education takes on different forms, the desire to experiment and try out new class structures and schedules becomes more prevalent. Sometimes, though, the traditional method of testing material provides the most benefits for students.
Although most classes at the school follow a traditional assessment schedule, with unit tests and cumulative assessments breaking the year up into chunks, some classes do not have traditional tests and assessments. AP United States Government and Calculus and Statistics both fall under this category, according to the Course Handbooks. These classes typically still have mini quizzes and projects, but no unit tests or any other assessments that summarize a chapter of class material.
Tests have been an integral part of class scheduling and learning for a necessary reason: making sure students learned everything in the unit. Even though they are a source of complaint for many students, tests aid in making learning more efficient, rewarding and force students to study and brush up on unit skills they may not be as solid on.
Tests are a way to summarize the key points of the unit and for students to test the skills they learned throughout. Without assessments, there is no way for students to ensure they understood all the content in a given unit. Frequent quizzes may help with the most recent lesson, but no unified assessment means no assurance that a student knows how to apply the skills learned across many different lessons. They may not go back and study past lessons if they only have one-lesson quizzes to study for.
Having no tests could make students forget lessons over time and gradually lose their knowledge of what they learned in class. Larger tests promote a brain stimulation called retrieval practice, which is 20% more effective than most other methods of review, according to Knowledge Plus.
Tests serve as the ultimate way to hold students accountable for all the learning they are supposed to do. Without tests, there is no way for teachers to see if students have been learning what is necessary for the class. Tests also give an incentive for students to complete assignments like homework worksheets and discussions to a higher quality, so they will be more engaged in a class. Students will feel better in knowing their work leads to a larger goal, and will subsequently want to invest more time in a class they are being tested for.
Some people may think that tests cause a great deal of stress and are not worth taking due to the heavy workload and mental toll it requires to study for them. Others may also bring up that tests contribute to classes being less fun and less captivating. The alternatives for not taking a test, though, can require an even heavier workload or a less captivating class due to circumstances. Large unit assignments that require multiple classes to complete would require even more time commitment from students without the benefits of information recall that studying provides. Group projects could put students in a position where there is an unfair work balance, which leads to some students doing much more work than others for the same grade. Studying for a test offers a student more basic rules and more direct control over how they digest the material for a certain unit.
Another point of contention around tests is the environment it creates around students that encourages cheating to get ahead in a class. There are many ways to try and alleviate that environment, though. Teachers already encourage students to meet with them during the studying process, and more fun online study materials can be offered to increase the enjoyment of studying. In addition, teachers can encourage students to study together more often and create study groups with their classmates in order to gain the collaboration one would from a group project without an unfair work balance. Studying for tests is the best way to cement units of study into long-term memory, and after taking a class with no tests, students may find out that tests aren’t such a chore after all.
