Why We Shouldn't Have Tests In College

While in college, there is a good chance that you will have to succumb to taking many tests. You'll study for hours and maybe ever days and undergo many sleepless nights when these exams are coming. You do all of this to find out you did not do as well as you had hoped and in turn you get upset with yourself. Then the questions of "why you didn't do better" or "why you didn't study hard enough" come up. But the real question is, why do we even have tests in college?

Think about it this way, in college we are preparing for our future and our jobs, right? The things we try to memorize now, only to forgot very soon afterwards, will not be needed to be remembered. Because, when we have jobs we will have access to our resources like Google or books that gives us answers that we are now trying to remember. Instead of trying to force information into our brains for the semester, or sometimes even just the test, why don't we try to actually learn about the concepts and why they are used.

We should be doing more hands on work with what we are studying. I shouldn't have to memorize formulas or definitions. What I should be doing is working with the information I have been given. I should be using all of this in more of a hands on experience, taking these concepts and relating them to the real world and how I would actually be using them. Many of my professors are now incorporating this into how they teach. They will allow us to use our books with our formulas on the tests because they know that is how it will be when we get jobs in the future.

However, I think that the fact that many students have test anxiety is a very common but unnoticed problem. The tests that some professors give out are extremely anxiety inducing because the questions are too difficult to decipher the correct answer from the incorrect ones. I'm not saying that professors should make their tests easier, I'm just saying that sometimes the tests should be more straightforward. The questions shouldn't try to confuse the students. If a question is simple and to the point, there is a good chance the student knows the answer and a higher chance they will get it correct and remember what they have learned. This would also help alleviate some students testing anxiety.

Now I'm sure there is no way we can completely abolish test taking throughout colleges, but I do believe that in time we can have our testing be more of a hands on learning. A culture where we are treated like people of a work place where we are able to use our resources just like we normally would.