Students have a hate-hate relationship with tests, as do teachers. Everyone agrees that it is important to assess the status of the learner's knowledge (and the teacher should use exams to assess his effectiveness) but everyone hates the process. I am giving exams this week and can sense the tension--in us all.I try to make exams reasonably painless, but they do require effort. While I am more interested in how one uses her knowledge, there are some facts that have to be (arrrggh) memorized. I cleverly disguise these by saying, "YOU HAVE TO KNOW THIS-WRITE IT DOWN!"
Practical exams seem to cause a special kind of anxiety. In science there comes a point at which you have to relate to real objects, and think "on the fly", and practicals are (hopefully) designed to encourage this. My experience is that, lacking the ability to look things up, students often second-guess themselves on practicals and "overthink" their responses. This almost always results in choking....
In any case, I actually have learned to like exams. I think high-level students need their complacency stressed, and I need to know if I am getting through. Let's hope we all end up better for the process.
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