If your teen’s ever uttered the words ‘what’s even the point of exams?’
(or maybe you have too!)
then listen in,
because if we consider exams as just a thing to be passed to get the grades for whatever lies ahead in life, then we’re missing out on some hidden opportunities.
Don’t worry – I’m not gonna try to convert you into some sort of exam board cult,
I just want to give you a positive angle to consider.
Because, yes, exams are partly a tool to judge ability in a subject or a skill,
they do test knowledge of whatever topics are being assessed.
But what if they really were more useful than that?
Because here’s what else exams are:
They’re a test of being able to decipher what people are really asking for.
The information or skills the examiners or teachers want students to show.
In fact I had a savvy parent actually say this to me a few years ago…
Her son was doing the 10Wk Grade Transformation Program and she’d watched some of Catapult 7 with him, which dives deep on one of the 6 elements of exam technique.
And she told me that it really isn’t much different to what she has to do at work.
From what her clients tell her, she has to work out what they want, exactly what they’re asking for and then translate that into what she proposes or provides for them.
So, maybe exams do have some real-world application after all.
Maybe they do actually have some purpose and skills that translate and serve us beyond the exam hall and results day.
Because if students can become masters of working out what people want from the words they use
and get brilliant at giving them exactly what they want,
in a clear and efficient way,
then that’s sure to serve them well in life and their career, right?
So, here’s how I choose to see exams:
– Yes, they demand good subject knowledge.
– Yes, they require certain skills, like source analysis skills or numeracy skills for example.
– But beyond that, they require an ability to dissect the wording of questions,
– and be able to understand and act on that information,
– to provide a response that fulfils the needs and wants of each question.
This is why, as you’ll have heard me say before, all the subject knowledge in the world is useless if your teen doesn’t have the tools and strategies to do those things.
And it’s why so many hardworking and intelligent students still don’t get the results they deserve to get,
the grades they could and should be getting in their exams.
So, maybe there is more to exams than just testing subject knowledge.
Maybe they actually are useful for later life.
And maybe they’re about teaching students more than just learning and memorising facts and info.
Let me know what YOU think –
leave me a comment below, or drop me an email katie.price@rocksolidstudy.com.au
I’d love your thoughts and feedback on this. And if you know someone else who could benefit from this perspective, then feel free to forward this to them or share the link on social.
