Students, have you ever sat down in your seat at your desk, heavy breathing, palms sweating, waiting for the big test to be placed into your hands? That test could be worth a third of your grade. How does that make you feel? Nervous? Tense? No matter which emotion, I don’t think either are healthy for elementary, middle school, high school, or even college kids to endure. I am a student myself, in eighth grade, and tests definitely aren’t the most settling, especially with such high point value. Well, what if there was another option to test your knowledge on the curriculum you have been learning about - an option that’s not as daunting as a five page assessment? I may have figured out a way. I feel that students should be assigned projects to test their knowledge of the curriculum, rather than long, tiresome, traditional testing. For starters, many students are weak test takers and have serious anxiety about it, second, projects require creativity, and finally, almost all of the sections of tests are based simply on memorization.

       The first reason that students should have projects instead of traditional testing to assess their knowledge of the material is that many students are weak test-takers. A lot of times, larger assessments, like midterms, make up a significant portion of the final grade. This factor can be even more stressful for those who’s strong point is not test taking. Basically, that one test could very possibly be a synopsis to the teachers of “how smart you are,” because of the high point value. Teachers and professors from the National Education Association say that 70 percent of standardized tests are not helpful for the development of students’ knowledge or learning abilities. They also stated that a lot of the tests are based on a narrow amount of curriculum and are linked to specific grade levels, which, to them, seems like a poor way to judge a student’s success. Those who are weaker at test-taking because of the stress could actually know the most about the material in the class, but they may second guess themselves and overthink simple questions, deceiving their brain into believing it was a trick, critical thinking question, or stress over the time crunch, and start to believe they forgot everything while taking the test. I believe that to give an accurate representation of a student’s academic abilities, projects would be a great way to challenge them, without a difficult time crunch or high stress value. Also, group projects can help build collaboration skills and aid in students’ ability to work with others.

       A second reason that students should have projects, instead of traditional testing to assess their knowledge of the material is that projects require creativity. With tests, there is a right or wrong answer. With projects, they require deeper thinking on the topic at hand, especially if there is a poster board involved, and students are motivated to fill up all of the space possible. They require creative, outside-of-the-box ways to supply information, such as games or presentations. Kids could even have a little bit of fun during this project because of the creative aspect, and would result in the same outcome, regarding knowledge of the material given; and let’s be honest - does anyone have fun taking tests? In the end, the projects would involve another important aspect of learning, that tests won’t have — creativity.

       A third reason that students should have projects, instead of traditional testing to assess their knowledge of the material is that tests are mostly based on memorization. Almost all of the tests that we take are mimics of notes or other sources of information that we have jotted down in the past. When we study, we are almost always just memorizing each note, not even thinking if we understand it. We just have the mindset of, “The teachers are not going to give us any information that we didn’t talk about, so I’m just going to memorize my notes. I’ll be fine.” With projects, we have to come up with a way to supply the information, and in order to explain the material, we need to understand it. We don’t really need to understand for tests, unless there is a short answer. Overall, we would get more out of the long hours in class learning, if we were assigned projects and weren’t just memorizing words on a page.

       Although many may, and will agree with my argument, some might beg to differ. They might think that students should be able to learn the concept of studying and then being tested on the material without using a book or notes, rather than having the research right in front of you, whenever you need it, for projects. I think that, first of all, if they are concerned with the level of understanding on the topic, students could present the information supplied in the project to prove that they know what they are talking about. The teachers could even question them at the end, for an extra aspect of knowledge. Second of all, it all goes back to the fact that tests are mostly memorization. Even though efficient studying is a good skill to have, chances are, all of the information that students memorized will leave the brain shortly after the test. Studies show that 95 percent of high schoolers will forget test material and criteria learned in class in about three days. Once the stressful assessment is over, children believe that they won’t need to know any of that information any time soon. Finally, procrastination can come in as a concern with projects, but it’s no different with tests. I’ve found that it’s pretty typical for students to wait until the last minute to study, or not even do it at all, especially at my grade level. I think projects will become good learning experiences for students to focus on starting up the assignment long before it’s due. 

       I believe that students should be assigned projects to test their knowledge of the learned material, rather than long, tiresome, traditional testing because, first, many students are weak test takers and have serious anxiety about it, second, projects require creativity, and finally, almost all of the sections of tests are based simply on memorization. Projects could be the next big thing for learners all over the world, and could change the way teachers and professors look at one’s academic abilities. Kids are capable of much more than what a letter grade says on an assessment.  

Bibliography:

neatoday.org/2016/02/18/standardized-tests-not-developmentally-appropriate

blog.mytuition.nz/high-school/students-forget-everything-heres-how-to-help-them-study