An idea

[Big Blue Machine]

Students that have above a high mark say 80-85% should not have compelled to write end of the year exams. Exams can only hurt people with high marks. If they have done a great job all semester, why bring their mark down by a stupid exam?

[Riverwind]

Students that have above a high mark say 80-85% should not have compelled to write end of the year exams. Exams can only hurt people with high marks. If they have done a great job all semester, why bring their mark down by a stupid exam?

In my first year university class, the first people to flunk out were the people that came from high schools that did not require final exams. High schools are doing students a favour by requiring final exams.

[August1991]

Students that have above a high mark say 80-85% should not have compelled to write end of the year exams. Exams can only hurt people with high marks. If they have done a great job all semester, why bring their mark down by a stupid exam?

BBM, why do I suspect that you got over 85% on semester work?

[geoffrey]

I got far below 85% on semester work, nearly aced all my diploma's.

I love final exams, keep 'em in. Without them, I would have never made it into university. I'd get used to it too, university is 100% tests all way harder than high school.

[Slavik44]

I don't understand why people feel the need to complain about tests, some people are not good at writing tests, some people are not good at writing essays, some people are not good at delivering Oral Presentations, some people are to shy to participate in class, some people are to lazy to show up. We simply cannot go around accomidating all of these people and changing the make up of marks. So what if people are not good at tests or get nervous writing tests. Tests are one aspect of school, and an important one, like anything they are an acquired skill, I found I acquired that skill easily. But if it takes you a little work to acquire this skill, then put the effort in. It took me a long time to learn how to deliver good oral presentations, I was simply to bloody nervous, but now in university at the end of my presentations I often get compliments from other students and professors, Oral presentations have become may favourite way to be evaluated. In the end, everything in school is an acquired skill, some skills you have to work harder at to achieve then others, but that doesn't mean we should eliminate them as a neccasary skill or call them stupid. Lets call it what it is, a part of school you should no more remove tests then text books. Come to think of it, reading certain text books is a very hard skill to acquire, maybe we could eliminate them, I will have to talk to my profs next semester, Maybe I could argue that after two years if you have a GPA higher than 3.9 you should not have to be evaluated on any information other then what is contained in lectures.

[RB]

The North American school model is by far too easy and liberal - students can go through high school and university and still be uneducated.

[August1991]

The North American school model is by far too easy and liberal - students can go through high school and university and still be uneducated.

How do you define "educated"?

An education system should in part prepare people for the labour market. By that measure, and to the extent education plays a role, the North American education system is largely successful since North America (the US & Canada) consistently does well in per capita economic measures compared to other countries around the world.

Moreover RB, your comment is simply too general. It depends which high school, which university, which programme.

I have always thought the strict, authoritarian, top-down, single-final exam education system was overrated. A liberal, open-ended style is more conducive to learning.

[RB]

An education system should in part prepare people for the labour market. By that measure, and to the extent education plays a role, the North American education system is largely successful since North America (the US & Canada) consistently does well in per capita economic measures compared to other countries around the world.

Since you brought up education and labor I refuse to believe that our Canadian education system is churning out successful entrepreneurs in every group of people.

First, clearly the Canadian school system has blatantly failed the immigrant population. Now, we can also blamed groups for being retarded, even though we would like to think our education system should be the fastest route from exclusion to full participation in the labor force. For example, how many Indians, Chinese, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians are found working in the current Conservative government, then how many more are found at the top of the corporate hierarchy.

Would you agree then that the education system in Canada and the US is built and designed for one model of people? and that this system of democracy is literally failing others and letting them fall on the wayside. I mean we are selecting what is educable and molding them to be sufficient in government and business and can proudly announce we are doing better that other countries.

The education system is intolerant when you compare it to the market place. Recall some outrage for this example, reducing LSAT for blacks is injustice. How many blacks are lawyers?