Arakin 4 kurs new 001 176. indd

What you must decide
What form of assessment is more efficient and reliable: exams or 
continuous assessment?
A vote must be taken.
Role cards
Professor G. Aged 51
You are Head of the English Department and conduct a special 
meeting to discuss what form of assessment is more efficient 
and reliable: exams or continuous assessment. You are of 
the opinion that exams are a well-tried system, but you do not 
object to abolishing exams in one of the years, possibly in the 
first year, and introducing continuous assessment as an experi-
ment.

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At the end of the discussion you sum up the arguments presented 
and hold a vote.
NB: The results of the vote will be taken to the Academic secretary 
of the university.
Associate professor. M. Aged 49
You are a professor in the English Department. You are convinced 
that exams are the best quick way of assessing a student. Their reli-
ability has been proved again and again. The exam system may not 
be perfect, but it’s the best we have; it may be painful, but so are many 
things in life. You voice your support for the exams rather categori-
cally.
Associate professor E. Aged 54
You are a professor in the English Department. You agree that the 
most successful students are not always the best educated, they are 
the best trained in the technique or working under duress/pressure. 
Possible faults of the exams are not the faults of the system itself but 
of the teacher – that is your conviction. However there are advan-
tages in continuous assessment, as it is probably more objective, but 
it needs to be proved/tested. So you suggest an experiment (exams 
abolished, continuous assessment introduced) with a group of stu-
dents.
Instructor P. Aged 32
You are an instructor in the English Department. You think that 
exams as a form of assessment must be abolished altogether. Your 
arguments are as follows: firstly, exams are a test of memory not abil-
ity. They encourage memorizing, restrict reading and induce cramming 
and secondly, as anxiety-makers exams are second to none, because 
so much depends on them.