As Canadian high schools approach exam season, students experience heightened stress related to their final evaluations. Educators like Jason Bradshaw observe the emotional toll on students, attributing this anxiety to the intense focus on grades. While some question the validity of traditional exams, others, such as Kelly Gallagher-Mackay, argue that exams remain a valid method of assessing student learning and teaching effectiveness. Exams provide insight into students’ understanding of course material and inform future teaching strategies, emphasizing their importance in academic evaluation despite the associated stress.
"They are very stressed, and I think it's largely because of the emphasis that we put on grades and marks in school, and the final exam is obviously going to be a significant part of that," Bradshaw told The Current's Matt Galloway.
"There is a point of testing," she said. Exams play a crucial role in gauging how well students have grasped the core concepts of their courses, says Gallagher-Mackay.
"It gives you a sort of overall snapshot of the extent to which the content and the teaching were effective," she said.
"It's particularly important for going forward. The test might tell you that you want to go and teach that differently next year, if there's one unit that they really didn't get."
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