Exams are a necessary part of learning. At least that is what one is led to believe when going to school. At the end of a course, semester, school year, one is usually tested in order to see how much knowledge has been retained. This is the popular form of education that is being done around the world. However, it is always important to question the systems that we use. Is this truly the best way people learn? What about the people that performed badly in school but succeeded later in life? Is learning all about cramming and regurgitating information?
A close friend of mine told me a story about growing up that can be used to question the effectiveness of the currently embraced pedagogical system. He grew up in Nigeria and went to primary school here. His school had this same revision and exam process that is so popular across the world. He crammed and studied as hard as he could but he still got last place in school. What made things worse is that his teacher read out the names of the three worst performers in his class. Can you imagine that? Think about how emotionally traumatizing that must have been for him. He told me to this day he has that chip on his shoulder.
As you can see this system has its problems as it can cause insecurities in children that may not learn best from cramming. Despite that, how else would we test whether a student has learned anything in class? Luckily today parents and teachers alike are exploring and experimenting with new teaching methods. One of the world’s most successful billionaires, Elon Musk, is doing just that. He is so fed up with the current state of education that he created his own school. Only time will tell the success of his experiment.
This leads us to the exams for the EMBA27 course. I am not particularly worried about them. When I was younger exams consumed me. Especially when you grow up in a Nigerian household and getting good grades was a prerequisite for enjoying the holidays. Back when I was younger, the anxiety alone would affect my performance. These days, I don’t worry as much. One of the reasons is that I procrastinate a lot less than I used to when I was younger. I was the worst procrastinator when I was in University. I would honestly leave assignments to the last minute. Sometimes it went okay and other times it went really badly. Drinking Redbull energy drinks at unruly hours of the morning is never a pleasant experience.
Luckily I learned my lesson from my undergraduate days and learned self-discipline and the importance of getting important tasks done on time. Getting my revision started at least a week before the exams is going to help me a lot this time around. We also have been put into groups, which has helped me keep up with the workload on this degree program. Fingers crossed I pass my exams in flying colours.
The Story of James-Breaking the Barrier. #EMBA27