Sir, - The season of exam cramming is upon us again and it has stirred me to plead for change. I am a post-graduate student completing a master's. This is my fifth consecutive year of full-time third-level education and I have now sat 45 exams - with no repeats - so I consider myself a bit of an expert. My experience persuades me that the third-level exam system in Ireland is badly flawed.
It rewards short-term memory above actual understanding; the better you cram, the better you do. No matter how well you have prepared throughout the year, if you cannot recall some far-flung formula in the nether regions of your mind during a three-hour session, well, tough luck.
It is time we moved all disciplines towards a practical, practical- and interview-based assessment system where students' own research, comprehension and thinking can be evaluated, not simply their ability to read re-read the same page until it has formed a hazy image in their memory but is a mere blur in their understanding.
I realise this is a common whinge, but surely in these times of great progress, when even a ballot box has a mind of its own, we should encourage our students to think, not just to learn. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN DRUMM III,
Hazelwood,
Ballyclough,
Co Limerick.