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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Student's Newspaper. Volume 31, Number 3. March 19 1968

[introduction]

"Whole intellects disgorged in total recall for seven days and nights with clear eyes ... "

—Allen Ginsberg, Howl.

Of all the students who enter our university only 50 per cent ever gain any academic qualifications. In the previous articles in this series I have tried to show that the traditional essay-type examination is responsible for at least one-half of this enormous wastage of talent. I have quoted evidence from. many sources of the unreliability of examinations and examiners, of fluctuation in standards, of unjust and unnecessary failures. I have argued that examinations do not provide a valid measure of academic achievement, and that their consequences are detrimental to students, staff, and indeed the whole process of education. As they are now conducted, examinations are a parody of the assessment procedures suited to the modern university.

Given all the faults of examinations, should we then simply abandon them? No. The correct solution, I believe, lies in the opposite direction. We should simply multiply examinations, tests, and essays of many kinds, using them frequently, but always informally, casually and sceptically. The results should be recorded, correlated and studied intensively, in conjunction with personal impressions, tutors' estimates, and all available facts in regard to the student's background and achievement.