Students stress constantly about grades, and more about tests since they are generally the most impacting part of teachers’ grading systems. Assigning creative projects for the same grade or percentage of a grade as tests could help students better understand the curriculum and work. Therefore, teachers should instead assign projects for students to work on instead of creating tests for students.
Tests are something that students stress out about really easily. It’s common for students to panic when they know they have a test and then even panic during the test. Having this kind of stress could cause them to receive a lower grade than what they could’ve if they weren’t stressed out about the test. Stressing about the preparation of a test also distracts students from other types of work they have, such as work for other classes. Stressing for tests could be avoided if teachers instead assigned projects to work both in and out of class that have the same requirements and content as tests and are graded similarly. It is also more likely that students will demonstrate better performance on final projects than on final exams.
Through working on projects instead of tests, students will be able to work at a pace they are more comfortable with and can process the information they are presenting in their project in a better way. Having students work on projects instead of tests opens up more opportunities for creativity. Students will be able to express their knowledge through a more creative perspective, and can work more efficiently and effectively. These projects could be either group or solo projects. The Masters School, a private school in New York states , “Studies show that final projects help enhance problem solving skills, management, and creative thinking skills,” therefore stating that assigning projects instead of exams or tests benefits scholars in a more positive manner.
Additionally, The Daily Nebraskan states that if teachers assigned projects instead of tests, “stress levels among students could significantly decrease,” which speaks on the fact that if students were to work on projects instead of worrying about tests, students would experience less intense feelings and wouldn’t worry as much, or doubt their skills of learning the materials they have been taught.
Although tests bring a lot of stress to students, tests are also extremely crucial for the preparation of students to transition into college. In college, it’s common for students to almost only receive tests and exams for their grading and this is something that Preuss students must be prepared for. Taking tests puts students into the habit of what standardized testing is like and it can accurately calculate the knowledge that students have obtained over the course. Although standardized tests reflect clearly how a student’s habits are when taking an exam or test, it is still important that teachers think about the mental effects of stress that taking tests really has on students. It is important to still take into consideration the mental toll tests have on students.
Preuss teachers should consider assigning projects instead of tests and exams because it can help benefit students by decreasing stress levels, improve scholars management skills and overall can give students the opportunity to demonstrate their creativeness and effort through these projects.
