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EXAMINATIONS
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EXAMINATIONS . The See also:term " examination " (i.e. inspecting, weighing and testing; from See also:Lat. examen, the See also:tongue of a See also:balance) is used in the following See also:article to denote a systematic test of knowledge, and of either See also:special or See also:general capacity or fitness, carried out under the authority of some public See also:body.
1. See also:History.—The See also:oldest known See also:system of examinations in history is that used in See also:China for the selection of See also:officers for the public service (c. 1115 B.C.), and the periodic tests which they undergo after entry (c. 2200 B.c.). See CHINA; also W.A.P. See also: The See also:majority of examinations in western countries are derived from the university examinations of the See also:middle ages. The first See also:universities of See also:Europe consisted of corporations of teachers and of students analogous to the See also:trade See also:gilds and See also:merchant gilds of the See also:time. In the trade gilds there were apprentices, companions, and masters. No one was admitted to mastership until he had served his See also:apprenticeship (q.v.), nor, as a See also:rule, until he had shown that he could accomplish a piece of See also:work to the See also:satisfaction of the gild. The See also:object of the universities was to See also:teach; and to the three classes established by the gild correspond roughly the See also:scholar, the See also:bachelor or See also:pupil-teacher (see Rashdall i. 209, See also:note 2, and 22,1 note 5), and the See also:master or See also:doctor (two terms at first See also:equivalent) who, having served his apprenticeship and passed a definite technical test, had received permission to teach. The See also:early universities of Europe, being under the same religious authority and animated by the same See also:philosophy, resembled each other very closely in curriculum and general organization and examinations, and by the authority of the See also:emperor, or of the See also:pope in most cases, the permission to teach granted by one university was valid in all (See also:jus ubicunque docendi). The earliest university examinations of which a description is available are those in See also:civil and in See also:canon See also:law held at See also:Bologna at a See also:period subsequent to 1219. The student was admitted without. examination as bachelor after from four to six years' study, and after from six to eight years' study became qualified as a See also:candidate for the doctorate. He might obtain4- I the doctorate in both branches of law in ten years (Rashdall i. 221-222). The doctoral examination at Bologna in the 13th-14th centuries consisted of two parts—a private examination which was the real test, and a public one of a ceremonial See also:character (conventus). The candidate first took an " See also:oath that he had complied with all the statutable conditions, that he would give no more than the statutable fees or entertainments to the See also:rector himself, the doctor or his See also:fellow-students, and that he would obey the rector." He was then presented to the See also:archdeacon of Bologna by one or. more doctors, who were required to have satisfied themselves of his fitness by private examination. On the See also:morning of the examination, after attending See also:mass, he was assigned by one of the doctors of the assembled See also:college two passages (puncta) in the civil or canon law, which he retired to his See also:house to study, possibly with the assistance of the presenting doctor. Later in the See also:day he gave a lecture on, or exposition of, the prepared passages, and was examined on them by two of the doctors appointed by the college. Other doctors might then put supplementary questions on law arising out of the passages, or might suggest objections to his answers. The See also:vote of the doctors See also:present was taken by See also:ballot, and the See also:fate of the candidate was determined by the majority. The successful candidate, who received the See also:title of licentiate, was, on See also:payment of a heavy See also:fee and other expenses, permitted to proceed to the conventus or final public examination. This consisted in the delivery of a speech and the See also:defence of a thesis on some point of law, selected by the candidate, against opponents selected from among the students. The successful candidate received from the See also:arch-See also:deacon the formal " See also:licence to teach " by the authority of the pope in the name of the Trinity, and was invested with the insignia of See also:office. At Bologna, though not at See also:Paris, the " per-See also:mission to teach " soon became fictitious, only a small number of doctors being allowed to exercise the right of teaching in that university (Rashdall). In the See also:faculty of arts of Paris, towards the end of the 13th century, the system was already more complicated than at Bologna. The baccalaureate, licentiateship, and mastership formed three distinct degrees. For See also:admission to the baccalaureate a preliminary test or " Responsions " was first required, at which the candidate .had. to dispute in See also:grammar or See also:logic with a master. The examiners then inspected the certificates (schedulae) of See also:residence and of having attended lectures in the prescribed subjects, and examined him in the contents of his books. The successful candidate was admitted to maintain a thesis against an opponent, a See also:process called " determination " (see Rashdall i 443 et seq.), and as bachelor was then permitted to give "cursory" lectures. After five or six years from the date of beginning his. studies (matriculation) and being twenty years of See also:age (these conditions varied at different, periods), a bachelor was permitted to present himself for the examination for the licentiate-See also:ship, which was divided into two parts. The first See also:part was conducted in private by the See also:chancellor and four examiners (temptatores in cameris), and included an inquiry into the candidate's residence, attendance at lectures, and performance of exercises, as well as examination in prescribed books; those candidates adjudged worthy were admitted to the more important examination before the faculty, and the names of successful candidates were sent to the chancellor in batches of eight or more at a time, arranged in See also:order of merit. (The order of merit at the examination for the licentiateship existed in Paris till quite recently.) Each successful candidate was then required to maintain a thesis chosen by himself (quodlibetica) in St See also:Julian's See also: 32). The last privileges of this kind were abolished at Cambridge by a See also:grace passed on the loth of See also: W. Rouse See also:Ball in his History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge (1889), p. 193, states that he can find no See also:record of any See also:European examinations by means of written papers earlier than those introduced by R. See also:Bentley at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1702. EXAMINATIONS The subjects in which the medieval universities examined were (i.) those of the See also:trivium and quadrivium in the faculty of arts; (ii.) See also:theology; (iii.) medicine; and (iv.) civil and canon law. The number of subjects in which examinations are held has since grown immensely. We can only See also:sketch in outline the transformations of certain typical university systems of examinations. At Oxford there is no record of a process of formal examination on books similar to that of Paris (Rashdall, ii. 442 et seq.), disputations being apparently the only test applied in its early history. Examinations were definitely introduced for the B.A. and M.A. degrees by See also:Laud in 1636—1638 (Brodrick, History of Oxford, p. 114), but the standard prescribed was so much beyond the actual requirements of later times that it may be doubted if it was enforced. The studies See also:fell in the 18th century into an " abject See also:state," from which they were first raised by a See also:statute passed in 1800 (Report of Oxford University See also:Commission of 1850-1852, p. 6o et seq.), under which distinctions were first allotted to the ablest candidates for the bachelor's degree. Further changes were made in 1807 and 1825; and in 183o a distinction was made between honours examinations of a more difficult character, at which successful candidates were divided into four classes, and pass examinations of an easier character. By the statutes of 1849 and 1858 an intermediate " Moderations " examination was instituted between the preliminary examination called " Responsions " and the final examination. Since 185o, although fresh subjects of examination have been introduced, no considerable See also:change of system has been made. The bachelor's degree at Oxford tended from an early period to be postponed to an advanced See also:stage of studies, while the requirements for the master's degree diminished until, in 1807, the examination for the M.A. was abolished. It is now awarded to bachelors of three years' See also:standing on payment of a fee. Cambridge in early times followed the example of Oxford, and here also the bachelor's degree became more and more important (See also:Bass Mullinger, History of the University of Cambridge from 1535 . . . , p. 414), and the M.A. has been finally reduced to a See also:mere formality, awarded on terms similar to those of the See also:sister university. The standard of examinations was raised in Cam-bridge at an earlier date than at Oxford, and in the 18th century the tripos " established the reputation of Cambridge as a School of Mathematical See also:Science." The school, however, produced few, if any, See also:great mathematicians between See also:Newton and See also:George See also:Green. It was only between 183o and 1840 that the standard of the tripos became a high one. At Cambridge there is no intermediate examination between the " Previous Examination " (commonly called " Little-go "), which corresponds to Oxford " Responsions " or " Smalls " and the triposes and examinations for the " See also:Poll " degree, which correspond to the Oxford final honours and pass examinations respectively. But most of the triposes have been divided into two parts, of which the second is not obligatory in order to obtain a degree. The" senior wrangler" was the first candidate in order of merit in the first part of the mathematical tripos. The abolition of order of merit at this examination was decided on in 1906, and names of candidates appeared in this order for the last time in 1909. - At the Scottish universities the B.A. degree has become See also:extinct, and the M.A., awarded on the results of examination, is the first degree in the faculty of arts. The See also:incorporation of the university of See also:London in 1836 marks an era in the history of examinations; the teaching and examining functions of a university were dissociated for the first time. Until 1858 the London examinations were open only to students in affiliated colleges, and the teachers had no See also:share in the See also:appointment of the examiners or indetermining the curricula for examinations; in 1858 the examinations were thrown open to all corners, and no requirements were insisted on with regard to courses of study except for degrees in the faculty of medicine. The See also:sole See also:function of the university was to examine, and its examinations for matriculation and for degrees in arts and science were carried on by means of written papers not only in London but in many centres in the See also:United See also:Kingdom and the colonies. From the first the degrees were (unlike-those of Oxford and Cambridge until 1871) open to all male persons without religious distinctions; and in 1878 they were opened to See also:women. (Tripos examinations were thrown open to women at Cambridge by the grace of 24th Feb. 1881, and at Oxford women were admitted to examinations for honours by statute of 29th See also:April 1884. Proposals to admit women to university degrees were rejected by Oxford and Cambridge in 1896 and 1897 respectively.) The standard of difficulty set by the university of London was a high one, very much higher for its pass degrees than the corresponding See also:standards at Oxford and Cambridge, while the standard for honours was equally high. In medicine the examinations were made both wider in range and more searching than those of any other examining body. But, for reasons dealt with below, great discontent was roused by the new system. In 188o the See also:Victoria University, See also:Manchester, was established, in which teaching and examining were again united; and in the universities since established, with the exception of the Royal University of See also:Ireland (which was created in 188o as an examining body on the See also:model of London, but which was dissolved under the Irish Universities See also:Act 1908, and replaced by the See also:National University of Ireland and the See also:Queen's University of See also:Belfast), the precedent of Victoria has been followed. By an act passed in 1898, of which the provisions came into force in 1900, the university of London was reconstituted as a teaching university, although See also:provision was made for the continuance of the system of examinations by " See also:external examiners " for " external students," together with " See also:internal examinations " for " internal students," in which the teachers and the external examiners of the university are associated. The examinations in See also:music and the final examinations in law and medicine are carried on [1910) both for " internal " and " external " students by " external " examiners only, who are, however, appointed on the recommendation of boards of studies consisting mainly of London teachers. At the university of See also:Dublin, examinations have been maintained both for the B.A. and M.A. degrees, and students may be admitted to the examinations in subjects other than divinity, law, medicine, and See also:engineering without attendance at university courses. The examinations of the newer universities, the Victoria University of Manchester, See also:Birmingham, See also:Liverpool, See also:Leeds, See also:Sheffield and See also:Wales, are open only to students at these universities, and are conducted by the teachers in association with one or more external examiners for each subject. In some universities, e.g. Manchester, the M.A. degree is given after examination to students who have taken a pass, and without examination to those who have taken an honours degree. The universities which have departed furthest from the medieval system of examinations, at any See also:rate in See also:appearance, are those of See also:Germany. The baccalaureate has disappeared, but students cannot be matriculated without having passed the Abiturianten-examen (see below), probably the most severe of all entrance examinations (See also:foreign students may be exempted under certain conditions). The student desiring to proceed to the doctorate is See also:free from examinations thereafter until he presents his thesis for the doctor's degree,' when, if it is accepted, he is submitted to a public oral examination not only in his See also:principal subject (Hauptfach), but also as a rule in two or more See also:collateral subjects (Nebenfacher). The doctor's degree does not give the right to teach in a faculty (venia legendi). To acquire this a doctor must present a further thesis (Habilitationsschrift), and must deliver two lectures, one before the faculty, followed by a discussion (colloquium), the other in public; but these lectures " seem to be merely secondary and are tending to become so more and more "; " scientific productiveness is so sharply emphasized among the conditions for admission that it over-shadows all the See also:rest " (Paulsen, loc. cit. p. 165). ' It should be mentioned that the professors of See also:chemistry of a number of German, See also:Austrian and Swiss universities, have, by agreement. instituted an intermediate examination in that subject which students are required to pass before beginning work on the doctoral thesis. The examination of the students is conducted by the teachers concerned. In See also:France the examination for the baccalaureate, though conducted in part by university examiners, has become a school-leaving examination (see below). The licentiateship has been preserved in the faculties of arts, science and See also:laws, and is in point of difficulty about equal to the pass degree examinations of the university of London, though differing in the nature of the tests. In the faculty of sciences, the three subjects of examination selected may, under a See also:recent regulation, be taken separately. Until a few years ago the successful candidates at the licentiate-ship were arranged in order of merit. For the doctorate in the faculty of letters two theses must be submitted, of which the subject and See also:plan must be approved by the faculty (until recently one of them was required to be written in Latin). Permission to See also:print the theses is given by the rector or See also:vice-rector after report from one or more professors, and they are then discussed publicly by the faculty and the candidate (soutenance de these). In this public discussion the " disputation " of the middle ages survives in its least changed See also:form. The See also:literary theses required by See also:French universities are, as a rule, volumes of several See also:hundred pages, and more important in character even than the German Habilitationsschrift. The See also:possession of the doctorate is a sine qua non for eligibility to a university See also:chair, and to a lectureship in the university of Paris. In the faculty of sciences a candidate for the doctorate may submit two theses, or else submit one thesis and undergo an oral examination. For the doctorate in law, a thesis and two oral examinations are required. In the faculty of medicine there is no licentiateship, but for the doctorate six examinations must be passed and a thesis submitted. There is also a special doctorate, the " doctoral d' Universite," awarded on a thesis and an oral examination; and there are diplomas (Diplo"See also:mes d'Etudes superieures) awarded on dissertas tions and examinations on subjects in philosophy, history and See also:geography, See also:classics or modern See also:languages, selected mainly by the candidate and approved by the faculty. 2. Professional Examinations. (a) Teaching.—University examinations for degrees having ceased to be used as technical tests of teaching capacity, new examinations have been devised for this purpose. The test for German university teachers has been described above. For secondary teachers, W. von See also:Humboldt instituted a special examination in 18io (Paulsen, Gesch. des gelehrlen Unterrichts, ii. pp. 283 and 393), and an examination for See also:primary teachers was instituted in See also:Prussia in 1794. In France there is a competitive examination far secondary teachers, the agregation, originally established in 1766. Agrees have a right to state employment and they alone can occupy the highest teaching See also:post (chaire de professeur) in a state secondary school, other posts being open to licentiates. There are also examinations for primary teachers. The tests for teachers are different for the two sexes. In See also:England there is no obligatory test for secondary teachers. The universities and the College of Preceptors conduct examinations for teaching diplomas. The See also:Board of Education holds special examinations (Preliminary Certificate examination and Certificate examination, &c.) for primary teachers. (b) Medicine.—See MEDICAL EDUCATION. (c) Other Professions.—A system of professional examinations carried on by professional bodies, in some cases with legal See also:sanction, was developed in England during the 19th century. Those in the following subjects are the most important: Accountancy (See also:Institute of Chartered See also:Accountants and Society of Accountants and Auditors), actuarial work (Institute of Actuaries), music (Royal See also:Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music, Royal College of Organists, and the Incorporated Society of Musicians), See also:pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Society), See also:plumbing (the Plumbers' See also:Company), See also:surveying (Surveyors' Institution), veterinary medicine (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons), technical subjects, e.g. See also:cotton-See also:spinning, See also:dyeing, motor-manufacture (See also:City & Guilds of London Institute), See also:architecture (Royal Institute of See also:British Architects), commercial subjects, shorthand (the Society of Arts and London Chamber of See also:Commerce), engineering (Institutions of Civil See also:Engineers, of See also:Mechanical Engineers, and of See also:Electrical Engineers). 3. School-leaving Examinations.—The faculty of arts in medieval , universities covered ,secondary as well: as higher education in the subjects concerned. The division in arts subjects between secondary and university education has been See also:drawn at different levels in different countries. Thus the first two years of the arts curriculum in See also:English and See also:American universities correspond, roughly speaking, to the last two years spent in a secondary school of Germany or' France, and the See also:continental " school-leaving examinations" correspond to the intermediate examinations of the newer English universities and to the pass examinations for the degree at Oxford and Cambridge (See also:Mark See also:Pattison, Suggestions on Academical Organization, 1868, p. 238, and See also:Matthew See also:Arnold, Higher See also:Schools and Universities in Germany, 1892, p. 2o9). A See also:tabular See also:summary is given (see Tables I., II., III., IV.) of the requirements of the secondary school-leaving examinations of France, Prussia (for the nine-year secondary schools) and See also:Scotland, and of the university of London. There are in England a number of school examinations which, under prescribed conditions, also serve as school-leaving examinations, and give entrance to certain universities, especially the Oxford and Cambridge See also:local examinations (both established in 1858),and the examinations of the Oxford and Cambridge "See also:Joint Board." A See also:movement to reduce the number of entrance examinations and to secure uniformity in their standard was set on See also:foot in 1901. In that year the General Medical See also:Council communicated to the Board of Education a memorial on the subject from the Headmasters' See also:Conference. The memorial was further communicated to various professional bodies concerned. Conferences were held by the consultative See also:committee of the Board of Education in 1903, with representatives of the universities, the See also:Head-masters' Conference, the Association of Head-Masters, the Association of Head-Mistresses, the College of Preceptors, the Private Schools' Association, and with representatives of professional bodies. The committee were of See also:opinion that a central board, consisting of representatives of the Board of Education and the different examining bodies, should be established, to co-See also:ordinate and See also:control the standards of :the examinations, and to secure interchangeability of certificates, &c., as soon as a sufficient number of such bodies signified their willingness to be represented on the board. They recommended that the examination should be conducted by external and internal examiners, representing in each See also:case the examining body and the school See also:staff respectively, and that reports on the school work of candidates should be available for reference by the examiners (circular of the Board of Education of 12th of July 1904). The " accrediting " system in the United States was started by the university of See also:Michigan in 1871. A school desiring to be accredited is submitted to inspection without previous See also:notice. If the inspection is satisfactory, the school is accredited by a university for from one to three years, and upon the favourable report of its principal any of its students are admitted to the university by which it has been accredited without any entrance examination. In practice it is found that many students whom their teachers refuse to certify are able to pass the university entrance examination. The See also:statistics of nine years show that the standard of the certified students is higher than that of non-certified students. Two hundred and fifty schools are accredited by the university of Michigan. In 1904 it was stated that the system was gaining favour in the See also:east,' and that it had been adopted more or less by all the eastern colleges and universities with the exception of Harvard, Yale, See also:Princeton and See also:Columbia.
4. Methods of Examination.—Examinations may test (i.) knowledge, or, more exactly, the power of restating facts and arguments of a kind that may be learnt by rote; (ii.) the power
' See E. E. See also: 164), and T. See also:Gregory See also:Foster and H. R. Reichel, Report of Mosely Educational Commission (1904), pp. 117-119 and 288-289.of doing something, e.g. of making a precis of a written document, of See also:writing a See also:letter or a report on a particular subject with a particular object in view, of translating from or into a foreign See also:language, of solving a mathematical problem, of criticizing a passage from a literary work, of writing an See also:essay on an See also:historical or literary subject with the aid of books in a library, of diagnosing the malady of a patient, of analysing a chemical mixture or See also:compound; and (the highest form under the See also:rubric) of making an See also:original contribution to learning or science as the result of See also:personal investigation or experiment. Examinations are carried out at present by means of (1) written papers; (2) oral examinations; (3) practical, including in medicine clinical, tests; (4) theses; or a See also:combination of these. In written examinations the candidates are, as a rule, supplied with a number of printed questions, of which they must See also:answer all, or a certain proportion, within a given time, Written. varying, as a rule, from 1 z to 3 See also:hours, the latter being the duration most generally adopted for higher examinations in England. Whereas in France and Germany the questions are generally few in number and require See also:long answers, showing constructive skill and mastery of the See also:mother-tongue on the part of the candidates, such "essay-papers" are comparatively rare in England. In many subjects, the written examinations test memory rather than capacity. It has been suggested that sets of questions to be answered in writing should as a rule be divided into two parts (i.) a number of questions requiring See also:short answers and intended to test the range of the candidate's knowledge; (ii.) questions requiring long answers, intended to test its See also:depth, and the candidate's See also:powers of co-ordination and reflection. A necessary See also:condition for the application of the second kind of test is that time should be given for reflection and for rewriting, say one-third or one-See also:quarter of the whole time allowed. A further distinction is important, especially in such subjects as mathematics or foreign languages, in which it is legitimate to ask what precise power on the part of a candidate the passing of an examination shall signify. Owing to a prevailing confusion between tests of memory and tests of capacity, the See also:allowance for See also:chance fairly applied to the former is See also:apt to be unduly extended to the latter. In applying tests of memory, it may be legitimate to allow a candidate to pass who answers correctly from 30 to 50% of the questions; such an allowance if applied to a test of capacity, such as the performance of a sum in addi tion, the See also:solution of triangles by means of trigonometrical tables, or the See also:translation of an easy passage from a foreign language, appears to be irrational. A candidate who obtains only 5o% of the marks in performing such operations cannot be regarded as being able to perform them; and, if the examination is to be treated as a test of his capacity to perform them, he should be rejected unless he obtains full marks, less a certain allowance (say to, or at most 20%) in view of the more or less artificial conditions inherent in all examinations. The oral examination is better suited than the written to discover the range of a candidate's knowledge; it also serves as a test of his powers of expression in his mother- oral. tongue, or in a foreign language, and may be used (as in the examination for entrance to the See also:Osborne See also:Naval College) to test the important qualities (hardly tested in any other examinations at present), readiness of wit, See also:common-sense and See also:nerve. It may be objected that candidates are heavily handicapped by nervousness in oral examinations, but this objection does not afford sufficient ground for rejecting the test, provided that it is supplemented by others. Oral tests are used almost invariably in medical examinations; and there is a growing tendency to make them compulsory in dealing with modern languages. Oral examinations are much more used abroad than in England, where the pupils during their school years receive but little exercise in the See also:art of consecutive speaking. The laboratory examination may be used in subjects like physics, chemistry, See also:geology, See also:zoology, See also:botany, See also:anatomy, See also:physiology, to test powers of manipulation and knowledge of experimental methods. In some cases (e.g. in certain honours I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Name of Minimum Age Length of Course Subjects. with Examiners. Nature of Examination and Examination. for Entry. of Study. . Teaching. General Remarks. Abilurienten Age only limited 9 years. In Gymnasium. The object of the ex- The Examining Board The written examination Examen by condition of German csy, amination is defined consists of a govern- extends over four or five (established in courseofschool Candidates who Mathematics. as being a test of See also:meat inspector (der days. Only one See also:paper is have not for at- x788). course. The Translation into Latin. whether the candi- Knnigliche Kmnrnis- given each day, which usual age is tended the 9 Translation from See also:Greek into date has fulfilled the sae) acting as chair- 3 t0 51 hours are allowed years' school aims laid down in the See also:man, the headmaster (Si hours for the German r7 .8. course may be w German. curricula, &c., pre- of the school, and the essay). For essays in admitted to the 'Latin. scribed for a Gym- teachers of the high- foreign languages diction- examinationon Greek. nasium, Real-gym- est classes in the See also:aries may be used. s p e c i a 1 a p- English or French. nasium or Ober-real- school. The inspector plication. See also:Religion. schnle, as the case may nominate a History. may be, and the sub- See also:deputy, who is, as a Mathematics. jects of examination rule, the headmaster In Real-Gymnasium. are those prescribed of the school. in the curricula for Each teacher See also:con- . d essay. the kind of school cerned selects for the Mathematics. concerned. written examination Translation from Latin. The report on the three alternative sub- 'Pranslation from German into, school work of each jests in his See also:branch , or essay in, English or French. candidate in his from which, after Physics. various subjects is receiving a report Latin. laid before the Exam- thereon from the English. ining Board before headmaster, the in- French. the beginning of the Spector makes a final Physics or Chemistry. examination. choice. 0 Religion. The papers are History. marked by the Mathematics. teachers concerned, In Ober-Realschule. and circulated to the whole Board of Ex- German essay. aminers, who then Mathematics. decide whether in- An exercise in French and in 7-1 English (• an essay in one Ian- shall be e (i.) candidates guage and a translation from shall rejected, ed, (ii.) with other into German). oraxe lionf from the Physics or Chemistry. eaminaatition, oral l examination, xor o of English. (iii.) submitted to the French. oral examination. Physics. • `~ Chemistry. O Religion. History. Mathematics. L II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Name of Minimum Age Length of Course Subjects Co-ordination with Examiners. Nature of Examination and Examination. for l.ntry. of Study. . Teaching. General Remarks. Baccalaurcal de Part I., 16, or, 'There is no re- Part I. is divided into four Branches, The See also:syllabus of the ex- The Board of Exam- The written portion of See also:Pease ignemenl with special quirement of viz.:— amination is that pre- iners (or "See also:jury") Part I. extends over secondaire. permission, 15. attendance. (i) Latin-Greek. scribed for the higher consists of (i.) Uni- from 9 to ro hours in This examina- Part II. may not Part I. of the (a) Latin-modern languages, classes in the Gov- versify examiners all (not on a single day), See also:lion has been be takenic examination (3) Latin-science. ernment secondary being members of a in periods of 3 or 4 hours corresponds See also:ea- schools, faculty of letters or each; the written See also:onion carried on a n See also:academic xctly to the (4) Science-modern languages. The candidate may faculty of sciences; p different after pa, Branch is of Part II. extends over under In each the examination forms since year subjects taken divided into two parts, viz. written submit his lmeet (ii.) s e c o n d a r y from 6 to 9 hours. The See also:ing Part I. in the "second scnlaire, or school teachers, active or oral examination for each 18o8. The re!- See also:cycle"ofsecon- and oral. The nature of the ex- record, which will be retired, selected by part lasts i See also:hour on the ulati sum- daryeducation, amination may be indicated by taken into See also:account. the See also:minister of public See also:average, and is public. marred here and Part II, to the following requirements in instruction. T h e mariced date from iIh the rlasse de Branch (0:— Board consists of when the plcilosophie d from four to six ex- ba real and classe de (i.) French See also:composition. aminers, of whom, described d re- m h a- (ii.) Translation from Latin. when the number is a L m placed t h e (iii.) Translation from Greek. baccalaurraf- ligiaes. even, See also:half are chosen es-Icllres, See also:bar- See also under V. (i.) Explanation of a Greek from either See also:category. cala areal - es- See also:text. '.. sciences, and (ii.) Explanation of a Latin baccalaurfaf text. de l'enseiene- (iii.) Explanation of a French meat moderne. O Branches, (i) quirements (z) text. The (iv.) Test in a modern foreign be language. d (v.) Interrogation on See also:ancient .10 J history. 5 (vi.) Interrogation on modern G history. (vii.) Interrogation on geo graphy. (viii.) Interrogation on mathe- matics. (ix.) Interrogation on physics. Part II. is divided into two viz.: Philosophy. Mathematics. nature of the examination may indicated by the following re- in Branch (r) : ( (i.) An essay in French on a philosophical subject. L (ii.) An examination in See also:physical and natural science. (i.) interrogation on philosophy and philosophical writers. (ii.) Interrogation on contem- porary history. (iii.) Interrogation on physical science. (iv.) Interrogation on natural science. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Name of Minimum Age Length of Course Subjects. Co-ordination with Examiners. Nature of Examination and Examination. for Entry. of Study. Teaching. General Remarks. Scottish school- 17 on See also:rat of Janu- 4 years. Candidates must pass in four subjects Schools are inspected. The examiners are ap- The examination consists leaving exam- ary following on the higher grade standard, or and the course of pointed by the See also:Scot- of a written examination inatio¢ (estab- the year in in three subjects on the higher instruction must be tish Education De- and an oral examination, lished 1888). which the can- grade standard and two on the approved by the Scot- partment. on which stress is laid. (See pamphlet didate passes See also:lower. A pass in See also:drawing is See also:fish Education De- . The length of the ex- on the "Leav- the last of the accepted in lieu of one of the two partment, but the amination varies with the ing Certificate written exam- lower grade passes. A pass in examinations are con- subjects selected. The Examination " inations. Gaelic is reckoned as a pass on the ducted by external periods of examination issued by the lower grade. All candidates must examinerswith whom vary from r to xi hours. Scottish Edu- have passed in higher English and teachers are not If the candidate selects cation Depart- in either higher or lower grade associated. on the higher grade, ment, 1908.) mathematics. The remaining sub- English, Latin, mathe- jects may be either science with matics, and French, the one or more languages (Latin, examination extends over Greek, French, German, See also:Spanish, r9i hours. or See also:Italian), or languages only. But where two or more languages other than English are taken, the candi- date's See also:group must include either higher or lower grade Latin. A pass in Spanish, Italian, or science (in which subjects there is only one examination) is reckoned as a pass on the higher grade standard. I. II. See also:Ill. IV. V. VI. VII. Name of Minimum Age Length of Course Subjects. Co-ordination with Examiners. Nature of Examination and Examination. For Entry. of Study. Teaching. General Remarks. School examina- The minimum The curriculum Pupils must satisfy the examiners Schools under approved The examiners are The examination extends tion,matricula- age of entry of each school in not less than five subjects, as inspection,andcourse ordinarily those ap- over at least 18 hours, tion standard is 15, but if the is considered follows:— of instruction ap- pointed by the and includes an oral ex- (established in candidate is ,on its own ~1) English. proved by the Uni- University for the amination , in modern 1902). under ie he merits. x) Elementary mathematics. versify. See also:ordinary matricula- languages. Note—A higher must remain at 3) Latin, or elementary See also:mechanics, The papers are tion examination. school -leaving school until he or elementary physics — See also:heat, ordinarily set on the certificate is is rt years of See also:light and See also:sound, or elementary y awarded to age in order to chemistry, or elementary botany, matriculation sylla- pupils who(i.) be qualified for or general elementary science. bus, but papers have pursued theschool-leav- (4) and (5) Two of the following specia 1pers may an approved ing certificate, subjects, neither of which has y set more course of study and cannot be already been taken under See also:section closely in accordance fora period of registered as the (3). ILatin be not taken, one with the school for a at a student of the of the other subjects selected curriculum provided s c h o o l o r University an- must be another language, either that the syllabus pro- schools under r i I h e has ancient or modern, from the posed is approved by inspection ap reached that list, and languages other than the University as at proved by the 8ge• those included in the list may least equivalent to University; be taken if approved by the that for which it is and (ii.) being University, provided that the substituted. matriculated language is included id the students, have See also:regular curriculum : — Latin, passed the Greek, French, German, ancient higher school history, modern history, history examination" and geography, physical and in at least three general geography, logic, geo- subjects at one metrical and mechanical draw- and the same ing, mathematics (more ad- examination. vanced), elementary mechanics, elementary chemistry, elemen- tary physics- - heat, light and sound elementary physics See also:electricity and See also:magnetism, ele- mentary biology—botany, ele- mentary biology—zoology, gen- eral elementary science (chem- istry and physics). examinations) the examination may be prolonged over one or more days, and may test higher powers of investigation. But Prad>caL such powers can only be fully tested by the perform- ance of original work, under conditions difficult to fulfil in the examination See also:room or laboratory. At the French examinations for the prix de See also:Rome the candidates are required to execute a See also:painting in a given number of days, under strict supervision (en loge). In medicine the clinical examination of a patient is a test carried out under conditions more nearly approaching those of actual work than any other; and distinction in medical examinations is probably more often followed by distinction in after See also:life than is the case in other examinations. For the doctor's degree (where this is not an honorary distinction) a thesis or dissertation is generally, though not in-Thesis variably, variably, required in England. Of recent years the thesis has been introduced into lower examinations; it is required for the master's degree at London in the case of internal students, in subjects other than mathematics (1910);both at Oxford and London, the B.Sc. degree, and at Cambridge the B.A. degree, may be given for See also:research, although the number of students proceeding to a degree in this way is at present relatively small. In certain of the honours B.A. and B.Sc. examinations at Manchester and Liverpool, candidates may take the written portion of the examination at the end of the second year's course of study and submit a dissertation at the end of the third year. Theses are generally examined by two or more specialists. 5. Competitive Examinations.—The arrangement of students in order of merit led naturally to the use of examinations not only as a qualifying but also as a selective test, and to the offering of See also:money prizes (including exhibitions, scholarships and fellowships) on the results. In 1854 selection by examination as a method of appointment to posts in the English public service was first substituted for the patronage system, which had caused See also:grave dissatisfaction (see See also:Macaulay's speech on the subject, The Times of the 25th of See also:June 1853). The first public competitive examination for the Royal Military Academy, See also:Woolwich, took See also:place in 1855, and in 1870 the principle of open competition for the civil service was adopted as a general rule. (For further details see CIVIL SERVICE.) In the See also:Wurttemberg civil service candidates are admitted to a year's See also:probation after passing a theoretical examination, at the conclusion of which they must pass an examination of a more practical character (A. See also:Herbert, See also:Sacrifice of Education ..., 1889, p. III). In the See also:award of scholarships, &c., it should be definitely decided whether the scholarship is to be awarded (I) for attainment, in which case the examination-test pure and See also:simple may suffice, or (2) for promise, in which case personal See also:information and a curriculum vitae are necessary. To take a simple instance: a candidate partly educated in Germany may obtain more marks in German at a scholarship examination than another who is more gifted, but whose opportunities have been less; the question at once arises, are the examiners to take the circumstances of the candidate into account or not ? It is understood that at the colleges of the older universities such circumstances are considered. It must again be decided whether the See also:financial circumstances of candidates are to be taken into account; are scholar-See also:ships intended as prizes, or as a means of enabling poor students to obtain a university education ? In some cases wealthy students have been known to return the emoluments of scholar-ships. It many universities of the United States there is a definite understanding that emoluments shall only be accepted by those needing them. It would not be difficult to ask candidates to make a confidential See also:declaration on this subject on entrance and to establish in Great See also:Britain a tradition similar to that of the United States, and steps in this direction have been taken both at Oxford and Cambridge (See also:Lord Curzon of Kedleston, University Reform, p. 86). A special allowance may be made for age. In certain scholar-ship examinations held formerly by the London See also:County Council a percentage was added to the marks of each candidate proportionate to the number of months by which his age fell short of the maximum age for entry. The whole subject of entrance scholarships at English schools and universities, and especially their tendency to produce premature specialization, has recently been much discussed. 6. The Organization and Conduct of Examinations.—The organization and conduct of examinations, in such a way that each candidate shall be treated in precisely the same way as every other candidate, is a complex See also:matter, especially where several thousand candidates are concerned. The greatest precautions must be taken to ensure the secrecy of the examination papers before the examination, and the effective See also:isolation of individual candidates during the examination. The super-See also:vision should be adequate to remove all temptation to copying. The hygienic conditions should be such as to reduce the See also:strain to a minimum. The question of the See also:mental fatigue produced by examinations has been studied by certain German observers, but has not yet been fully investigated. 7. Marking, Classification and Errors of Detail.—In applying a single test in a qualifying examination it would be sufficient to mark candidates as passing or failing. But examinations consist as a rule of a number of tests, each one of which is complex; and a mark is recorded in respect of each test or portion of a test in order to enable the examining body to estimate the performance, considered as a whole, of the candidate. At Oxford the marks are not numerical, but the papers are judged as of this or that supposed " class," and various degrees of merit are indicated by the symbols a, 0, y, 6, to which the signs + or — may be prefixed, according as they are above or below a certain standard within each class. At Cambridge, numerical marks are used. The See also:advantage of numerical marks is that they are more easily manipulated than symbols; the disadvantage, that they produce the false impression that merit can be estimated with mathematical accuracy. See also:Professor F. Y. See also:Edgeworth, in two papers on " The Statistics of Examinations " and the " See also:Element of Chance in Competitive Examinations " (See also:Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 1888 and 1890), has dealt withthe subject, although on somewhat limited lines. His investigations show clearly that with candidates near the border-See also:line of failure, which must necessarily be fixed at a given point (subject to certain allowances, where more than one subject is considered), the element of chance necessarily enters largely into the question of pass and failure. The fact may be stated in this way:—the general efficiency of the test being granted, it is true to say that the large majority of those who pass an examination will be See also:superior in efficiency to those who fail; but a few of those who fail may be superior to a few of those who pass. These errors are not See also:peculiar to the examination system, they are inherent in all human judgments. It is necessary to allow for them in considering the failure of an individual candidate as an See also:index of inefficiency. The element of chance, which prevails in the region on either See also:side of the border between pass and failure, obviously prevails equally on either side of the border between " classes," where candidates are classified; it has been suggested by Dr Schuster that numerical order should accompany classification so as to avoid the creation of an artificial See also:gap between the last candidate in one class and the highest in the next. Edgeworth's objection to such an See also:argument is that the number of uncertainties is far less when candidates are classed than when they are placed in ostensible order of merit. The difficulties of comparison of marks are further complicated when students' take different subjects and it is necessary to compare their merit by means of marks allotted by different examiners and added together. In a pass examination the question has to be considered how far, if at all, excellence in one subject shall compensate for deficiency in another, a question which is indeterminate until the precise object of the whole examination is formulated. In the competitive examination for the See also:Indian civil service, places are allotted on the aggregate of marks obtained in a number of subjects selected by the candidate from a list of See also:thirty-two. The successful candidates are compared a year later on the results of another examination in which there is again a choice, though a much more limited one. The order of merit in the two examinations is, as a rule, very different. Two further points may be noted. An examiner may have underestimated the time required to answer the questions which he has set; this will be obvious if .with a large number of candidates (say 300 or 400) none approaches the maximum mark. In this case the maximum should be reduced. Again, it is generally recognized to be undesirable to give marks for a smattering. In order to avoid this various devices are adopted. The simplest is to award a proportion of marks (say to to 15, or even 20%) for " general impression." In some examinations, unless say 20% or more marks are obtained for a particular subject, no See also:credit is given for the paper in that subject. Latham (The See also:Action of Examinations, 1877, p. 490) :describes other numerical adjustments used to meet this difficulty, especially that used in English civil service examinations. The numerical results of the civil service examinations are reduced so as to conform to a certain symmetrical "frequency-See also:curve," of which the abscissae represent percentages of marks between definite limits and the ordinates the number of candidates obtaining marks between those limits. C. E. Fawsitt (The Education of the Examiner, Royal Philosophical Society of See also:Glasgow, 1905) shows that frequency-curves deduced from actual investigation of class-marks are not symmetrical, but have two See also:maxima corresponding to the performance of " non-workers " and of workers." In pass examinations of a well-known character there is a maximum just beyond the pass mark, this being the point of efficiency at which many students aim. 8. The Object and Efficiency of Examinations, and their Indirect Effects.—In order to estimate the efficiency of an examination as a test, the precise question should be asked in each case—what is it intended to test? Much of the evil attributed to, and resulting from, examinations is due to the fact that this question has not been definitely put, and that a test legitimate for certain purposes has been used for others to which it is unsuited. Examinations are suited in the first instance for the purpose for which they were originally designed in medieval universities—the test of technical and professional capacity; it has never been proposed to abolish qualifying examinations for doctors, pharmaceutical chemists, &c.; the tests applied are (or should be) See also:direct tests of capacity carried out under conditions as nearly as possible like those of actual practice. If a student can auscultate correctly, or make up a See also:prescription, at an examination, he will in all See also:probability be able to do so in other circumstances. Examinations as tests of the knowledge of isolated facts are necessarily of relatively small value, because the memory of such facts is transient; and memorization of a large number of facts for examination purposes is generally admitted to be specially transient; the " knowledge-test," considered apart from a test of capacity, is in fact not a test of permanent knowledge, but of the power of retaining facts for a length of time which it is impossible to estimate and which with some candidates extends over a few See also:weeks only. When used as tests of " general culture," examinations, in the view of Paulsen, based on a study of German education, not only *fail in their purpose, but tend to destroy the faculties which it is desired to develop (Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts, ii. 684 et seq.); to prepare ready answers to the numberless questions which an examiner may ask on a large variety of subjects is to paralyse the natural and free activity of the mind (cf. A. C. See also:Benson on the results of English secondary classical education, From a College Window, 3rd ed., 1906, pp. 154-177). If pushed to its logical conclusion the view of Paulsen must, it is submitted, See also:lead to the See also:complete See also:abandonment at examinations of tests of " knowledge as distinguished from direct tests of capacity. Thus isolated questions on details of grammar would disappear from papers on the mother-tongue and on foreign languages, in which the test would consist mainly or entirely of composition and translation. Erudition would be tested by the power of writing, at leisure, a dissertation on some subject selected by the examiners or the candidate or, in the case of a teacher, by the delivery of a lecture on the subject. At the French agregation candidates are given twenty-four hours for the preparation of a lecture of this kind. Such examinations would test the " skill in the manipulation of facts which is the true sign of a trained intelligence " (cf. K. See also:Pearson, " The Function of Science in the Modern State," Ency. Brit. loth ed. xxxii. Prefatory essay). They might possibly be supplemented by easy oral examinations to test both range of knowledge and readiness of .mind. But in the case of a pupil who had passed through a good secondary school it would be as safe to rely for supplementary information under this head on the testimony of his teachers, as it is to rely on their See also:evidence with regard to the fundamental and all-important element on which no examination supplies direct information—personal character.
The See also:main arguments of those opposed to the examination system may be summarized as follows: (i.) Examinations tend to destroy natural interests and exclude from the See also:attention of the pupil all matters outside the purview of the examination (they would not do so if examinations Were so limited in character that preparation therefor could absorb only a fraction of the pupil's time); (ii.) they tend to cultivate a personal See also:judgment where no personal basis of judgment is possible (this argument, directed mainly against the Oxford may system, applies not to examinations in general, but to the character of the subjects set for essays); (iii.) competitive examinations on the See also:home and Indian civil services See also:scheme tend to diffuse mental See also:energy over too many subjects (but see (xviii.) below); (iv.) examinations, especially competitive examinations, tend to become more and more difficult, difficulty being confused with efficiency—this has shown itself with the Cambridge mathematical tripos, in which for years questions of increasing difficulty were set on relatively unimportant subjects, until the examination was reformed (reply: all examinations should he overhauled periodically); (v.) they tend to paralyse the powers of exposition, all statements of knowledge being thrown into a form suitable, not for an uninstructed See also:person, but for one who already possesses it, the examiner (this tendency should be counteracted by definitetraining in composition); (vi.) the See also:sample of knowledge and capacity yielded at an examination is frequently not a See also:fair sample; it is liable to extreme See also:variations in a favourable sense, if the candidate happens to have prepared the precise questions asked; in an unfavourable sense, if the candidate is suffering from misfortune or from accidental ill-See also:health, the latter, owing to the periodic function, occurring much more frequently in the case of women than of men—[the reform of examination methods may remove to a great extent the element of chance in questions set; in a competitive examination it is impossible to allow for ill-health; in a qualifying examination it is difficult to make any allowance unless the examination is definitely conducted in whole or in part by the teachers, and the past record of the candidate is taken into account (cf. Paulsen, The German Universities, pp. 344-345)1; (vii.) examinations of several hundred candidates at a time cannot be rationally conducted so as to be equally fair to the individuality of all candidates; the individual test is the only complete one (it is admitted that examinations on a large See also:scale necessarily involve a margin of See also:error; but this error may be reduced to a minimum, especially by a combination of oral and practical with written work); (viii.) the multiplicity of school examinations required for different reasons produces confusion in our secondary education (there is a growing tendency to admit equivalence of " school-leaving" and entrance examinations; thus entrance examinations of Oxford, Cambridge and London, and the See also:Northern Universities Joint Board are interchangeable under certain conditions); (ix.) the multiplicity of examinations tends to " underselling " (the success of the London examinations in medicine proves that a high standard attracts candidates as well as a low one; possibly intermediate standards may be killed in the competition; it is by no means obvious that a See also:uniform system of examinations would conduce to efficiency); (x.) examinations produce physical damage to health, especially in the case of women-students (on this point more statistical evidence is needed; see, however, Engelmann quoted by G. See also:Stanley See also: (At Oxford and Cambridge many fellowships are now awarded on the results of examination; it is sometimes stated, in defence of this system, that See also:young men can-not be expected to carry out research in classics or philosophy.) On the other See also:hand, the defenders of examinations reply that (xiii.) examinations are necessary in order to test the efficiency of schools to which grants of public money are given (this argument has become somewhat out of date owing to the recent substitution of " inspection " for examination as a test of the efficiency of schools; a combination of inspection and examination is also sometimes used); (xiv.) they serve as a necessary incentive to steady and concentrated work 1 (the reply made to this is that the incentive is a See also:bad one, and that with efficient teachers it is unnecessary); (xv.) they show both student and teacher where they have failed (unnecessary for efficient teachers); (xvi.) though possibly harmful to the highest class of men, they are good for the mass (reply: no system which See also:damages the highest class See also:omen is tolerable); (xvii.) they are indispensable as an impartial means of selecting men for the civil service; (xviii.) in a difficult examination like the first class. civil service examination the qualities of quickness of comprehension, See also:industry, concentration; power of rapidly passing 1 The Oxford commissioners of 1852 reported that " the examinations have become the See also:chief See also:instruments not only for testing the proficiency of the students but also for stimulating and directing the studies of the place " (Report, p. 61). from one subject to another, good health, are necessary for success, though not tested directly, and these qualities are valuable in any kind of work (this appears to be incontrovertible); (xix.) examination records show that success in examinations is generally followed by success in after-life, and the test is therefore efficient (it does not follow that certain rejected candidates may not be extremely efficient); (xx.) as a plea for purely " external examinations," teachers cannot be trusted to be impartial and it is better for a boy to " cram " than to See also:curry favour with his teacher (Latham). The brief comments in brackets, appended above to the arguments, merely indicate what has been said or can be said on the other side. It can scarcely be doubted that in spite of the powerful objections that have been advanced against examinations, they are, in the view of the majority of English See also:people, an indispensable element in the social organization of a highly specialized democratic state, which prefers to See also:trust nearly all decisions to committees rather than to individuals. But in view of the extreme importance of the matter, and especially of the evidence that, for some cause or other (which may or may not be the examination system), intellectual See also:interest and initiative seem to diminish in many cases very markedly during school and college life in England, the whole subject seems to See also:call for a searching and impartial inquiry. Additional information and CommentsBen Wilbrink (1997). Assessment in historical perspective. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 23, 31-48. http://www.benwilbrink.nl/publicaties/97AssessmentStEE.htm George F. Madaus and Laura M. O'Dwyer, (1997). A Short History Of Performance Assessment. Lessons learned. Phi Delta Kappan, May 1999.
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