7/26/2017 IELTS Exam Preparation - IELTS Writing Sample #183

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IELTS Writing Sample #183

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Many people believe that formal pen and paper examinations are not the best method of assessing educational achievement.

Discuss this view and give your own opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Exam Tip

Timing is critical in any test or exam. Running out of time leads to underlength essays and essays that are really a set of notes or bullet point. The latter will lead
to the candidate losing points due to poor paragraphing. Although taking a watch into the test will help, it is by practising before the test and improving writing
speed that the candidate will really help themselves. Try to keep a note of how many words you are able to write within a time limit and record how your writing
speed improves with practice.

Sample answer

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 7/26/2017 IELTS Exam Preparation - IELTS Writing Sample #183

Examinations are one of the most common methods of measuring learning in education systems throughout the world. At virtually every stage of the learning process,
exams are used to verify that the learner is ready to move on to the next stage. However, many people believe that the role of examinations should be reconsidered.

There are clearly certain advantages to exams. They help to ensure fairness by imposing the same conditions on all exam candidates. They are also relatively
versatile; different types of exam questions, for example, multiple-choice questions and essay tasks, can test different sorts of reasoning ability. However, exams also
have clear drawbacks. Test-wise candidates can often perform well on exams without having good underlying knowledge or skills. On the other hand, some test-
takers perform poorly in exams simply because of anxiety. Some teachers and learners focus only on those aspects of the curriculum that are likely to be tested, thus
narrowing the educational experience for all.

A number of measures should be taken to address these concerns. Wherever possible, exams should match the content and activities of the learning environment.
Exam tasks should be varied to give fair opportunities to candidates with different types of skills. Other types of assessment should also be considered; assignment
writing, for example, to assess independent learning and research skills, or group projects, to measure teamwork ability.

Exams clearly have a role to play in ensuring proper, objective assessment of achievement. However, exams need to be carefully designed and supplemented with
other forms of assessment if they are to be a truly useful component of the educational system.

(266 words)

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18 Comments IELTS Exam

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Srishti deshlahre 2 months ago

i thought they are talking about computer based exam.
3 Reply Share

Aqib Chishty > Srishti deshlahre a day ago

Yes me too.
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Infas Bin Rahman > Srishti deshlahre 9 days ago

Me too..
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Boshra > Infas Bin Rahman 4 days ago

I have the same interpretation :)
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7/26/2017 IELTS Exam Preparation - IELTS Writing Sample #183

Dev Shah 2 months ago

My interpretation of the question was different. Kindly review and rate my essay (on scale of 10) on the following criteria -
1. task accomplishment
2. grammar usage
3. consistency and coherence
4. vocabulary
-- Thanks.

It has been a topic of heated debate in recent times whether the conventional "pen and paper" examination approach is still effective in judging a student's
abilities. While this approach is quite popular even today, in my opinion, it is obsolete, inefficient and even unfair.

Before the advent of the internet, factual knowledge played a pivotal role in determining the success of an individual. Knowledge was scarce and esoteric. In
this setting, the conventional examination was effective in testing a person's capacity to gather and retain facts. A person scoring higher in examination
meant that they have a larger corpus of information and thereby was more likely to succeed. But with the internet, the landscape changed. Knowledge was
more openly available for everyone and was no longer a bottleneck in driving progress. Instead, the ability to quickly grasp, aggregate and transform novel
information into a viable solution to a problem became the parameter of success. Conventional examination methods are clearly not suited to test a
candidate on such abilities.

Besides being obsolete, the traditional examination is also simulated and under-representative of the problems that typically prevail in the modern work
setting. For instance, on a typical day in my workplace, I am often faced with multiple problems which may vary in terms of required man-hours. I am tested
based on my ability to quickly switch between tasks which may involve a number of domains. In contrast, the traditional exam is linear i.e. the problems are
required to be solved sequentially. Also, all the problems usually involve a single subject. Therefore, the "pen and paper" exam is not appropriate for present
times.

Another crippling aspect of the conventional examination in modern society is that it forces students with varying strengths and interests to compete on the
same parameters. Different students can have different capabilities and it is unfair to expect the same skills from everyone. A person who may be a good
listener, for example, may not necessarily also be a good writer. Testing such a person only on his writing abilities would seriously undermine his strengths
and may cause him to lose confidence. With limited time, people can only be tested on limited skills and therefore, it is important that examinations are more
personalized according to each individual's strengths and inclinations.

Thus, it is clear that the traditional methods of testing are no longer valid. It is important that newer ways of examination are considered and developed which
are more relevant and personalized. Only through better ways of examination can we effectively perform the task of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses
of an individual and therefore allocate occupations fairly and create a better society.
2 Reply Share

Alex Longre > Dev Shah 2 months ago

Hi dev,
Nice essay, but it's hard in IELTS exam, 40mins for 444 words by non-native speaker of English.
Actually requirement of length is just over 250.
1 Reply Share

George Kamau > Dev Shah 2 months ago

Quite commendation mastery and comfortable use of the language.
However, in a discussion question you need present argument for and against.
While concluding, you are ultimately expected and to supported to express your stance. What the writer did here was taking a position and
disregarded the proposition for the subject.
1 Reply Share

Jatin > Dev Shah 2 months ago

Hey dev,
Are you native speaker of English?? It's called perfect task. Your task would score 8 or 8+ easily
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Jerald Fernando > Dev Shah 2 months ago

Great Writing Dev! I would rate 9 as Sumit did
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Sumit Verma > Dev Shah 2 months ago

excellent
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Dev Shah > Sumit Verma 2 months ago

Hi Sumit,
Thanks for your time. How would you score this essay on IELTS band scale?
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Sumit Verma > Dev Shah 2 months ago

hi Dev

I have no idea about the parameters of scoring, still as far as my understanding goes it is 9 on 9. Reasons are usage of words (vocab),

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7/26/2017 IELTS Exam Preparation - IELTS Writing Sample #183

I have no idea about the parameters of scoring, still as far as my understanding goes it is 9 on 9. Reasons are usage of words (vocab),
formation of sentences, flow of the essay, addressing the issue. i am available on + 91 9167792066, we can chat on whats app
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Karthik Chundi a month ago

Educational Acheivement of a person cannot be totally assessed on the theories that written in the exam. Instead, it is dependent mostly on realistic
approach.
"Pen and Paper" examination is a conventional way of assessing an individual, which is confined to both "time to complete the exam" and "number of
questions in an exam".
In contrast, individuals should be tested more on realistic problems which can improve their thinking abilities.
Adding to this,Many of our contemporary great scientists are not great scholars but they were well focused towards achieving their goals.

With the advent of Technology, the institutions has to look in to the better ways of assessing an individual in contrast to the traditional assessing methods. For
example, An
Engineering student in computer science background can be asked to present a blue-print for a real-world problem and exeucte the program in the
programming language in which one finds much interest.
Acheiving results for a real-world problem improves confidence of an individual, but in the conventional approach students will easily get bored of answering
questions in the written exam.

Another concern for the traditional approach is, Time in which students has to complete a fixed number of questions. With this approach, Students can
improve their theortical knowledge. Additionally, with time interval
between each assement is causing the students to have ample to get the theortical knowledge to triumph in the examinations. Traditional assessing methods
will hinder students problem solving techniques.
In order to get through the competition that exists in the current world one should possess great problem-solving techniques instead of theortical knowledge.
Problem-solving techniques cannot be acheived overnight,
it requires lots of practice towards solving realistic problems.

Can any one Rate this?

1 Reply Share

> Karthik Chundi 16 days ago

Where is the conclusion?
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Karthik Chundi > Karthik Chundi a month ago

Not this one
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Boshra 4 days ago

Nowadays there are many methods to evaluate the success of someone in education by using computer instead of the traditional way with pen and paper.
Although there are people who prefer using traditional method instead of the modern one. A lot of examiners think that pen and paper method is not the best
way to examine one's achievement. According to their point of view , assessment by formal method causes wasting of time during the exam and also when
correct the sheets. In addition to that, examiners have a limited number questions to assess students and that may be unfair for both teachers and students
who spend a lot of time during term and they find the exam covers only a few subjects of the material.
On the other hand, testing by modern method bestows examiner and students many benefits. Besides it gives evaluation not only in educational
achievement but also in the awareness and rapidity in responses of students. In addition to that, testing by computer help in saving time. Also, in contrary to
the traditional method by using modern method test paper can cover a lot of subjects and in order to answer questions pupils has to had a good knowledge
of all the subjects. So, it is not easy to answer questions in this method even if they are only in multiple choice as many people think. In contrast, it demands
a hard study of all topics to achieve a good degree.
From my perspective, I prefer the new method because of the previous reasons and also due to my experience as I tried both methods.
Finally, many people find that pen and paper method is good but it is not the best approach to evaluate student's success in education.
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incognito d 2 months ago

Exams has always been the barometer to judge academic success.It remains the most popular means to quantify students knowledge.Newer school of
thought that challenges the validity of this traditional testing method has emerged.In my opinion ,inspite of the skepticism about its validity, the formal
examinations should continue to remain the golden standard for testing.
Reply Share

Mohamed Mohsen 2 months ago

As a matter of fact depending on pen and paper examinations as a method for student educational assessment has attracted a lot of people debates and
arguments. A lot of people actually differed about it. A group of people claims that pen and paper examinations are the best method for assessment while
another group holds a totally different point of view as it believes that everything has been changed over the time. New techniques should be adopted; E
learning, Practical techniques and improving student research. This essay will deal with the two opposite opinions in order to reach the most acceptable one.
On one hand, a group of people assumes that; old way is the best way, using pen and paper examination technique is the most suitable one for assessment
as the relation between student and his pen and paper should be saved. A lot of student love to do examination with the same school tools. Besides it helps
them to focus and make them feel relax during the exam. Next, there is still a barrier for some student to use technology. Furthermore, the exam shall
examine the student ability in the school subject not the student ability in using software or technology.
On the other hand, some people believe that old techniques are not suitable any more for modern life. Knowledge is much more important than learning. E
learning will open the world for student to learn more than what is found in the ordinary books. Then, Relying on the practical experimental methods will

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 7/26/2017 IELTS Exam Preparation - IELTS Writing Sample #183

learning will open the world for student to learn more than what is found in the ordinary books. Then, Relying on the practical experimental methods will
encourage the student to develop themselves. They will never forget what they made using their hands. Moreover, the student's research abilities should be
developed during school years because; labor market competition is so hard. They will be asked for a highly standards criteria.
Finally, I do believe that the old techniques shall be replaced by the new modern one for the mentioned reasons above.
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