Yesterday at the Managerial Accounting study group we drifted at some point on the subject of how the exam methods are different in various countries. This discussion was prompted by a comment from one of our group members from China. We all found the pecularities of examination modes at college/university level, and even more generally, in our respective countries quite interesting.
- First, the US. The US educational system is permeated with dominance of standardized test. The most notable are standardized testings at secondary school level, standard tests required for college admission, such as SAT and ACT, graduate level test - GRE, and of course, the last but not the least – GMAT, required for MBA admissions by most business schools not only in the US, but around the world. It’s not a surprise that GMAT takes its origins from the US.
At business schools standardized tests in the form of multiple choice exams seem to be quite prevelant too. So far I have had these exams in one way or another in all of my MBA classes at part-time MBA program at GWSB, except for Business Ethics. Sometimes it was a part of a bigger exam, but it was invariably there.
Outside the common educational sphere one of the well known standardized tests around the world is the IQ test, also originated from the US. Another area of wide application of standardized tests is professional certifications: IT certifications probably take the central stage here with all those credentials sponsored by Microsoft and the likes.
- Our group mates from China mentioned about Chinese examination system. In their experience the written tests are more common there. But the most amazing thing for me was the students’ approach to those tests. They said that in written exam you “write everything that crosses your mind, and let professor choose the right answer”. I think it is common among students in any country to try to put as much as possible into their answer and see what flies. But curious part about Chinese exam approach was that it sounded like it was a cultural norm and expectation on both side: the eximiner and the examinee. I specifically liked the part “let professor ch0ose the answer”.
- Russian eximination system at undegraduate level is characterized by dominance of oral tests. At the very least it was especially true in liberal arts disciplines until very recently. Oral exams was bread and butter of the Soviet higher education and has been mostly transfered to the modern Russian educational system. One of my acquaintances from Russia told me how she was able to “talk her way out” at the exams in medical school when she was fuzzy on the subject matter of the question. Pretty much the same principle of saying everything you know that is remotely connected to the question or to the subject and waiting to see what sticks. Professors often try to help students by giving them (in)direct hints to eventually lead the student to the right answer or its resemblance. Depends on how unprepared the student is for the exam.
Adoption of the standardized tests has been happenning slowly in Russia in the recent years. The most remarkable is the introduction of so-called “Uniformed State Exam” for the high school graduates, which can be roughly compared to SAT/CAT tests in that it is going to be accepted as the college admission test. However there is an ongoing struggle going around this exam on various levels of the Russian society due to the actual or perceived shortcomings of its development and execution.
I found this pecularities of examination systems quite interesting. Especially to learn about the Chinese practices, as the other two I have known already. But in Russia, may be less so in China, there is another factor that influences the examination system – bribery. It was present, though on a much smaller scale in the Soviet times. Now it seems to be more blatant and rampant. Here is the video I watched on CNN.com recently about this:
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