The career advantage of practical assessments over exams
When you start your degree, you will be introduced to a list of assessments that will make up your final mark and it will probably be a combination of exams and practical coursework.
Exams are typically written or oral assessments that test your knowledge of a subject by answering questions or performing tasks under a time constraint. You’ll need to recall a lot of factual knowledge or demonstrate an understanding of complex concepts.
Practical assessments are a variety of projects and activities that evaluate your learning in applied ways. Its main purpose is to enhance research skills, broaden knowledge and provide opportunities to apply theory to practical outcomes such as simulations or role-plays.
Exams and practical assessments each have their benefits, but practical assessments can better develop the knowledge and skills that graduates need for their future career.
Types of practical assessments
Practical assessments come in a wide variety of formats including:
Academic and written assessments - essays, industry reports, case studies and research proposals
Practical and applied assessments – skills-based tasks, lab work, business simulations, pitch presentations, projects tied to real business issues, developing strategic plans
Group work and collaboration - group presentations, team projects, peer evaluations
Oral and interactive assessments - individual presentations, speeches, performances, role-plays of business scenarios
Capstone & Industry projects - capstone projects that integrate all learning, industry consulting projects, internships
Benefits of practical assessments
1. Learning over memorising
Practical assessments reward understanding of the course material and focuses on critical thinking, creativity and the ability to apply your knowledge in practical situations while exams reward rote memory, which is the ability to retain and recall a large volume of content.
In practical assessments, you have more time to research a variety of resources, try different strategies and ask for help; giving each student an equal and fairer chance to prove themselves. This reflects the real work environment where people use different resources such as financial reports or customer feedback to develop and test different strategies.
2. Real-world relevance and application
Practical assessments give you opportunities to apply theory to real-world scenarios, build confidence from repeated practice (as opposed to one-off tests) and develop essential soft skills such as problem-solving, collaboration and decision-making.
Practical coursework such as industry projects, work-integrated learning and academic internships help you develop the knowledge, skills and abilities to adapt and thrive in real work environments. They can also be listed as achievements in your resume; enhancing your employability.
At Kaplan Business School, there are no formal exams but practical assessments that address real-world challenges and develop job skills. For example, in our Master of Business Analytics, assessments include creating data analysis reports using tools such as R or Python, applying the use of machine learning models, creating data visualisations to explain complex data to non-technical audiences, solving industry problems using real datasets and scenario-based tasks where students act as analytics consultants.
Exams can encourage study discipline, time management, focus and resilience under a short time constraint which are important skills in high-intensive jobs. However, most job roles rarely involve recalling or reciting many facts under time pressure nor will you be expected to be all-knowing or work in isolation. In real business environments, you will work in teams and use different resources and technologies to explore, create, problem-solve and present. Technical or hard skills are important, but employers today place a higher value on skills and work experience.
Many large organisations use practical assessments in their recruitment process to evaluate a candidate’s real-world skills and suitability for the job (in addition to a qualification). They include:
Google – coding quizzes, project work
IBM – skills-based assessments (e.g. coding), group exercises
Unilever – online games that assess concentration and memory, job-related scenarios
Apple – group projects, role-play exercises, case studies
“Assessments should inspire students, nurture their skills and prepare them for the complexities of the modern world – not limit their potential or reduce them to a single score.”
~ Dr Peter Dry, Chief Vision Officer, the PDL Group
3. Reduced anxiety, increased motivation
Exams can cause high stress and performance anxiety which are barriers to learning and creativity. Not every person can remember and recall large volumes of content under pressure within a short time constraint, especially knowing that your result in the final exam determines whether you graduate or not. Practical assessments create a more interactive and engaging environment that can enhance your knowledge, soft skills, confidence and self-esteem.
4. Personalised and active learning
Teachers can choose from a wide variety of practical assessment types to personalise learning experiences for their class. They could use case studies, role-plays and group presentations to cater for different learning styles. Practical coursework promotes active learning – doing, discussing, creating – rather than passively absorbing information and provides you with the flexibility to express your views and opinions and explore different areas of interest that are relevant to your career goals.
5. Continuous and holistic evaluation
Exams test your knowledge at one point in time while practical assessments evaluate your progress over time. As practical coursework comes in a variety of formats, it allows teachers to assess the full range of your capabilities, strengths and weaknesses and overall academic performance. In the workplace, your performance and value will not be judged by one or two points in time but by over the course of our employment. Your yearly performance appraisal would not just be about your technical knowledge but also your achievements, strengths, areas of improvement and ways to fulfil your next career goal.
Current outlook
Although practical assessments provide greater benefits for career preparation, exams will continue to be a big part of a student’s final grade. This is due to social and government expectations, the need for ranking and accreditation and testing a student’s theoretical and practical knowledge (and not paraphrasing AI responses). Exams also allow universities to assess many students in a short time.
Today, there is a greater focus by schools and universities on practical assessments that focus on developing key skills and real-world applications. Practical assessments prioritise skills over marks, understanding over rote learning and academic and personal growth over final performance with the goal of producing graduates who are not only knowledgeable but also adaptable, resilient and prepared for their future career.
At KBS, there are no final exams. Our preference is to design practical assessments that reflect the real-life activities you’ll be expected to perform at your future workplace. Learn more reasons to study at KBS and about studying business in Australia.
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