470 



SGIENCFj. 



[Vol. IX., No. 223 



the subject which its importance demands ; and 

 the reason for this may be, that the real magni- 

 tude of the effect producible through the agency 

 of these examinations is overlooked ; and this is 

 partly through the simplicity of the agent itself, 

 and partly on account of the difficulty of observ- 

 ing the subsequent effects upon individuals. It is 

 curious to compare the seeming inadequacy of the 

 means employed with the actual vastness of the 

 result. Some dozen or twenty questions are set 

 in each of a few papers once or twice a year, and 

 the whole machinery of education in innumerable 

 schools and colleges is guided at the will and 

 pleasure of the examiner. The instrument placed 

 in his hands is the examination paper, and he can 

 fashion it as he pleases. Any branch of study may 

 be admitted or excluded, and I maintain that it is 

 in the power of the examiner, not only by the 

 selection of questions to give prominence to any 

 particular department of the subject of a paper, 

 but also by judicious apportionment of marks to 

 give weight to certain mental excellences of the 

 candidate over and above the mere exercise of 

 memory and rule of thumb. No doubt a discrimi- 

 nation of this kind is already exercised in some 

 degree : but, in order that such a method of award- 

 ing marks should become practically effective, it 

 would be necessary that a complete understanding 

 should exist between the examiner on the one 

 hand, and the pupil on the other ; for, since all 

 efforts of the candidate, both before and during 

 examination, are certain to be regulated by his 

 idea of what will be likely to pay, it is evident, 

 that, if his notions on this point differ widely from 

 those of the examiner, the best intentions of the 

 latter may be frustrated. As examinations are at 

 present conducted, very little or no information 

 is given about the method of marking adopted. 

 The one fact ever present to the mind of the can- 

 didate is that he has to answer correctly the lar- 

 gest number of questions he can within the allotted 

 time. 



For the sake of illustrating what is, perhaps, 

 the most serious defect in this system of exami- 

 nation against time, let us suppose the case of two 

 students in mathematics, A and B. A is brilliant, 

 but not profound. B is profound, but slow. Six 

 questions being proposed to them on paper, A an- 

 swers them all in one hour, while B only answers 

 four out of the six in the same time. Again, six 

 more advanced questions being set, requiring more 

 original thought, A is unable to answer any one 

 of these, but B answers them all in five hours. 



Now, sujapose A and B to compete for mathe- 

 matical honors at Cambridge, in the old tripos ex- 

 amination. A number of questions of the first sort, 

 all within the scope of A"s ability, are answered 



by him in the allotted time ; B answers two-thirds 

 of that number, and is accordingly beaten by A. 

 The paper probably contains no questions of the 

 second sort, and, even if it did, B would not ven- 

 ture to grapple with them, being deterred by the 

 fear of losing marks, since in the time which the 

 solution of one of these questions would take he 

 would be able to deal with three or four of the 

 easier ones. That such a result would be mis- 

 chievous, will probably be admitted. In the 

 ordinary affairs of life it is rarely of any conse- 

 quence, when a matter is submitted to the judg- 

 ment for decision, whether five or ten or fifteen 

 minutes be occupied in coming to a conclusion. 

 In the higher walks of science it is positively of 

 no consequence whatever, the importance of ar- 

 riving at a truth at all outweighing all considera- 

 tion of the time occupied in the process. As an 

 original investigator, A would be altogether sur- 

 passed by B. Why, then, should a premium be 

 offered to mere rapidity of thought, in preference 

 to any other excellences which might be displayed, 

 in an examination the avowed object of which is 

 to gauge the mathematical abilities of the competi- 

 tors? If such ability as that of A's were usually 

 allied with power, the objection would lose its 

 weight, but the rule is probably the reverse of 

 this : slowness is found allied with iDrofundity and 

 strength, quickness of conception with lack of 

 great mental power. 



Often the real difficulty of a question does not 

 appear on the surface, and much time is frequently 

 wasted in exploring the paper, and in attacking 

 questions vvhichhave to be relinquished when their 

 real difficulty is perceived ; and in this way chance 

 has much to do with the results, for nothing short 

 of a deliberate analysis of the contents of the paper 

 (for which there is not time) would enable the 

 candidate to do himself justice by attacking those 

 questions which alone he would be able to answer 

 in the time allowed. It would also tend to defi- 

 niteness of aim in preparing for any examination, 

 if it were clearly stated by the examiners that 

 marks would be accorded for certain excellences 

 in the style of answ^ering questions, and marks 

 deducted for certain blemishes ; and the more 

 minutely all this could be specified, the less ran- 

 dom would the results become, also the more 

 would the character of that course of education, 

 which it ought to be the sole object of the exam- 

 inations to render perfect, be brought under the 

 influence and direction of the examiners. 



What I wish to insist upon is, that the evils 

 which have been complained of as belonging to 

 the system are not evils inherent in competitive 

 examinations as such, but that they are due, 

 wherever they exist, to accidental imperfections 



