Unseen examination
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In the United Kingdom, an unseen examination is an essay test in school or college, where the student does not know what questions are going to be asked in advance.<ref name="Spencer">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The student is required to answer questions based upon what they have learned over the course of their academic study.
In contrast, in a seen examination the questions have been made available to the student prior to examination.<ref name="Lincoln">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Spencer"/> A study by Joseph K. Wireko (2015) at Ghana Technology University College found that students felt more confident and less stressed when preparing for seen exams compared to traditional unseen exams. This reduction in anxiety led to better performance and a more positive learning experience.<ref> Wireko, J. K. (2015). Does seen examination promote “deep” or “surface” learning? Pedagogical reflections on using seen examinations for student learning feedback. The Business and Management Review, 6(5), 60-67.</ref>
The vast majority of UK undergraduate exams in all fields, such as law<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and psychology,<ref name="Spencer"/> are unseen examinations. Unseen examinations are favoured for their inherent protection against plagiarism,<ref name="Booth"/> and their potential to develop students' ability to handle pressure and time constraints.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, they have been criticised for causing anxiety and stress in students,<ref name="Booth">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> for negatively impacting motivation and the depth of learning experiences,<ref name="Brown">Template:Cite book</ref> and for unfairly favouring students who happen to be particularly skilled at unseen written exams as opposed to other assessment methods.<ref name="Brown"/>