My course plan for the semester break usually included three homework assignments per semester.
And since I didn't want to burden my vacation time with exam stress, I often put it off.
A backlog of homework arose until once a year I locked myself in the library for a few weeks and worked away everything.
Today I know: I collected credit points this way, but hardly any knowledge.
I wrote 15 pages about the first democratic efforts in the Old Persian Empire - I can no longer say exactly what they looked like.
Our columnist Ananda Klaar criticizes the current forms of examinations at universities in Germany.
She writes in her new column why exams put a lot of strain on students and why term papers seem outdated in the age of AI.
I hope you enjoy reading
Lukas Hildebrand
, editor of SPIEGEL Start
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Less hard work, more sustainable learning: New forms of examination are needed, demands our author (symbolic image)
Photo: DaniloAndjus / Getty Images
We need new forms of exams - and quickly!:
Pressure, fear, sleepless nights: the exam phase is difficult for many.
For me, it felt like hard work, not like preparation for work and life.
There has to be a better way.
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Entrepreneur Nagel: “Studying can be useful, for example to make contacts and build a network.”
Photo: Private
“I was already an entrepreneur before I knew what that was”:
Almost five percent of German founders do not have a professional qualification, and some ran their first company as students.
Here, five of them tell their stories and say why they don't want to graduate.
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Leadership position and work-life balance: These two things often cannot yet be reconciled.
Photo: Studio Firm / Stocksy United
Nobody wants to be a boss anymore? No wonder!:
Working yourself to death for a little more money and a fancy title?
Fewer and fewer employees are interested in this.
A reason to rethink the concept of “boss”.
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Driving instructor Arslan: “For me, a journey doesn’t end when the engine is off.”
Photo: Private
“Other road users are often annoyed by us”
: Gamze Arslan teaches people how to drive.
Here she tells us how she calms nervous beginners, when tears start rolling down in her car and why she thinks men are better drivers.