In a sense, they follow the philosophy of Thomas Kuhn, who said that research scientists are motivated by the desire to solve new puzzles or to solve existing puzzles better than has been done before. However, puzzles do not motivate me. My motivation is that I am constantly unsatisfied with the current state of knowledge, and I don't see why exams can't be geared more closely to students like me who want to do more than just solve puzzles. Exams should be designed to encourage students to show what they can do. It's a horrible feeling to come out of an exam knowing that you haven't been allowed to prove to the examiner what you actually know.
Exams also affect the way students work.
It is generally agreed that you learn better by working at an even pace throughout a course. However, most students would say from personal experience that you get better grades by studying intensively just before an exam. It would, after all, leave a lot less to learn. Students end up being more interested in knowing which topics they don't need to study - instead of wanting to learn as much as they can. The need for critical thinking Most physics exams are designed to test our understanding of the subject.