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Personally I've always wanted to see two things in education, or rather one thing in two parts: to be able to verbally "test out" of a written exam or even an entire semester-long class. This can be handled over Skype/Zoom, if need be.

That is, allow students to have a discussion with the professor to see if they know the test material. If so, "great, here's your grade". Same with entire semester classes ("great, here's your 3 credits").

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Why verbally?

Would the ability to take an exam without sitting the course satisfy you?

I would guess that a verbal one-on-one exam would show the professor who understands the material vs who doesn't, but also who actually understands it vs who just used rote memorization.

The latter comparison might end up being a distinction without a difference, as far as grading goes. But, were I the professor, I'd be interested to see how many of my students are understanding the material on a holistic level. This is my bias, though, because I'm way more interested in knowing why something occurred (and its relationship to other events) vs that it occurred on [insert date] and involved [insert individuals].

That sounds like cheating.

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