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OP-ED: Our finals system is inefficient, inadequate and injurious
by Tatiana Tripp
Op-Ed | 5/20/08
Posted online at 6:34 AM EST on 5/20/08
This, in my opinion, is one of the worst ways finals can be conducted. This structure of final exams, papers and projects that are due by a specific date is bound to be stressful to a majority of students.
Not only are finals stressful, they also often seem to be an awful indicator of learning and knowledge. Cramming for a final may be as efficient for one test-taker as actually learning and studying the material throughout the semester for another. Similarly, some students can easily write the multitude of long papers that are piled on them without ever having to know much of anything pertaining to the assignment or even the class.
Not only are large final papers a waste of time for the student who is able to churn out papers quickly without studying the material, they are also a waste of time for the professors and teaching assistants who have to sit around grading paper after paper until, I'm sure, they start to feel like they'd happily scratch their eyes out.
While it's easy to criticize the system, writing about how it's fairly useless and unduly stressful, it's a bit harder to find a real solution that works. I doubt that students would be happy if, after a semester of diligent studying and restudying, they did not get to demonstrate the application of all their new skills.
I just don't believe that a final exam or paper is a pertinent demonstration of all this learning. My suggestion is a one-on-one discussion of the coursework with the professor or TA?for the amount of time it would have otherwise taken to grade a paper or exam. However easy it may be for some people to make their work sound persuasive on paper without ever really having to know what they're talking about, it is a lot harder to conjure up that same persuasive character in an in-person discussion.
Grades-for which I have separate criticisms-would be given in a holistic sense rather than having to do with percentages and assignments. Hopefully, this would lessen the stress of a final assignment that may comprise half of a student's grade. This said, I am optimistic that by the time this article is published, I will finally be finished with my papers and feel much less frustrated with the whole finals system-until next year.
The writer is a member of the Class of 2010.
Not only are finals stressful, they also often seem to be an awful indicator of learning and knowledge. Cramming for a final may be as efficient for one test-taker as actually learning and studying the material throughout the semester for another. Similarly, some students can easily write the multitude of long papers that are piled on them without ever having to know much of anything pertaining to the assignment or even the class.
Not only are large final papers a waste of time for the student who is able to churn out papers quickly without studying the material, they are also a waste of time for the professors and teaching assistants who have to sit around grading paper after paper until, I'm sure, they start to feel like they'd happily scratch their eyes out.
While it's easy to criticize the system, writing about how it's fairly useless and unduly stressful, it's a bit harder to find a real solution that works. I doubt that students would be happy if, after a semester of diligent studying and restudying, they did not get to demonstrate the application of all their new skills.
I just don't believe that a final exam or paper is a pertinent demonstration of all this learning. My suggestion is a one-on-one discussion of the coursework with the professor or TA?for the amount of time it would have otherwise taken to grade a paper or exam. However easy it may be for some people to make their work sound persuasive on paper without ever really having to know what they're talking about, it is a lot harder to conjure up that same persuasive character in an in-person discussion.
Grades-for which I have separate criticisms-would be given in a holistic sense rather than having to do with percentages and assignments. Hopefully, this would lessen the stress of a final assignment that may comprise half of a student's grade. This said, I am optimistic that by the time this article is published, I will finally be finished with my papers and feel much less frustrated with the whole finals system-until next year.
The writer is a member of the Class of 2010.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Miles
posted 5/20/08 @ 10:14 AM EST
Basically you're proposing to change the grading system from something objective (a test or paper) to something subjective (based on the professor's personal opinion of your "interview" or whatever). (Continued…)
Bekah
posted 5/23/08 @ 11:03 PM EST
I've never found finals particularly stressful. If you keep up during the semester, it's not usually that excruciating. Perhaps some extra flexibility in terms of scheduling could be helpful (if, for instance, you have 4 finals over 2 days), but the final itself is not usually much more difficult than the tests, papers, etc over the semester. (Continued…)
Grow Up
posted 7/03/08 @ 3:19 PM EST
Seriously. Yes, finals are hard. But you've been working in a system like this since middle school-- you know if you're the kind of person who gets stressed out by finals, and if you can't adjust your study/work schedule to accommodate this, you've got nobody to blame but yourself. (Continued…)
xs3
posted 7/07/08 @ 1:23 PM EST
Bekah I havent got your point of discussion here about 4 finals over 2 days, that must be exausting. Plz will you explain it more clearly.
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