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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
I can only imagine what the graduating seniors went through these past few weeks knowing that their degrees depended on their doing well and completing everything earlier than the rest of their classmates. But finals period is stressful no matter what your class standing is. The important question to be asking is why finals period should be so lethal-what is it about finals that is so inherently stressful for students?
Stress really is a problem. We hear again and again that stress can be a dangerous thing. It's associated with a good many health problems, both immediate and with respect to the future. For instance, the increased adrenaline that is produced during stressful situations can become addictive, and without it, it's not unusual for depression set in.
Common side effects of stress include a weakened immune system, problems with the heart and arteries, increased production of stomach acid and other generalized health problems. It's by and large understood that too much stress should be avoided, and it seems to me that a week or more of finals and paper-writing and constant cramming can be too much.
If you read the literature, it will tell you that the keys to busting stress during finals are all about studying earlier, getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising and the like. I even received an e-mail before finals about free massages in the Shapiro Campus Center to help deal with the stress. These things, while helpful, I'm sure, don't seem to actually fix anything. Finals, as they are set up now, cause undue stress, which causes serious health problems. Therefore, the current finals system of concentrated deadlines is hazardous to students' health and overall well-being.
Finals, as we all know, include exams, papers and projects. These all have a certain due date. Depending on how understanding your professors are, this due date may or may not be a flexible one. Exams are scheduled for a set time and day, and unless you have a major emergency, it's difficult to reschedule these tests. Each exam period is a three-hour block of time in which the students in the class try to prove, on paper or verbally, that they learned what they should have learned.
Stress really is a problem. We hear again and again that stress can be a dangerous thing. It's associated with a good many health problems, both immediate and with respect to the future. For instance, the increased adrenaline that is produced during stressful situations can become addictive, and without it, it's not unusual for depression set in.
Common side effects of stress include a weakened immune system, problems with the heart and arteries, increased production of stomach acid and other generalized health problems. It's by and large understood that too much stress should be avoided, and it seems to me that a week or more of finals and paper-writing and constant cramming can be too much.
If you read the literature, it will tell you that the keys to busting stress during finals are all about studying earlier, getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising and the like. I even received an e-mail before finals about free massages in the Shapiro Campus Center to help deal with the stress. These things, while helpful, I'm sure, don't seem to actually fix anything. Finals, as they are set up now, cause undue stress, which causes serious health problems. Therefore, the current finals system of concentrated deadlines is hazardous to students' health and overall well-being.
Finals, as we all know, include exams, papers and projects. These all have a certain due date. Depending on how understanding your professors are, this due date may or may not be a flexible one. Exams are scheduled for a set time and day, and unless you have a major emergency, it's difficult to reschedule these tests. Each exam period is a three-hour block of time in which the students in the class try to prove, on paper or verbally, that they learned what they should have learned.
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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