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Category: Academia • Science Education
Posted on: March 4, 2008 8:30 AM, by Coturnix
That is what Anne-Marie asked after a week with seven mid-term exams. In a few weeks, she'll have another bunch of exams all at the same time. And then a finals week in May.
This is, obviously, not the most efficient system. So, have you, as a student or a teacher, encountered a better system?
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Comments
Mid-terms and finals are a pretty misguided way of assessing a student's mastery of a subject. It encourages sloth for weeks on end only to be followed by intense cramming. That's not a good way to learn and those are really bad habits us faculty (or former faculty in my case) we foist upon students. In my introductory classes I eliminated mid-terms, substituting them with a short quiz every week or two, and tried to greatly de-emphasize the importance of the final exam.
Having 7-10 unannounced quizzes per semester increased attendance. The quizzes also let the student know from week-to-week how well they were doing in the class.
The final was designed to assess student's knowledge of the most important concepts and facts discussed over the semester.
Posted by: Joe | March 4, 2008 9:43 AM
During my baccalaureate studies I went to a school that had the trimester system. Each term was 11 weeks long. During that time we had a mid-term and final, in addition to anywhere from 2 to 4 smaller test, or project milestones that had to be met.
It worked out well enough from my point of view. I always enjoyed exams as for me it's a massive data dump.
Posted by: Tony P | March 4, 2008 9:44 AM
As a current undergrad, I'd agree with Joe's system, at least for non lab classes. Continuously being tested means you're always staying on top of the material, plus I'm pretty sure that retrieval of information is a good way to help remember it better.
Lab classes can be a bit different. If you already have a lab report due every week, then having a quiz every week or two is apparently just too much stress for us.
Posted by: Corey | March 4, 2008 12:28 PM
I have to agree as a current undergraduate that continuous quizzes (though we hate them) do help us stay current in classes. If every class were doing current quizzes, however, it would be a little too much.
The current system stresses time management in my opinion, which is useful. I had several technical science research essays this semester, the last one of which is due in several days and I am currently procrastinating.
The only suitable change I would make is space: space out the midterms and finals for students. Instead of trying to do all of the exams in two weeks, it might be prudent to stretch it out to three weeks. Alternatively, a shorter semester with fewer courses would allow students to focus more and produce better grades. With shorter semesters, it makes sense to have quizzes periodically. In fact, why make them random or unannounced? It's a great idea to put the quizzes on a set day every week so students know. They're still much less likely to skip the other two days if they know the information will be tested in the short term.
I simply feel a little jerked around if quizzes occur randomly or surprisingly because I'm paying a premium and I'd like to know the product I'm getting. As I said before, I sincerely believe attendence doesn't change if quizzes are announced weekly versus being unannounced and/or sporadic.
Posted by: Victor | April 8, 2008 4:51 PM