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As it gets closer to the end of the semester, I start to get more
questions concerning final exams. The most common question is, “What do you
think about allowing students to earn exemptions from finals?”
Overall, I think the practice is counter-productive and should not
occur.
Exemptions are generally granted for two reasons, either to encourage
students to attend class and/or to do all of their work to maintain a high
grade. Many teachers swear that the incentive works in both cases.
However, in spite of the bump to attendance and grades that exemptions
may provide, they are bad practice. The primary purpose of a test or assessment
is to provide objective instructional data to staff. A final exam provides this
data for an entire course (or semester). But if significant numbers of students
are exempted from the exam, the data provided is suspect at best. Which would
lead me to believe that the staff isn’t using final exam data for instructional
purposes. So why exactly are the final exams being administered?
Which means that the real question should be, “Do we give a final exam
or not?”
If the exam data isn’t being used to inform course level instructional
decisions, don’t give one. If the data is being used, make sure that the data
set represents the entire class. Then find other ways to encourage students to
come to class and turn in their work.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
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