On Finals

Q: Should I give a final project or a final exam?

Douglas: Oh definitely. But a final exam or project shouldn't be a rote exercise of showing "knowledge;" it isn't a display of simple memorization. It should be an opportunity for synthesis and new learning. In other words, a final exam or project should stretch students to apply the knowledge and skills they've learned in new ways. Give them something they've never seen before (a different type of math problem, or a new essay, or an unfamiliar historical dilemma) that uses everything you've taught and have them work it out with everything they've learned.

That's a real assessment of understanding.


Moses: One of the teachers who is a hero of mine once said 'make it possible for everyone to succeed'. I often make my tests too hard, trying to uphold the standards of my subject area and push the kids who are grasping it well. And I don't think those are bad things, but every so often I think you've got to make sure that every student feels like the time and energy they've put in have been worth it in some way. And I think the final is a great time to do that. The assessment shouldn't be so straightforward that students are able to do well without having taken the class, or without putting in time/energy...but I am feeling today like it should leave them feeling good about this whole process called physics.

So, in the end, I am planning to give them a cumulative test that asks them to do the things I feel are most fundamental to physics. Can they explain how we know the mass of the sun? Can they predict where a ball will land if thrown in such and such a way? Can they wrestle with why, in reality, it doesn't land there? I plan to tell them up front many of the things that will be on the test, too. (To my students who are reading this: I don't care that you know what's going to be on the final! ha!).

The real benefit of a cumulative assessment is what goes into getting ready for the assessment. I've considered telling them about the final, helping them prepare but working with them as they did to keep things in perspective - have you learned how to prepare? Do you know what sorts of holes you need to fill? Look how much you know already! Tests are just another type of assessment, etc. etc. - and then not giving them a final. That feels like too much of a misuse of their trust, and so I'm not going to do it...but in the end, if the kids are putting themselves into the final I don't really care what their score is. Yes, it is important to me that they have learned physics, but they've already showed me that in the previous 179 days (or however many) way more than they can show me in the 1 last one.

It's occurring to me as I write that a lot of my opinions about finals has to do with whether or not there is time and energy for quality reflection. If the final test or presentation is on the last day you'll see them before the summer, the assessment will be very different than if you will see them again to hand back their work and reflect on it with them. I think if there's time to reflect, then it becomes much more like all other assessments; if not, you need to think about how to make the experience of _doing_ the final, or preparing for it, the point (as opposed to the quality of what they do, which they may never know).

Another wrinkle: I agree with Douglas in theory, but sometimes struggle to devise an assessment that brings things into play cumulatively. As I get to the end of my classes, I'm always faced with not enough time and not enough energy (mine or the kids). So I've started trying to think more broadly about different options for the end of the class. Things like:

- Giving them the final ahead of time (or a list of questions from which the final will be taken)
- A group test...just because
- Just having class up through the end of the year, learning more about more great things
- Having them rework a piece of work from earlier in the year that they didn't feel great about
- Having them devise finals for one another
- Reflecting on the course/their work/their tendencies/learning in general, instead of giving them one more hoop to jump through
- etc.

So I think the answer to the question that it's great to do something but not critical. If you can do something awesome, do something awesome (and know that there are more options for awesomeness than you might realize). If not, it's OK to trust that the kids have learned deeply earlier in the year and that the success of your class doesn't hinge on that last thing.