I'm in my senior year of high school and the all too familiar week of final exams is coming up. This time is extremely stressful for all students. What makes it even more frustrating is that teachers like to cram a lot of major assignments in the week before finals. This really makes it hard for students because they have to study for the final and complete assignments for their class. I have came up with a solution that I believe will be greatly beneficial with everyone involved in high school. My idea goes as follows: if a student is receiving an A in a class they are automatically exempt from taking the final exam. If a student is capable of receiving an A in a class they have proved the understand the material being taught in the class. Also this provides students an incentive to work hard throughout the trimester in order to not have to take the final. I think this idea will increase the work effort of students and teachers will see an increase in A's.
I agree that the week before and during finals is a very stressful time. Many teachers cram either a last minute test right before to sum up the material recently being covered or have a big final project due. It makes it very difficult to focus on finals when so much else is going on. I feel if the student is recieving an A in the class it would make sense that they wouldn't have to take the final. Many students would try harder throughout the trimester. However I don't think that will happen because high school is supposed to prepare you for college and in college many times there is a huge paper due right at the end along with a final. Eventhough it can be a little much it does help teach time management. I wouldn't mind though being excused from finals in classes I'm acing.
ReplyDeleteFinals are very stressful for many students. There is a lot riding on them too. If you get a bad score three months worth of work could possibly be tarnished and your final grade may drop. I don’t know if students with a good grade should be completely exempt from taking a final though. I think the final should be valued less and be 10% of the class rather than 20%. I believe with Jack with the thought that students will put more time and effort into the entire length of the class, if more emphasis is on the body of work, rather than the one hour test you take at the end of the semester. I don’t think school boards will like this idea because finals are also a good indication that you have truly been paying attention. By changing the ways of finals it could reduce stress put on kids and could cause better outcomes in grades.
ReplyDeleteFinals weeks are the most stressful weeks of high school. Reflecting on Jacks point, I do not think that if you have an A you shouldn't have to take the final. I feel like that would be very unfair to rest of the people that got A- and B+ which are still good grades. If that rule was in place i do agree that it would motivate students to pay attention and focus on getting that A. I do agree with Brett that finals should be 10% of your grade rather than 20%. You could be receiving a B or a B+ the whole term and when it comes to finals you just cant remember some of the information from the beginning of the term. This could cause your grade to go down a full grade. I don't think that is fair to the students. Finals are a good way to see if students are paying attention but shouldn't be worth so much of your grade.
ReplyDeleteQuality effort, gentlemen. You might have hyperlinked some text in the above post.
ReplyDeleteGroup blog grade: 9.5/10