Reimagining: Final Exam Week

07/05/2021 18 min

Listen "Reimagining: Final Exam Week"

Episode Synopsis

During final exam week, student activities groups across the nation provide experiences that will help reduce student stress. But in this episode, the spotlight is pointed at the high stakes, cumulative exams themselves, and the flurry of late semester assignments that generate these stress loads. Let’s reimagine final exam week. Are traditional final exams really a meaningful and appropriate way to end the academic year or can we create a finale that sends students off in grand style? Let’s consider some alternatives and why we might want to try something new.
 
Articles and web links from the episode:
 
Sleep and Final exam performance
To Study or to Sleep: How Seeing the Effect of Sleep Deprivation Changed Students’ Choices

 
Two-stage exams
Physics Exams that Promote Collaborative Learning

 
Kelly O’Shea’s Collaborative Lab Practicum
 
Epic Finales
Should Colleges Rethink Final Exams in the COVID Era? Some Profs Try 'Epic Finales'
Final Exams or Epic Finales
Experiential Education on the Edge: SETI Activities for the College Classroom

 
Karinda Barrett’s Concept Mapping finale
 
General alternatives to traditional testing
Berkley Center for Teaching and Learning
And many others!