Do Finals Have an Actual Purpose?

As we all know, at the end of every semester students are expected to demonstrate what they have learned over the past four months, and prove that they deserve to pass the classes they have taken. In most classes, a final exam counts more toward a student’s grade than anything else that occurred during the semester. With that in mind, finals are undoubtedly a stressful time for students, but are finals really an accurate measurement of what we’ve learned?

When I think about finals time, I feel that it is absolutely ridiculous to test every student on everything they’ve learned in every class, all at once. It is absurd to think that a student can perform to his or her utmost potential on a test in one course when he or she may be thinking about three or four other tests at the same time. Just the term “finals” sends surges of stress running through students that makes calm and accurate testing almost impossible. So why are finals such an important part of our school system?

I think back on all the classes I’ve taken during my college years, and I realize that not all classes treat finals equally. Some are comprehensive whereas others are just a continuation. Some are actual tests whereas others are culminating projects. Come to think of it, the only consistent thing about finals is that they come at the end of every semester. If we have yet to come up with one set way that accurately demonstrates material has been learned, why do we believe finals to be so important? Isn’t the work we put forth for four months more telling than what we do in one day?

As a result of the stress and importance put on final exams, we have learned not to become better students but merely better test takers. Often times, students spend an entire semester only paying attention to what they know they will be tested on, and many care more about passing criteria than they do about learning the material. With the way the school system is set up, who can blame them? Some people just benefit from the skill of being good test takers. These are the people who can ace tests after barely cracking open the book, even if they do forget everything the minute they walk out the door. Though it may sound horrible, these people have essentially learned to survive the system, and in the end they may do just as well as the people who put in effort all semester.

One solution is to only have final exams in core or major requirement courses. This way, students could really focus on the classes that are more important and probably do a lot better and be a lot less stressed.

The point is that the last day of class is no excuse to burden students with the stress of multiple inaccurate knowledge assessments. If four months of class isn’t enough to prove what we’ve learned, there’s no point in stressing us out for one more day.