I have given cumulative (comprehensive) finals in all of my classes for my entire career. It is my opinion that they should be used in all courses, by all faculty -- and, long before college -- if for no other reason than to squelch the notion that students are not expected to retain as much as possible, for as long as possible, in as many areas as possible. I could be wrong, but I thought that was what an "education" was all about. Plus, I think that studying for the cumulative final promotes synthesis of the material, and adds to the meaningfulness of what might otherwise remain just "isolated facts".
It seems very apparent to me that most students will usually "learn for the test" -- then promptly "dump" all that useless information -- without the prospect of a comprehensive/cumulative final. I do not think the term "lifelong learning" was meant to mean learning the same things over and over and over. In so far as possible, everything learned should be retained and should serve as a building block for further learning. Sure, some students have already adopted this philosophy of education, but I think they are a very small minority. I always explain that Ebbinghaus's curve of forgetting is my justification, and that they should be able to expect "savings" in their preparation, especially if they devote a small portion of their weekly study effort to reviewing the earlier chapters. Of course, my Intro students do not hear these terms, and "overlearning", until we hit the memory chapter -- about mid-semester. I use multiple-choice tests throughout the semester, in all my classes. I develop all of the tests as "package". For the regular exams and quizzes, I feel generally free to use more specific, detailed questions. For the cumulative/comprehensive exams, I think it is more appropriate to focus on broader, more general questions about the more significant concepts covered in the course. I rarely use a question that appeared on an earlier exam or quiz, though some are very similar or are "flip side" questions or different questions about the same concepts. My comprehensive Final Exam has twice the point value (200 v. 100 points) of a regular exam, and constitutes about half of all the exam points that contribute to their grade. I try to make it clear from the beginning that as far as I am concerned, it is the "real" test. The large point value also means that anyone can get a substantial boost at the end of the course. I always found it rather difficult to continue to really put forth my best effort in a course that was a "lost cause" -- that is, there was no real hope of improving the grade. My courses are never a lost cause until they are over. Stuart asks "Does all this help retention 10 years later?" I don't know either, Stuart, but I am pretty sure it does not hurt retention. We know that the small details will not be remembered for even a small fraction of those 10 years, but without retention of the broader concepts for a reasonable period of time there can be no cumulative learning. If anyone is interested, the online syllabi for my classes can be accessed from my home page. Or, the Intro and Dev syllabi can be viewed at: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/Psy3KSyllabus.html and http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/DevPsy3KSyllabus.html "Cowden, Craig R." wrote: > Dear TIPsters: > > since I began teaching 10 years ago I have always done cumulative finals. > Some other instructors seem to think this is cruel of me, but I have always > figured if students couldn't remember the basics for a couple of months > they'd never remember if in the long term. I don't ask terribly detailed > questions about older material, but figure they should know Erikson's > stages, what OCD is, etc. How common is it to use cumulative finals? > > Craig Cowden, Ph.D. > Northern Virginia Community College > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ----------==========>>>>>>>>>> ��� <<<<<<<<<<==========---------- Sometimes you just have to try something, and see what happens. John W. Nichols, M.A. Assistant Professor of Psychology Tulsa Community College 909 S. Boston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119 (918) 595-7134 Home: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols MegaPsych: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/megapsych.html --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
