Exams in Several Flavors
Today is the last day of BUA classes. It has been a very good semester, and students’ attention has understandably turned to preparation for next week’s exams. We believe that exams play an important role. They provide students the chance to practice synthesizing months of material and to demonstrate long-term retention of key ideas. Exams are also helpful data points for teachers on how students are learning and how teachers might adjust for the coming semester and future years.
Exams may conjure a singular image of students in long rows for multi-hour, high-stakes tests. The reality is more diverse. Our teachers have created a number of different ways for students to show what they know. There is certainly a place for sit-down, written exams; classics and most of our math classes will offer those. English and history teachers have adopted in-person, one-on-one interviews to supplement the periodic essays and other assessments. Students in chemistry and geometry will have individual oral exams with their teachers as well, while those in biology will give a poster presentation on organelles they have designed. I’m grateful for our faculty’s thoughtfulness and creativity, and wish all of our students good luck next week!