For many students, final assessments can be a stressful experience, especially when considering the weight these assignments can hold over a closing grade. Students who are enrolled in multiple courses can easily find themselves navigating multiple finals at once and often have to compartmentalize their mental energy between two distinct forms of assessment.
While many professors prefer to gauge student progress through the traditional final exam, others opt for a final project that encourages practical application and creativity as a means of assessing their student’s grasp on the curriculum.
The Equinox spoke with students on campus and found that personal preferences surrounding exams versus projects vary. Regardless of preference, students described having a combination of both methods when asked about their final assignments.
Sophomore Samantha Goldblatt said she has three final exams, and four written assignments. Goldblatt is working on a dual-major in psychology and Holocaust and genocide studies and said both formats are doable, but essay assignments are preferable.
“Both of my majors are equal parts application and memorization,” said Goldblatt. “The essays are better because I enjoy having the freedom to research my own interests, but I’m also good at memorization, so I don’t mind the final exams.”
During the Fall Academic Showcase, which was held on Friday, Dec. 6 in the L.P. Young Student Center, first-years Brady Hasenfuss and Raine Sanderson presented a final research project for Associate Professor of Biology Priyanka Roy Chowdhury’s Ecology and Evolution class.
Hasenfuss said most of his finals are exam-based, but projects are preferred.
“I have more exams than project-based finals, but professors should embrace research projects like this so that we can have the opportunity to engage with these practical areas of expertise and gain professional experience,” said Hasenfuss.
“Exams are good because you know what you know, and you get results back easily, but projects give you the chance to look deeper into things and practice so much more,” added Hasenfuss.
Sanderson said she was assigned an equal mix of exams and projects, but prefers projects as a means of expressing academic achievement.
“I’ve had roughly half and half in terms of exams and projects, but projects are a better way for me to engage with the subject matter, express it, and ensure that it sticks with me after college,” said Sanderson.
Associate Professor of Education Lance Neeper teaches future educators at KSC. According to Neeper, educators have to consider course objectives when deciding to assign projects or exams.
“It really comes down to what you’re trying to assess, and as teachers we’re making that choice based on a variety of factors such as content, needs of students and oftentimes professional applications such as if the course is meant to prepare a student for a higher degree or higher professional exam,” said Neeper.
“We want teachers to be considering the best way a student can take the most from our lessons, and that looks different from class to class,” added Neeper.
Professor of Physics Sarah McGregor echoed Neeper’s insights on course-to-course objective approaches and said she tries to assign a combination of projects and exams depending on the nature of any given class.
“My approach differs from class to class, depending on what the outcomes for that class are,” said McGregor.
“Sometimes doing projects is imperative to making sure students are meeting objectives, but sometimes a traditional exam is the way to go. I do both in my Data Analytics for Scientists course, and that’s because both approaches have their own benefits when testing a variety of objectives,” added McGregor.
Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at
rpacheco@kscequinox.com
