THE INTRASEMESTER ONE-HOUR EXAMINATION

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THE INTRASEMESTER ONE-HOUR EXAMINATION 1. B. RAMSEY University of California, Los Angeles, California

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giving of one-hour examinations during the semester (quarter or term) is a general practice in American colleges and universities. Very probably others have had some qualms about the effectiveness of these examinatious. It is hoped that the opinions expressed here may stimulate others to make a more critical appraisal of them. The first question to be considered is: "What are the essential functions or purposes of examinations given during the semester?" The answers commonly given, either explicitly or implicitly, may be summarized briefly by the two statements: (1) To provide the instructor a basis for assigning the student a grade in the course. (2) To encourage (or impel) the student to review the subject matter covered and to show how well he has remembered the facts and/or principles involved (and, according to many students, also the personal opinions expressed by the instructor regarding certain matters). Certainly grades on these examinations do provide, in part, the basis for determining the final standing of the student in a course, but most would agree that this should be an incidental, although necessary, function. There is considerable doubt whether grades on the onehour examinations are satisfactory criteria (even in m art) for determining the student's final standing-or perhaps better, the student's mastery of the subject matter of the course. The second answer is the one most commonly given. I t should be noted that the word "remember" is italicized. Memory is, no doubt, an essential factor involved in effective learning. However, it seems justifiable t o assume that, per se, it is excessively stressed (and weighted) in most one-hour examinations. One need only ask what fraction of the questions given in these examinations can be answered correctly from memory alone. That substantially all the questions should he of this type is a necessary consequence of the very limited time available for the examination. What, then, can be done about examinations given during the semester? Before discussing this question, the following answer to the question regarding the essential functions or purposes of intrasemester examinations is proposed: To enable the student to develop the ability to think erifically and effectively about the questions or problems

involving the subject matter of the course, and, of equal importance, to express his ideas (answers) in a clear and concise manner. Surely one-hour examinations cannot be expected to accomplish these purposes. How then? It is proposed that intrasemester examinations be "open-book" and be written outside the classroom. The only restriction on the student should be that he shall not discuss the questions with others. He should be permitted to use any source material, such as texts, reference books, etc., available to him. This will require that the questions (or problems) on the examination shall be such that they will require correlation, integration, and evaluation of the facts and principles covered in a way that cannot be found explicitly in any source material. Granted that the preparation of such examinations will require the application of considerable time and thought by the instructor. This fact may provide the subconscious motivation for some of the objections to this type of examination. The time allotted the student to complete such an examination will vary. If a course has three class meetings per week, such an examination may be issued a t the close of one class period and returned a t the beginning of the following period, with no class meeting intervening. Or the examination may be given out at the close of a class hour preceding a vacation period of reasonable length, and returned a t the first of the class hour following the vacation. The latter procedure has been practiced by the author during the past year with classes of students in physical chemistry. The conseusus of the students has been that these examinations have enabled them t o understand and appreciate the subject matter much more effectively and satisfactorily. Without exception the students-irrespective of their relative ability-who honestly and objectively desire a tl10r011g11und&3ndiua :arc rnihusit~e;i~nll~ i ; ~ix\.or of such cznn>in?rims. W h a t Iwtwr ~ritrrior~ i~ tlwrt: of the effectiveness of our methods? Such examinations as these may not be feasible in lower division (freshman and sophomore) courses. Reasons for believing that they more surely and effectively fulfill the essential functions of intrasemester examinations than do one-hour examinations seem convincing. That such examinations should generally prevail in graduate courses will probably not be gainsaid.