No
More Midterms and Finals!
Every student knows it.
That time of year when they have a week full of tests. What are
these? These are midterms and finals. These tests are supposed to
measure your memory of what you have learned that year. But they do
not. All they do is stress students out causing drug usage and
cheating. Therefore they should be eliminated. Studies show that
other schools that have done this have benefited from this greatly.
Drug
Usage
Midterms and finals cause a
lot of students to become stressed. With each counting as ten percent
of their final grade, many students become worried. Most students
participate in extracurricular activities. So when are they supposed
to have time to study for these? Last year, I had a five-hour drama
club rehearsal every day that we had midterms, so trying to find time
to study was nearly impossible. Because of the lack of time to study,
many students have turned to amphetamines to help them focus and stay
awake. These were originally used to treat people with attention
deficit disorder, but now they are every student’s new study buddy.
A junior named Natasha admits that she takes these because ‘when it
gets down to this time of semester, I can’t take any risks’”(The
Maroon). Drugs are never the answer to solving your problems, but
because of finals and midterms many students think that they are.
Cheating
Many students feel
pressured to do well on midterms and finals. However, since they do
not have enough time to dedicate to studying adequately, students
resort to cheating. Cheating is to act dishonestly or unfairly to
gain in advantage. This can easily be done before or during an exam.
Students often have friends who have the same teachers as them.
Therefore, if one takes the midterm or final before the other one,
they can just ask each other what is on the test. Also, a lot of
students have older siblings who have had that teacher in the past.
Therefore, the older sibling can show their midterm or final to the
younger one. Unless the curriculum has changed, this is probably the
same midterm or final the younger sibling is going to be taking and
“how far of a leap is it to share that test with your best
girlfriend who might not be lucky enough to have an older
sibling?”(Basking Ridge Patch). Also, students can simply look at
another students exam while they are taking theirs or quietly
converse with other to compare answers. The high expectations placed
on students to succeed cause them to resort to these terrible tactics
of academic dishonesty.
Results
of Eliminating Finals and Midterms
The Howard County high
schools, the Bernards Township and Somerset Hills Regional school
districts, and Timberlane Regional High School, have all eliminated
midterms and finals. The results of this have been positive, and
“teachers applaud the move, saying they...won't lose a week of
instruction to midterm exams”(The Baltimore Sun). This would be
beneficial to Wilmington High School because we could enhance our
amount of learning. The amount of weeks wasted reviewing for midterms
and finals, and then taking them, is ridiculous. Instead, if we had
quarterly exams, this would “provide teachers with an 'early
warning for students who may be struggling'”(The Bernardsville
News), we could have more instructional time because “they could be
taken in one-hour periods, – adding only 18 minutes to the normal
class length – and be done within full school days” (The
Bernardsville News), and “having the exams on a quarterly basis
would also soften their impact on the final grade” (The
Bernardsville News) because they would each count as five percent
instead of midterms and finals which count as ten percent. Because of
the benefits described above, Wilmington High School should have
quarterly exams instead of midterms and finals.
Why
Midterms and Finals should be Eliminated
Midterms and finals should
be eliminated. The amount of stress they cause, makes students do
things they wouldn't usually do, such as use drugs and cheat. If we
had quarterly exams, students would feel less pressure because the
amount of information they are being tested on would be less. Also,
with quarterly exams, there would be more time available for teachers
to educate students. Clearly, midterms and finals are an ineffective
way of accessing someones knowledge on a subject, and bring about
cheating and drug usage. Therefore, they should be replaced with
quarterly exams to more accurately assess someones apprehension, and
to lessen the worry of its effect.
"Google Images." Google Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http://www.google.com
/imgres?um=1>.
"Timberlane Decides to
Drop Midterm, Final Exams » Latest News » EagleTribune.com,
North
Andover, MA." EagleTribune.com,
North Andover, MA. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x2014325636/Timberlane-decides-to-drop-midterm-
final-exams>.
No comments:
Post a Comment