Finals week is in full swing, and with it comes students’ stress soaring through the roof, and their hours of sleep simultaneously dropping lower and lower. Final exams cover close to an entire semester’s worth of material, so if it took around five months to learn the material in the first place, frankly it is going to take more than one night of cramming to review it.
During the last week of the semester, teachers tend to pile on final tests and assignments on students, leaving them no time to begin reviewing earlier. Memory researchers have conducted studies that have shown that distributed practice, or the practice of learning over several time periods, is most beneficial. The studies showed that it would be better for students to begin studying for finals several days in advance, compared to pulling all-nighters the night before, because the material will be easier to remember later on when actually taking the final.
It’s at each individual teacher’s discretion of how they deal with the pre-finals week, but I think they should try to finish all material at least three days in advance. I know this semester is over, but for second-semester exams this would be a good policy to adopt. That would give students an adequate amount of time to start reviewing, and time is something that high-schoolers just don’t have enough of. This would also mean that with earlier reviewing, students can ask their teachers any questions they have.
Yes, we do have Edmodo and emails, which are helpful for asking teachers questions while studying, but in certain subjects, like sciences, when the explanation is long and complex, being told in person is just much more beneficial than reading an explanation on your phone.
This would also mean that all assignments and tests are done before the weekend, so teachers have more time to grade and put grades into X2. Students that are calculating what grade they need on the final would be put at ease knowing their quarter average is solidified. This is especially important to seniors because one last minute assignment could decide whether they take the final or not.
Finals are meant to prepare us for college exams, and I understand how important it is to learn the right studying habits now rather than later. However, in college, you won’t be having two consecutive finals four days in a row. They may be more spread out through the week, giving you more time to prepare, or you might not have an exam at all, but only a final paper or project to submit.
If we had these extra days to review before finals week, students wouldn’t need to cram as much the night before(or the morning of) their finals. If students are reviewing on their own, they’d still be practicing study habits. Of course, some students won’t take this opportunity of extra time, and just waste the class periods away, but in hindsight, these are the students that have no intention of studying at all, and they could potentially get some work done during this provided review time.
With extra review days, students would get some more z’s, know the material more and feel much more confident going into the exam. To me, this seems like a recipe for higher exam grades, and isn’t that truly what the school should want?
