Another school year is nearing completion. As high school students wrap up their semesters and hand in their final assignments, many will also write final exams.
While early and middle years classes in Manitoba typically continue until nearly the end of June, high school courses usually wrap up by the middle of the month. This is because the last couple of weeks of each semester are set aside for high school exams.
Regular classes do not usually take place during this exam period. This gives students time to study for their exams and ensures that teachers have enough time to mark them.
To the outside observer, this final exam period might seem like a wasted opportunity. After all, one might argue, students would be more productive if they continued in regular classes rather than getting time off to study for exams.
However, there are many benefits to giving high school students time to study and administering final exams. First, exams are a useful way to find out whether students have truly mastered the curriculum content. Students who truly understand subjects like chemistry, history, or math are likely to do much better on the final exam than those who do not.
In addition, the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) programs such as ChatGPT makes it increasingly difficult for teachers to prevent students from cheating on homework assignments. Fortunately, students cannot use AI while writing final exams since most of them are written with pen and paper in a supervised location.
Thus, if we are serious about cracking down on academic dishonesty, we should ensure that final exams remain for all high school subjects. This is the only assessment tool teachers have available that is impervious to the threat of cheating using AI.
Another benefit of final exams is that they force students to spend time reviewing the academic material from the beginning to the end of the course. Research shows that focused studying is a good way to ensure that specific content is retained in a student’s long-term memory.
It’s also important to remember that many high school students will enroll in post-secondary programs after they graduate from high school where they will undoubtedly write many tests and exams. It makes sense to help high school students learn the academic skills they need to be successful in their future studies.
Finally, the exam period is a good way to provide both students and teachers with a focused end to the semester. The last thing we want is for students to disengage from their studies as the end of the semester approaches. Reminding students that they still need to take a final exam helps keep them focused until the very end.
In addition, the exam period provides a great opportunity for teachers to have students come in and complete any missed assignments during the semester. By giving teachers some flexibility at the end of the semester, this makes it easier to proactively connect with students who need extra help in completing their work.
Next time you hear that high school classes are done for the semester, don’t think of the exam period as a missed teaching opportunity. Instead, keep in mind the many benefits that come from a dedicated exam period for students and teachers alike.
Michael Zwaagstra is a public high school teacher and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
