It’s a well-known fact that most students here at ADM prefer not to be forced to take finals. They would rather kick back, relax, hang out with friends, or simply enjoy the day off. But some classes have a final exam or project on finals day. That raises the question: Do teachers like mandatory finals?
Natalie Dirkx had her Accelerated Chemistry classes come in for a final exam that summarized everything they learned during the semester.
“I think mandatory finals can be useful. especially when concepts build on themselves over the whole semester,” Dirkx said. “I think it’s beneficial to have to remember stuff for more than just one day or one hour to take a test. So I am a big fan of mandatory finals.”
Students can benefit from mandatory finals, but the pros don’t just end there. Mandatory finals can also be helpful for teachers as they can spend time with their students one last time.
“I like mandatory finals, it’s one last chance for me to get to talk to my students about all the things you learned this semester,” Jaclyn Vander Waal said. “I love doing the final discussion where the juniors get to talk about their books with people who read different books than they do, but also get to think back on all the amazing things they learned along the way. I think it’s a great way for teachers to remember all the awesome things that we did with students, and it also is a way for students to reflect and be like, ‘Oh my goodness, I learned a lot and did a lot of really cool things.’ So I do like mandatory finals.”
Teachers see finals as a good thing for both students and teachers in the present, but they can also be helpful for the future of ADM students.
“I feel like the classes that I teach are more college classes and it’s my job to prepare students for college,” Corey Schneider said. “A lot of college classes require finals, so I see mandatory finals as something to get kids prepared for college.”
Although most students don’t like mandatory finals, teachers believe that finals can be helpful and many different aspects.
“I do like mandatory finals because I think setting kids up with the expectation of having a cumulative end to the semester is important, especially the kids who are going on a pathway towards college outside of high school,” Emma Bedard said. “That’s a critical skill to have and be aware of because every class you take will have some sort of final. On another note, I feel like by just doing reassessments we’ve kind of taught our students that optional to come in when they want to. There’s a little bit of entitlement we have nurtured because of that, and that’s on us and not the kids.”
