John said it best. I find I am developing more cum. finals and
thinking of other ways to build on earlier material. In our Gen psych we
are trying to build on critical thinking skills and diversity issues, and I
am finding ways to utilize these in most chapters I cover. So, it may not
be all the bits of info that are cumulative, but rather the perspective of
psychological science to that material that I try to build on. It has its
challenges for students, but many alumni have told me they did retain more
and found ways to integrate even gen psych material. Happy season all,
Gary Peterson
----- Original Message -----
From: "John W. Nichols, M.A." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: cumulative finals
> I have given cumulative (comprehensive) finals in all of my classes for my
> entire career. It is my opinion that they should be used in all courses,
by
> all faculty -- and, long before college -- if for no other reason than to
> squelch the notion that students are not expected to retain as much as
> possible, for as long as possible, in as many areas as possible. I could
be
> wrong, but I thought that was what an "education" was all about. Plus, I
think
> that studying for the cumulative final promotes synthesis of the material,
and
> adds to the meaningfulness of what might otherwise remain just "isolated
> facts".
>
> It seems very apparent to me that most students will usually "learn for
the
> test" -- then promptly "dump" all that useless information -- without the
> prospect of a comprehensive/cumulative final. I do not think the term
> "lifelong learning" was meant to mean learning the same things over and
over
> and over. In so far as possible, everything learned should be retained
and
> should serve as a building block for further learning. Sure, some
students
> have already adopted this philosophy of education, but I think they are a
very
> small minority.
>
> I always explain that Ebbinghaus's curve of forgetting is my
justification, and
> that they should be able to expect "savings" in their preparation,
especially
> if they devote a small portion of their weekly study effort to reviewing
the
> earlier chapters. Of course, my Intro students do not hear these terms,
and
> "overlearning", until we hit the memory chapter -- about mid-semester.
>
> I use multiple-choice tests throughout the semester, in all my classes. I
> develop all of the tests as "package". For the regular exams and quizzes,
I
> feel generally free to use more specific, detailed questions. For the
> cumulative/comprehensive exams, I think it is more appropriate to focus on
> broader, more general questions about the more significant concepts
covered in
> the course. I rarely use a question that appeared on an earlier exam or
quiz,
> though some are very similar or are "flip side" questions or different
> questions about the same concepts.
>
> My comprehensive Final Exam has twice the point value (200 v. 100 points)
of a
> regular exam, and constitutes about half of all the exam points that
contribute
> to their grade. I try to make it clear from the beginning that as far as
I am
> concerned, it is the "real" test. The large point value also means that
anyone
> can get a substantial boost at the end of the course. I always found it
rather
> difficult to continue to really put forth my best effort in a course that
was a
> "lost cause" -- that is, there was no real hope of improving the grade.
My
> courses are never a lost cause until they are over.
>
> Stuart asks "Does all this help retention 10 years later?" I don't know
> either, Stuart, but I am pretty sure it does not hurt retention. We know
that
> the small details will not be remembered for even a small fraction of
those 10
> years, but without retention of the broader concepts for a reasonable
period of
> time there can be no cumulative learning.
>
> If anyone is interested, the online syllabi for my classes can be accessed
from
> my home page. Or, the Intro and Dev syllabi can be viewed at:
> http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/Psy3KSyllabus.html and
> http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/DevPsy3KSyllabus.html
>
>
> "Cowden, Craig R." wrote:
>
> > Dear TIPsters:
> >
> > since I began teaching 10 years ago I have always done cumulative
finals.
> > Some other instructors seem to think this is cruel of me, but I have
always
> > figured if students couldn't remember the basics for a couple of months
> > they'd never remember if in the long term. I don't ask terribly detailed
> > questions about older material, but figure they should know Erikson's
> > stages, what OCD is, etc. How common is it to use cumulative finals?
> >
> > Craig Cowden, Ph.D.
> > Northern Virginia Community College
> >
> > ---
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>
> --
>
> ----------==========>>>>>>>>>> t?t <<<<<<<<<<==========----------
> Sometimes you just have to try something, and see what happens.
>
> John W. Nichols, M.A.
> Assistant Professor of Psychology
> Tulsa Community College
> 909 S. Boston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74119
> (918) 595-7134
>
> Home: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols
> MegaPsych: http://www.tulsa.oklahoma.net/~jnichols/megapsych.html
>
>
>
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