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Students may find solace in having notes for final exams
The Advocate
Finals are here and many students pray, others study until their eyes cross, and the rest just cross their fingers in hopes they get a passing grade.
However, a few instructors choose not to torture students and are allowing notes to be used during finals. Daina Hardisty, geology instructor, allows her students to bring three single-sided 8x10 pages of notes.
Hardisty said the majority of her students are not majoring in geology, so with an overwhelming amount of information and new vocabulary, “It is more helpful to them to have a study aid in a class that they may be less interested in or find less useful to their career goals.”
Math instructor Cathy Curtis allows her students to bring three 3x5 notecards for her finals. “When students think about what needs to be included on a note-card,” she said, “they are thinking about the math and their understanding.”
One would think that being able to take notes into a final exam is an “ace in the hole.” However, figuring out what information is the most important and being able to find it quickly in your notes can make the difference between helping and hurting a student’s grade.
With only three pages or three notecards, most would want to cover as much information as possible in that little space, but both Hardisty and Curtis recommend otherwise.
Organization is a key element to good final notetaking, according to Hardisty. “Filling a page with words in seven point font is not organized.” She said she counsels students against using the tiniest font possible as it makes it difficult to find anything of importance.
Hardisty said, “Many folks take notes, but they do not effectively utilize them nor are able to find anything on their notes in a timely manner.”
Curtis recommends that students prepare a “scratch” set of notes and use these to practice potential problems before an exam. “Try using only your notes as you practice,” she said, “then you will know what needs to be added, changed or deleted from your first attempt.” She said this strategy is also helpful if the instructor is not allowing notes.
According to the student code of conduct published online, there is no policy in place preventing instructors from allowing notes to be used in final exams.
Wendy Schissel, associate vice president of instruction, said there is no policy because instructors decide how to implement finals in accordance to the discipline they use and what fits into the curriculum they teach. “It’s to their (instructors) discretion,” she said. “Some give take home exams, some do not give final exams, some assign a final project.”
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