A Different Approach to a Final Exam

Yesterday I tried an experiment with my Survey of American Literature class.  Let me just say that if they had been a different class, I don't know that I would have done what I'm about to describe.  But they've been a strong group, so I didn't feel as much of a need of a traditional final exam as I have in the past.  And I participated as a student in a similar assessment in a seminary class.

So I told the class that if yesterday went well (and I spelled out what that would look like), they didn't have to write the final exam and turn it in.  Their participation yesterday, which I spelled out, would earn them an A.

Before class yesterday, I had them each write the top 5 works which they think have been most important to help them understand American literature, U.S. history, their moment in time.  Four of the works had to be works we discussed in class, and one could be anything at all.  They had to write the 5 works on a piece of paper, with some notes so that they would be prepared to discuss.

First, I started off with the students in pairs.  I gave each pair a colored sheet of paper, and on this sheet, they had to put the top five of the pair.  For some of them, it was easy; they had the same works on their individual lists.  Other pairs needed to discuss more.  Even the ones who had agreement were having good conversation.

Then I had the pairs move into larger groups, usually 6 students.  They had to once again determine the top 5 of the group.  It got a bit harder, and again, I was happy with the spirited discussions the groups were having.

As they finished, I had them write their lists on the board.

The boards are on opposite sides of the room, and they finished at roughly the same time.  

In other words, they didn't influence each other.

Then I put them in two big groups.  Once again, they had to compile a list of the top five works of the group.  As they did that, I circled the works in the four lists that showed up on every list.  There were only two:  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Raisin in the Sun.

Here are the two final lists from the two big groups:

I also gave them the option of adding another work or two as a runner up--only one group did, adding "Sonny's Blues" to the list. 

We had a concluding conversation which was very good.  I was impressed with the level of participation and the depth of thought.  It was a wonderful way to end the term, and I'm very happy with the results.  

What I most value is that it was clear that they had been thinking about the works we studied and how they all fit together or didn't fit together.  It was clear that they had been doing their own thinking about the literature and the larger issues that the literature did or did not cover.  They didn't just parrot my thoughts back to me, and they didn't seem to be parroting the ideas that are out there coming across various medias.  They listened to each other with enthusiasm and respect.  I was impressed.

Like I said at the beginning, this approach to a final exam wouldn't work with every class.  But I was fairly sure it would work with this class, and the fact that it did makes me so very happy.