Work Is Never Done: Finals

Friday, April 21, 2006

Work Is Never Done: Finals
Well, for those of you wondering, I finished grading on time--with a couple of seconds to spare. Thanks for the words of encouragement. Many of you were right: Things that need to get done, will get done somehow. This is so true... and so bad. I too have this thought in my mind. Could it be the seeds of my procrastination--If I thought that I would literally die if I didn't finish. Or that there was a $1000 penalty for not finishing on time, then maybe... MAYBE, I'd stop procrastinating. Fear can to wondrous things. Confidence in one's ability to get things done can have its darkside.

So anyway, although I've finished grading, this does not mean I have no work to do. The end of the semester is fast approaching, and I need to prepare for Finals. The best thing is to give a Final that is easy to grade. Even though I think this ever semester, I end up giving a Final that will challenge my students and create separation between the ones who truly study and the ones who try to skate by--I do want to reward those who put a lot of effort into my classes.

I have one Literature in Translation course in which we have read a number of stories from the the Edo period (Saikaku) to contemporary times (Murakami Haruki); a Culture Through Film course in which we watch contemporary Japanese films and try to identify and associate--if possible--the manifestations of J-culture with the readings and lectures; and a language course--Bungo--in which we have learned the grammar of classical Japanese--the students have to prepare selected sections of the Tale of the Heike focusing on Yoshitsune--Yoritomo's brother--and compare it with his representation on the NHK Taiga Drama, "Yoshitsune".

Any suggestions as to what kind of exam I should give?

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Comments (7)

To be brutal, give essay type questions..
- 4/21/2006 6:16 PM
- starberri92 (message)
- reply
my work partner gave me a sign to hang over my desk that read- "Don't rush me, it's not due until tomorrow!" :) Creating tests that really demonstrate how much a student has learned is hard. Maybe a final project or is it too late for that? A translation piece? i donno the content so it's hard to say... what i do know is that what ever it is, it won't be cake to grade knowing you! you never take the easy way out which is one thing i appreciate about you!
- 4/21/2006 6:58 PM
- jerjonji (message)
- reply
200 multiple choice with the D. choice always being "none of the above" and the E. choice being "all of the above."
- 4/21/2006 9:14 PM
- msbLiSs (message)
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wait a sec.. do any of your students frequent your blog?

hmmm you could do a "construct a diorama in 1 hour of your favorite scene" exam =P seriously tho, i'd personally like essay questions but mcqs are much easier for the teacher to grade so it depends on how much work you'd like after your students take the exam! =D
- 4/21/2006 10:25 PM
- dingbeams (message)
- reply
A series of essay questions and a longer one at the end, stuff that will get students to use the stuff in your class, not just memorize what you've said, or memorize minute trivia about the stories / movies / grammar points covered in class (well, ok, grammar is a load of minute stuff that you should get down, so maybe that's not the best example).

Do all your exams need to be in-class? Or can you give some take-home exams instead? Perhaps you can split them half-and-half to spread around your workload. Though, I recall those take-homes being harder than your in-class ones. KF
- 4/21/2006 11:31 PM
- kizyr (message)
- reply
ok ok give the lit and movie kids a hard test (come on, they were reading in their own language and watching movies all semester!) and the bungo kids an easy test (they struggled over japanese shakesperian grammar all semester!). I know you like to keep the playing field even so this would be a good way to do it :-p
- 4/22/2006 9:05 AM
- EJKinROK (message)
- reply
grading !?!?! that's so awesome :) i think i wanted to be a teacher because of that. (get to grade students papers, teehee :)
- 4/22/2006 5:14 PM
- bakababa (message)
- reply