By Thomas Cottingham
Staff Writer
It is almost that time of the year again: late night studying, cups upon cups of coffee and a few mental breakdowns here and there. Although finals week can be stressful, finals are still a cornerstone of a college education.
Cumulative finals have been a controversial topic over the past decade. While cumulative finals cover all the material throughout the semester, the final itself could be too difficult and tedious, according to some students.
“We are tested on most of the material during the semester,” said junior finance and accounting double major Matt Bizaro. “I think we should be tested on the remaining material at the end of the year. There’s just too much to study. Especially when some students have four to six cumulative finals in a single week, there might not be enough time to study for all of them.”
Another issue that students seem to have with end-of-the-year cumulative finals is the additional midterm. Material that was already taught in the beginning of the semester is tested again, which some students find repetitive.
“Having two tests during the semester, which both would cover similar topics would not benefit a student,” said Ryan Frick, a senior history major. “The questions for the final would be subject to either change or rewording in order to not give the student an advantage on the test.”
Alex Olday, a student athlete and computer science major, took a different approach on cumulative finals. There are some positives about preparing for a cumulative final.
“I believe it is an accurate measure of the intake of knowledge that a student has acquired over the course of the semester,” said Olday. “I prefer cumulative finals because I’ve prepared all year for it.”
Although these tests can be long, in depth, and difficult, there are some benefits to cumulative finals.
According to a study from Psychology Today, repetition and “the space effect” generates positive benefits while studying and taking cumulative finals. The space effect is studying something that you previously studied for another exam or project, which leads to a wider understanding of the subject. Repetition helps students achieve long-term knowledge from the subject, and can tremendously help life-long knowledge.
Another tip from the study explains to not let intuition fool you. According to the research, students tend to underestimate the importance of long-term studying and end up cramming knowledge at the last minute. Some students can also be biased to think that their memory will not change over a period of time, which prevents consistent studying.
Benefits of cumulative finals also require a much longer time to study. Like everything, balance is the key.
cottintf14@bonaventure.edu
