Oliver Ames is gearing up for a big week of midterms and many teachers have different intentions behind their exams.
Teachers at OA teach multiple subjects, resulting in two different formats for their exams, a skills based exam and a content based exam. A content based exam is most similar to a traditional test and a skills based exam is closer to a project.
Mr. Mulcahy, a Biology teacher here at OA, teaches CP1 and CP2 Biology for Sophomores, Biology 2 for Seniors, Anatomy and Physiology, and AP Environmental Science. All the classes have a different exam structure. A lot of thinking goes into choosing the proper exam format.
“I think the idea behind it is that the tests are in preparation for the path they are going to take,” Mulcahy said. “If they are taking harder classes, they will always have to take harder tests when they get to college. The skill of taking a big and scary test is very important. A project might show learning a little bit better than a test because there is less pressure when completing them.”
Ms. Doulette, a Chemistry teacher, also teaches multiple subjects. She teaches Environmental Science, CP1 Chemistry, and Honors Chemistry. She said midterms benefit teachers as well, providing a valuable chance to reflect on the curriculum.
“The point of students taking a test is to give teachers numerical data that we can look at and see what the outcomes are,” Ms. Doulette said. “If we have a question on the midterms or Final that less than 50 percent of the students got correct then we need to create a plan for next year to improve the outcome on that question.”
Not all exams are a part of the core subject classes here at OA. Elective classes are still required to take midterms exams, even though they are not traditional classes like Math and English. The only classes that are not required to take midterm exams are physical education classes, health, and writing seminars. Electives very commonly have skills based exams or projects.
“Anatomy we don’t do a true test, especially for a final,” Mr. Mulcahy said. We do a full body dissection of a fetal pig so the students can see all the different systems. We have done all the systems at that point, so a dissection is a good way to reflect all the learning opposed to a traditional test.”
Core classes like Math, English, and Science, usually rely heavily on a content based exam. These classes have a higher volume of material and have more studying involved in the preparation process.The downfall of a project is the advantage of a traditional exam.
“There is just a lot of material and to make sure that students understand, a standard test is the best way to show that,” Ms. Doulette said. “I think a project just might not be able to touch on everything we spent time on. Science, to me, is just a very objective subject”
History teacher Mr. Gillis teaches both Philosophy, AP World History, and 9th grade World History. Mr. Gillis is a seasoned pro when it comes to teaching different subjects and grade levels. When teaching different grade levels, he observed that different classes respond differently to each kind of test.
“A project is not really the whole story,” Mr. Gillis said. “Some students are 14 years old and some students are 18 years old. Unfortunately, we do blanket policies for all students and grade levels. This is exam week and all students have to follow it. Maybe only 9th graders have exams and then they should disappear after that. In my 30 years of teaching, I have never seen a good 9th grade project because their minds just cannot handle abstract thinking like that.”
