Celebration of Knowledge

Rethinking and Retooling the Final Exam

Studies have shown that students study for an exam and forget 95% of the information within the next three days! What is the point of creating an exam that is not going to actually demonstrate what you know and understand? In this history course, I want you to celebrate the knowledge you understand and carry with you throughout your life.

Instructions

For your final exam, please thoughtfully reflect on this semester and consider the following. What are the five topics most interesting, enlightening, and or shocking new information you learned this semester pertaining to our class. Topics can include events, stories, or specific persons.

Your reflection should include the following for each topic:

  • What was the event, story, person, etc?

  • Where did you learn the information?

  • Describe the event, story, person, etc.

  • Why was this interesting, enlightening, and or shocking?

  • Why is this significant to your understanding of history?

Other areas you could include for your selected topics:

  • How does this information apply to my lived experience?

  • How does this knowledge inform my future decisions?


Format Options

To fully celebrate your historical knowledge and historical interpretation, please submit your final exam in one of the following formats.

  • Option 1: Write a five page-essay that follows the reflection instructions listed above. A works cited page is only necessary if you decide to use outside materials. Please click the following link to discover how previous students completed this option. | Example of Option 1

  • Option 2: Make a video and upload to YouTube or Vimeo (must be at least 10 minutes) that follows the reflection instructions listed above. It is best to upload the video recording to YouTube or Vimeo rather than uploading directly to Canvas because of the limited storage space. Please click the following link to discover how previous students completed this option. | Examples of Option 2

  • Option 3: Make an audio recording similar to a podcast (must be at least 10 minutes) that follows the reflection instructions listed above. Please click the following link to discover how previous students completed this option. | Examples of Option 3

  • Option 4: Create a slide presentation or an info-graphic. There are no requirements in the number of slides in your deck, however you will need to be sure to have five distinguishable topics. Typically slides includes images and writing. You may use a variety of programs to create you slides including PowerPoint, KeyNote, and Googles Slides. It is encouraged to save your slides in a PDF format so it can easily be uploaded to Canvas. Please click the following link to discover how previous students completed this option. | Examples of Option 4

  • Option 5: Artistic written/oral creation such as a a rap, song, poetry, and or skit. This option is for those who are creative and have the skills to demonstrate what they have learned in an artistic medium. It is important to remember that five distinguishable topics must be included inside of the presentation. Please click the following link to discover how previous students completed this option. | Examples of Option 5

  • Option 6: Artistic painting or photography with a written synopsis of how the artwork meets guidelines. This option is for those who are creative and have the artistic capabilities to demonstrate what they have learned in this artistic format. It is important to remember that five distinguishable topics must be included inside of the presentation. Please click the following link to discover how previous students completed this option. | Examples of Option 6