Final Exams Discredited

“Final examinations reflect an antiquated and largely discredited theory of learning, which equates knowledge with factual recall. By discouraging exams, then, Harvard is hardly forsaking academic rigor. Instead, it’s clearing the way for a more engaging, challenging, and truly educative college experience.” Jonathan Zimmerman believes that to develop real knowledge in a discipline, students must master facts and construct opinions about them. “Facts without opinion are irrelevant data points, forgotten as quickly as they are absorbed. And opinion without fact is humbug, which you can hear on any talk radio show – or at your local coffee shop.”