The Learning Crisis

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In my previous post (The Pointless Existence of Finals) a reader posted a comment that I think brings up valid arguments about things that I said

For all the lazy readers who don't want to look through the comments here it is:

"Yes, it might lead to actual long term memorization, but isn't the point of finals to separate who gets the A and who gets the B? From a non-IB perspective, you have to come to learn not everybody is in IB and that finals aren't always a time to raise a grade. In most regular classes I have, I have observed that the finals separate the kids who are hard working from the slothful."

I understand this perspective, that the finals acts as the machine that divides the good from the bad. The ones who will strive to get the 'A' from the ones who don't care or are too lazy to act upon their thoughts. Yet, by stating this, it seems that the finals system is DESIGNED to act as a filter for the successful and unsuccessful. There are several problem with this way of thinking:

1. If the point of the education system was to weed out the dumb from the smart, the education system would be designed differently. If one looks carefully at the way that the current system is set in place, this is not the case. The teachers teach in order to ensure that the majority of the class understands the concepts being taught in class.
2. Although it does weed out the slothful by giving the determined better grades, finals still remains a form of testing that doesn't actually test true intelligence. In contrast, it tests rote memorization and the ability to regurgitate information that was processed several days before.
3. The finals is an accumulation of knowledge learned throughout the semester (if accumulative). To allow students to benefit from a test while failing tests in the previous chapter is pointless in itself.
   
4. The very fact that finals aren't viewed by non-honors non-IB as a chance to raise their grade is both a plus and negative. It is a plus because finals shouldn't be used as a last chance attempt to recieve a grade that one doesn't necessarily deserve. It is a minus because after the students don't use the finals as a grade-booster, they usually tend to not care about the final, which is both a negative to overall productivity of the student and the classroom.

Before I begin, I would like to state that I am writing from the perspective of a public high school student. Obviously, the topics and ideas that I bring up in my posts may not apply to private schools in general. However, I hope that there is enough crossover between public and private for people from both sides to understand the points that I bring up.

Due to popular request, this post will be divided into several different posts so that people are able to read it individually.

Thanks for understanding.

-Simon Rhee