I was just curious as to how exams were structured for different schools in different places. I remember when back in high school, an assignment worth even 5% of your grade was a huge deal. I went back to my old high school to help grade senior project presentations, and they made a huge deal about how it was a whopping 10% of the students grade. I couldn't help but snicker a little at the dramatics, as I had taken a a quiz earlier in the day worth 15% of my grade for a class.
Personally, I never had finals until I got to college. My school was centered around project-based learning, as opposed to lectures and exams.
Now I have final exams that are worth up to 75% of my grade. One day, one test, 75% of your grade... and yet this isn't quite as daunting as it used to be.
I mean how much an exam would be worth, not the specific grade that you would get on it. For example, for one class, this is the distribution:
Quizzes: 40% Written assignment: 10% Laboratory: 10% Final: 40%
So this all adds up to 100%, and the percentage I get on each would add up to my final grade in the course. For example, I might get 100% on my written assignment, so 10% of my grade would be at 100%.
Depends on the class, and if I have to take it. With our school system, if you have an 85 average or above and have no behavioral or attendance problems, you're considered exempt from the exam in that class. (This next part will seem irrelevant, READ IT, it becomes important.) Our school system is divided into two semesters. Each semester is scored separately from the other. You can fail one semester and get a 100 the second and they won't affect each other. Each semester is divided into three six week long periods. Each of these ways in equally towards the semester average. If this average fails to meet the exemption criteria stated earlier, an exam is added, weighing in at exactly 1/2 the weight of one six weeks.
Ahhh, that is a very interesting way to do it. I have never heard of a set up quite like that. But I like the fact that if you have a high average, that you do not have to take the exam! That would be quite a motivation for a lot of people to study well throughout the rest of the time. I know I would! I have had classes that let you drop one of your exams, so if you are happy with your grade after the midterms, you could technically not take the final and stick with the grade you already have. But I always felt bad about not going to an exam! So I always go to try and raise my average anyways. Even if I am just trying to get from an A- to an A! You can always improve.
Some people have to study. Others are simply gifted with the ability to understand the concepts. Except AP Calculus. Nope, had to study there. Still struggled to pull an 80. First exam I took that wasn't warranted by getting in a fight and losing all exemption privileges. I claim self-defense, he claimed "ask the other kids". I was new in a small town. Do the math >_<
In South Australia yr 12 (final yr) grading is done a little different.
This is what I know about it...but i'm only in yr 9!
We have two semesters, each with exams at the end. We have assignments and tests as well as mid year and final exams that are part of our final grade.
We do five subjects in yr twelve. At the end of the year we get a grade out of 20 for each subject, adding up to a TER (tertiary entrance rank) out of 100. TER is important for getting into University as all courses will have a cut of rank which you need to get to get into that course. For example, to get into physiotherapy this year you needed to get a TER of 98.45 (which is quite high).
Do you have to do standardized testing outside of what you get for your TER? Or is that kind of your overall determining factor as to where you get in? Here, you have to combine your grades with SATs, ACTs, and all other sorts of nonsense.
This is how it goes on my college. From every subject there are 2 colloquiums and if you pass both of them you don't have to go to an exam. If you fail on either one of them you have to do the whole exam. To get to exam you have to do all your assignments: laboratory, lectures and "calculation exercises". If you have been absent on 1 laboratory or 3 lectures or exercises you can't go to an exam until you complete your student duties. That's the story for the most subjects, some only have minor modification of this standard model. If you work throughout the whole year you won't have problems, probably.
Ahh... Canada... well this it how it works in my city... Surrey. Most cities are different
There's no middle school, elementary goes K-7 and high (secondary) school goes from 8-12. Grade 10s and 12s take provincial exams worth 20% of their mark for academic classes (ie: math, english, science). The only difference is the socials provincial exam in grade 11.
Most of our final exams are worth 20-30% of our marks, so not that much of a difference. I wish we had an opportunity to skip our finals if we got a good enough mark! Oh yeah, and there's no AP classes or ACTs or SATs to deal with getting into college/university... just our class marks... I'm pretty sure of that.
The provincial exams are difficult though and take about 3 hours per class -.-
And we run on the semester system, half the classes in one semester, the other half in the 2nd semester. There are two marking periods per semester, and all marks are cumulative. That means, that all the marks count towards your final grade. So you really have to push hard at the start to get a good base of marks, because by the end of the semester entering one mark for a project might only change your grade by 1%. That is what sucks if you don't do well for the first month of the semester, (semesters are about 5 months) you really have to work hard to get your grade up and it takes a LONG time to get it back up. However, any "zero" marks entered into the computer absolutely KILL your class mark.
I think it's a more simple system than with all these SATs and what not, but still good in the fact that finals are only worth 20%!
In Connecticut, in my school, exams are somewhat different. There are four marking periods, each worth 20% of your final grade. This is 80% of the grade. The Midterm is worth 10%, and the Final exam is 10%. That's pretty much it.
at my university and in my economic studies in 99% of the subject you write 1 exam that makes 100% of your grade for the semester. so its one shot you got for each subject.
