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It's a funny thing, they're called final exams, but almost everyone translates that to "last test". While often true, the final exam is much more than is commonly realized. Everyone knows that exam is short for examination, but they usually don't think much of that fact. After all, "a test by any other name is still a test, right?" I'll be frank, with some teachers, in some classes, the final exam truly is nothing more than another test, sometimes even the last chapter test. This is an unfortunate and lazy practice, and misses the whole point of the examination. The final examination is meant to be just that - an examination of what the student has learned during their studies, verifying that they have achieved all of the necessary skills to proceed on to the next level. Anything less does the students a disservice by allowing them to move forward without the proper preparation, in which case they will need remediating at the next level, and subsequently learn less thanks to the wasted time.

A final examination should always be a cumulative evaluation. It should encompass all the major concepts or skills covered throughout the course. It should also be announced that such is the case on the very first day of class. This lets students know that they are expected to do more cram, test, and forget along the way. A well-run classroom will build on past lessons, encouraging retention and development of knowledge along the way, but it is important that students make the effort to grow in understanding and retain what they learn along the way. The final exam helps to make them accountable for their learning.

The final exam does not have to be a test. In fact, many of the best final exams take other forms, such as a written project or a laboratory experiment. If the project is designed so that a student must draw on all the skills and knowledge gained throughout the class, it thoroughly demonstrates a mastery of the material. The project approach has additional benefits, as it does not promote night before cramming (leading to sleepy students who don't perform at their peak), does not cause test anxiety (leading to students with mental blocks on material they actually know), and it provides room for a personal touch on the student's part (which actually helps to further retention of the material, since it is then linked with their own creative genius in their minds).

In no way does a proper final exam hinder education. The final exam provides a motivating stimulus for

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