1. Jennifer Jakson ’15 says, “I only have one self-scheduled exam, which is actually a disappointment. For my environmental science class, I have to create a website about an important issue threatening life as we know it.” Jakson is an art student with a passion for graphic design, which will serve her well in the creation of her website.
2. Jon Markson ’12 is working on a final film for his production class with Anders Nielsen ’12 for their production class. “We have to shoot and edit a ten-minute film and accommodate all the actors’ schedules,” says Markson. “I’m also working on my independent studies and year-long projects for my major and my Arts and Technology certificate. I think finals bring people closer because they all have to go through hell and back.”
3. Robert Proctor, Professor of Italian, has asked his Elementary Italian class to memorize the first eighteen lines of Dante’s Divine Comedy in Italian. In addition to a traditional written final, Proctor’s Italian students will recite and write down this excerpt. Proctor believes that memorization and public speaking are essential elements of a liberal arts education.
4. Says Alysia Mattson ’15, “I love that I have no self-scheduled finals for this semester. And I have a Ho-Ho-Ho Down for dance!”
5. Cora Schmidt-Ott, a visiting student from the University of Freiburg in Germany, says, “I like the idea of self-scheduling exams, although I’m not sure whether I can handle it well because it requires more responsibility and planning, which can be hard when you’re not a very organized person.” She describes how different exams at Conn are as compared with those at home in Germany: “Either exams account for all of the final grade and your work during the semester is not counted, or you only have to pass and your grade is determined by the long final research paper—usually twenty or more pages—that you write over winter break.” •
