OUR VIEW: No-test week should be followed

One week. Take a deep breath and say it again. Now get back to those text books and try to cram an entire semester’s worth of knowledge into your brain in hopes that you can spew about 12 percent of it out on the day of your final.

Though finals week is a mere seven days distant, at least we can take solace in the fact that we have this week to not have to worry about tests. It’s all because of the infamous “no-test week,” made infamous by the fact that it exists merely in principle, much like a campaign promise.

The “no-test week” is a real event and can be found in the Spring 2008 course catalog, which defines the no-test days policy as “a five-day period designated as ‘no test’ days (preceding) final examinations. During this time, no major examinations will be given.”

Unfortunately, this policy is not always followed. To those professors who do follow it, our thanks and appreciation go out to you. It sure makes life easier as a student. There are many professors, however, who feel this rule does not apply to them and seem to delight in squeezing in yet one more test before an even larger final. What good does this do to the teacher or the student? The student now has double the amount of studying to do, and instead of working on memorizing facts for the final, their attention must now be split for another test. It seems counter-productive to the objective of truly learning a subject.

But many teachers know this irks students and avoid testing during this week. Instead, they tack on massive projects that most of their students either forgot about or didn’t do over Thanksgiving Break, or they bypass the policy by citing the “major examinations” clause. After all, a large planned quiz is definitely not the same thing as a major examination, right?

If this policy exists, it should be enforced. Sure, the letter of the law allows for loopholes, but the whole idea behind this policy is the spirit of the law. The Academic Gestapo aren’t going to break into a teacher’s office and haul them off for giving a test. Punishments aren’t necessary. It’s simply a matter of courtesy to the student and teacher alike. An extra test means that much more to grade. And honestly, after an entire semester of class, there’s been plenty of time to divvy out as many exams as possible.

Testing is an important way to gauge how well a student learned the subject matter and students deserve a chance to get in all the studying they can to demonstrate their competence in a subject. So, to reiterate the words of Pink Floyd, “Hey, teacher, leave us kids alone.”