LETTER: Optional final tests application

To the editor:

    There have been concerns raised recently in The Utah Statesman about the way we are preparing our students for life after graduation. Some were aimed at a class I teach that gives students the opportunity to raise money for our Small Enterprise Education and Development Program or SEED. The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business sends students to Africa and South America where they give struggling entrepreneurs the training they will need to succeed. The students raise the money that funds small loans to qualified candidates.

    There are various ways to test students to find out if they have mastered the basics of a class. Most are familiar with the approach that quizzes students in a multiple-choice format to see if they can remember facts or principles from a textbook. Others test by asking students to write essays or work on projects together.

    In my class, when it comes to the final, I give them a choice. They can take a traditional final or they can demonstrate to me that they know how to apply the principles they’ve learned in the class. While some may not be used to this kind of approach, at the Huntsman School of Business we work with a cut of students who are driven to apply what they have learned.

    So, in my class, we give them the option of orchestrating a fundraising campaign and I tell them that if they can deliver the results and do it by applying the principles they have learned, they can skip the final. Many students do opt to take this approach which only raises the stakes for all because each group ends up competing at the same time for the limited resources of those who might contribute. It’s a process that demands leadership, teamwork, quick-thinking, innovation, reengineering and hard work.

    If they don’t meet the course requirements, they won’t be earning an “A,” even if they found a way to come up with lots of money. This does mean, however, that some students won’t be shading in little circles come final time. I have started several successful businesses and I can tell you that the real testing takes place once our students enter the workplace. We don’t see preparing them for life after graduation as “cheating a system” but, instead, investing in our students. They are worth it.

David Herrmann