2008 Woodie Awards
Deans say law final exam invalid
School divides over students' option to take a pass for the Torts I course
Amy Ehrnreiter
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News
More than two months after fall semester's final exams finished, Salmon P. Chase College of Law Torts I students are still talking about their final grades - and so is the entire law school.
After their final exam was deemed invalid by the law school's deans, students in Edward Brewer's section of Torts I, a first-year class in the law school, were given one of three options: keep their final grade, retake the exam or take a pass for the course. No students decided to retake the exam.
Dean Dennis R. Honabach labeled the exam invalid after several students from the class complained of misleading instructions and of some students' unfair advantage with study materials.
According to Associate Dean of Academics Nancy Firak, the professor told his students to answer the two questions on the exam and the instructions stated the same thing. The exam, which was about 25 pages, had "Question 1" with a question next to "Section 1" and another next to "Section 2" on the first page. After several pages of lined paper for responses there was another question next to "Question 2."
"A lot of people didn't see the second question," said Sherry Porter, associate dean of Student Affairs. "Some students didn't see the hidden question until the exam was almost over. To find an exam question at the very end would not be very good."
The dean said other fallacies of the exam included an essay question handed out as a sample in a review session, exam questions found verbatim in the study materials for students, and a question not covered in lecture or in the textbook during the semester.
The law students then incorporated the essay and questions into their outlines, which were permitted for the exams.
"All of these things raised questions as to the validity of the exam," Porter said. "The administration determined this was not a valid test."
Initially, the professor of the class decided to not include the second exam question in his grading, but the deans of the law school wanted feedback from the students on how to handle the situation.
After their final exam was deemed invalid by the law school's deans, students in Edward Brewer's section of Torts I, a first-year class in the law school, were given one of three options: keep their final grade, retake the exam or take a pass for the course. No students decided to retake the exam.
Dean Dennis R. Honabach labeled the exam invalid after several students from the class complained of misleading instructions and of some students' unfair advantage with study materials.
According to Associate Dean of Academics Nancy Firak, the professor told his students to answer the two questions on the exam and the instructions stated the same thing. The exam, which was about 25 pages, had "Question 1" with a question next to "Section 1" and another next to "Section 2" on the first page. After several pages of lined paper for responses there was another question next to "Question 2."
"A lot of people didn't see the second question," said Sherry Porter, associate dean of Student Affairs. "Some students didn't see the hidden question until the exam was almost over. To find an exam question at the very end would not be very good."
The dean said other fallacies of the exam included an essay question handed out as a sample in a review session, exam questions found verbatim in the study materials for students, and a question not covered in lecture or in the textbook during the semester.
The law students then incorporated the essay and questions into their outlines, which were permitted for the exams.
"All of these things raised questions as to the validity of the exam," Porter said. "The administration determined this was not a valid test."
Initially, the professor of the class decided to not include the second exam question in his grading, but the deans of the law school wanted feedback from the students on how to handle the situation.
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