Impact of Cumulative Final Exams in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Courses

Abstract

The vast majority of science courses at undergraduate academic institutions follow routine and well established class formats which have been engraved in the structure of universities for decades. A student's grade in a typical undergraduate anatomy and physiology class is primarily composed of 3–5 tests, a lab score, and a cumulative final exam that can be anywhere from approximately 20% to as high as 35% of the overall average depending on the course. The aim of this study was to examine the impact that cumulative final exams have on students’ grades, and thereby determine if the exams were beneficial or detrimental to the students’ performance in the course. Since students majoring in the sciences comprise the majority of the future medical and research workforce it is imperative to examine the impact, if any, these heavily weighted final exams have on their undergraduate career. A large sample size (n=364) was used from 10 different semesters of anatomy and physiology classes at the University of Tennessee at Martin. In each class the test format was very similar and contained a mixture of multiple‐choice, short answer, and practical identification questions. Over the 10 semesters of data examined by the study, the final exam comprised an average of 28% of the total grade per semester. Using statistical methods including standard deviation and a t‐test, the magnitude and direction of grade fluctuations after the final exam was determined relative to the course grades before the final exam. The results showed that the grades were significantly lower after the final exam when compared with the grades before the final exam (alpha at 0.05 level and t‐value was 0.00121). Based on these results we concluded that, on average, cumulative final exams in anatomy and physiology courses are detrimental to students’ overall grade.