The Final Exam: A Shakespeare "Salon"

Final exam "salon" from a prior semester

As my students wrap up a semester of learning about Shakespeare, we will have a culminating event that will help measure their learning and bring closure to both their self-directed and collaborative learning.

When we gather on Monday, April 18th (from 2:30-4:30pm) each student will come having reviewed their own personal learning plan and how they have met our learning outcomes. I have also asked the students to spend some time looking at their peers' blogs in terms of those same outcomes, making some notes on memorable ways various class members have worked together or individually in meeting those same outcomes.

The structure of the exam is going to be in the form of a "salon," or a kind of guided conversation. Each salon will consist of a group of three students, and there will be a total of four of these half-hour discussions (one for each of the major categories of the learning outcomes), and each time new groups will be formed.