Does ‘dead week’ really exist?

Well, another birthday has come and gone, which means the end of the semester is near.

I find great humor in students who are so excited about “dead week.”  Actually, I think I am slightly jealous since I have never had a dead week, which is the week professors are “supposed” to back down and let students study and ask questions.

As it turns out, I have three exams during dead week this semester.  In my experience, dead week is an opportunity for professors to teach everything they missed and then test us right before the final. I find it to be quite stressful. But this got me thinking … what is the BGSU policy for dead week?

Well, I did some research and found – nothing.  I could not find anything discussing the idea of dead week on the BGSU website.  This tells me that perhaps dead week is the professor’s choice.  However, I wonder if it would be ultimately beneficial to allow students a week to go to class, ask questions and study.  Personally, I would like that opportunity.

However, I suppose the idea of giving more exams means more examples of possible questions on the final, so that could be beneficial as well.  But which is best for student learning? I did not find too much information that answered that question either.

So, I think that I want to remind students that dead week is not a time to stop doing work or stop going to classes.  It is your opportunity to take advantage of the extra class time, extra exams and ask final questions before the final.  It is the final hurrah.  Haha. That one made me laugh. Even if you have exams, you can use that opportunity to really make sure you understand the material.

With that, I wish everyone the best of luck on their finals.  I know I am going to need a lot of luck. Start preparing now. Oh, and thanks for asking.  My birthday was great. I managed to get off campus, tried to relax and enjoyed myself before having to be in full-fledge work mode.

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