#62 Prepping For Final Exams

Getting ready for final exams in college is not the same as it was in high school.  Students need to check out various policies and procedures before taking finals.  Today's episode centers around the policies and protocols for 5 different areas:  college exam schedules and how they can impact a student; possible final exam accommodations and assistive technology that needs to be arranged with disability services; faculty expectations and policies with regard to finals; tutoring center operations that may be affected by high demand prior to final exams; and testing centers or special testing locations protocols for students with disabilities. Paying attention to these 5 areas of need before finals occur will make the final exam experience go much smoother for any student, especially a student with a disability.

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Transcript

Mickie  0:00  
Do you realize that prepping for finals in college will be completely different than prepping for finals in high school college final exams are very different, in most cases, to the exams you're used to taking in high school? So today we're going to talk about some of those differences that you can expect at college. Our conversation is going to center around five topics, we're going to look at college exam schedules, Disability Services, protocols, faculty policies and procedures, tutorial centers, policies and procedures and test center policies and procedures. So today's podcast is going to give you some insights and some questions that you can help your child or your students with before they start taking final exams at college this year. So welcome to College, Disabilities, and Success Episode 62. "Prepping for Finals" with Mickie Hayes. Opinions in this podcast are my own, please reach out to your college physician or legal services for additional information. One of the first things that you want to investigate when you're preparing for final exams is what the college policies are. Now as you know, from any past podcasts you heard from me, colleges have different protocols in place. Depending upon the college itself. There's a lot of flexibility and variation from college to college with regards to final exams, but many colleges will have a final exam schedule. So when final exams are scheduled by a college, they will generally be different blocks of times than you're used to. At some colleges faculty is required to follow the final exam schedule. And in other colleges, it may be an optional schedule for them. So you or your child or your student will need to find out what the college final exam schedule looks like where I worked, our final exam schedules ran for two hour increments. But regardless, you need to know what that final exam schedule is, and when your faculty is expecting you to be there to take your test. Now, because final exam schedules are so different in many cases, with these two hour blocks, when most schedules are not broken down that way you or your child or student could end up finding a conflict of scheduled times to classes during the same block. Or you might have a class in a test that overlaps with another class in a test, there's just no way to know. But that's up to you to investigate. So the first thing that you need to do is check into your colleges final exam schedule, and then follow up with the faculty and the faculty schedule for your particular classes to make sure that you aren't going to run into a problem. So you definitely have to plan ahead with scheduling. Now the second topic that I mentioned we were talking about today was Disability Services, and what their policies and procedures are. Now here's the reason that I'm bringing this up, you may have spent the entire semester not using your accommodations, or not even asking for accommodations, and all of a sudden, it's time for final exams, and you're getting very anxious about them. And you're concerned about them, especially as it's related to your disability. And so you may find yourself in a circumstance where you have to go and talk to the disability services to let them know that you need accommodations that you haven't been using up until this point. Now again, because each college establishes its own protocols and guidelines. You have to talk to your college to find out if that's something you can do. Can you arrange accommodations late in the semester? Chances are you will be able to but I can't say that for sure. So if your disability services says no, and you know you need those accommodations, and you need to have a conversation with Disability Services, and possibly the dean to find out about your chances of getting those accommodations that you are requesting. In most cases, I don't believe it's as a problem. But you really should check if that's something you haven't done prior to exams. Now the circumstances could change. I mean, you may need accommodations in an exam just because of the nature of the exam that you didn't need throughout the semester. So there are legitimate reasons for not using accommodations before the exam and then suddenly needing them at the exam. Also talk to disability services, especially if you have a conflict and schedule if you can't work it out between your faculty members definitely go to disability services because disability services when they offer you exam accommodations are also talking about extended time for exams and using that extended time on your exam

Mickie  4:51  
accommodations could take you into the next scheduled exam. So even though you may not have a conflict in the schedule normal The extended time feature of an accommodation could cause that to happen. So you kind of have to look ahead and plan ahead, especially where accommodations and taking final exams are concerned in case there are any conflicts. Now the other conversation with disability services could be around assistive technology. Do you need any kind of assistive technology to take your exams? Do you need a reader, a screen reader or an in person reader? Do you need a scribe? Do you need a specialist of formulas for a math course? What kind of assistive technology might you need? Do you need a CCTV so that you can enlarge the print everybody's situation is different and unique. And so you may need an accommodation with or without assistive technology that the disability services needs to arrange for your final exam. So again, talk to Disability Services, if there's anything out of the ordinary that could suddenly be a problem during your final exams. Now, let's talk about expectations. With regards to faculty at college, what can you expect during final exams from faculty? Well, my first advice to you is to check your syllabus more than likely there is a final exam statement someplace on your syllabus that tells you when the final exam is going to be held and where it's going to be held. And whatever protocols the faculty member has in place for giving you the final exam. So check your syllabus to see if it notes, anything at all about final exams. If you're not clear about that syllabus, or you're not clear about the faculty policy, make an appointment with your faculty member during their office hours. That's why they have them there. And even if you haven't visited your faculty member at all during the semester, it might be wise to make an appointment with the faculty to discuss final exam protocols. What kind of final exam are you getting? Are you getting an exam that covers the entire semester? Or are you getting an exam that only covers the last bit of information from the previous test? Again, every faculty is going to do it their own way. So you need to find that out if the faculty member gives you any kind of specialized study materials, study guides, hints, suggestions, notes, whatever they happen to be pay close attention to them, they're not doing it for the fun of it, they are doing it for your benefit. So if the faculty member tells you to learn XYZ, you need to learn XYZ. So check out any particular study materials closely. And don't hesitate to schedule some office hours with the faculty member to go over those materials. Especially if there's things on there, you're not sure of what's your faculties policy, if you miss a final, that's a big deal. When I was a faculty member at the college, I had a student who had really done fairly well through the semester was in a real good place for getting a good grade. And he missed the final in as a faculty member, I tried to reach out to him some faculty members will do that some will not but I couldn't reach the student to find out what had happened and why he had missed the final right before we were supposed to turn in our grades his girlfriend stopped by to see me It turns out that this young man was in jail. Now I didn't know why I didn't need to know why it was not my business. But this was a very unique circumstance that this kid suddenly found himself in and was trying to figure out if he could take the final once he was able to because he couldn't take the final prior to when grades returned in he was going to miss that deadline. Now since this was a unique situation for me, I had to go to my dean to find out what the college protocols were to find out if I could indeed give him an incomplete so that when all that dust settled with the courts that he could take his final exam. And it turned out that I was able to do that. But this was a unique situation to me. But it doesn't mean that your situation is not unique. So you may just have to ask some questions and take things up to the dean if your situation warrants it. But do talk to the faculty whenever you need to. Don't

Mickie  9:16  
be afraid to do that. Now the next area I want to talk about are the tutoring centers. Nearly every college these days has some sort of a tutoring center for all students. And you may not have used the tutoring center in the past, but you could feel that that's a real need that you have right now as you're prepping for your finals. Now tutoring centers are another situation where they're going to have their own guidelines. They're going to have their own hours, they're going to have their own procedures for notifying faculty or for signing in even for using the tutors. Do you have a time limit? Do you have a number of visits that you're allowed? Can you ask for a specific tutor that you know will work well with you? What are their policies? With regards to walk in and scheduling time? Can you just walk in if you need some extra help preparing for your test? Or do you need to plan ahead for that these are all questions that you should be thinking about. If you are going to go use a tutoring center. And just remember, the tutoring centers vary from one college to another. So just because you did something at one college one way doesn't mean the tutoring center is going to be doing that the same way. They may not have as many tutors, they may not have specialized tutors, they might not have tutors that work specifically with students with disabilities. These are all possibilities that vary from one college to another with regards to tutoring centers, but using a tutoring center is a really good idea when you are preparing for your final exams, because it gives you another set of eyes on the work that you need to learn. The last section that I want to talk about is with regards to when you have a disability and you need accommodations for a test, there's a really good chance that you're going to have to use some sort of special arrangements for taking that test, you're not going to be able to take it in a class with everybody else, because the faculty can't stay there for extended time for anybody else they have to leave when their testing block is over. So you're not going to get extended time if you take it in the classroom. So if you need any kind of extended time, you're going to be taking your test in a different location. Some colleges use the test center, which is what I was able to use where I worked, but some colleges use Disability Services and they have special places and special rooms set aside for testing. Well, that becomes a scheduling issue, because that is not an unlimited availability. So are you going to have to schedule a private room to take your test? Is that even a possibility? And if so, what do you need to do to make those arrangements? And if that scheduling is at a particular time that conflicts with another test you're supposed to take that's also something that you have to consider. If you are taking a test in a test center, there are some questions that you need to check on. First of all, what are the test centers, policies and procedures? Do you need to show an ID? How is the test going to be there? Or if the test is not there? What do you do? How do you get the test? What is their policy for turning the test back in? Because different test centers have different protocols in place? What are their protocols for the use of a phone? Or even having the phone with you during the test? What kind of extra materials? Can you take in or not take into the test? What is their policy? If you have to step out, for example, to take some insulin, if there's a medical need for it? Is that on your accommodation form? It needs to be so if that's not the case, head back to Disability Services and make sure those arrangements are made. Can you take a final exam in two parts? Is that even a possibility? That's a question that goes down to Disability Services and getting that accommodation and how the test center is going to address that accommodation. They may take the test and literally break it into two halves give you one half allow you a break and then have you come back and get the second half. That's one option you may run into. But you need to investigate it to find out if that's an issue. Are you going to need any kind of assistive technology during the course of that test?

Mickie  13:19  
And is it in the test center or the location where you are going to take the test? If not, you need to make those arrangements and make sure that people who get the assistive technology to that location are aware of what they need to do. Is that something that you need to plan for and schedule ahead? It may be it may not be but you would have to investigate Can you step out for bathroom breaks are there restrooms nearby where it's not going to compromise test integrity. Remember that everything about the test center is about keeping test integrity and making sure that the student is not figuring out a new way to cheat on the test. They need to make sure the tests are secure, the testing situation is secure, and that you don't have anything with you to compromise that. So talk to the test center, make sure you're aware of whatever policies and procedures they have in place. That is not the kind of thing you want to find out as you walk in to take your test. So if you need to do your homework ahead of time in all of these situations, and I had talked about five different situations, we talked about making sure that all the policies are in place for college schedules and when tests are scheduled, and conflicts that could occur for Disability Services and their accommodations and talking to disability services to run interference on your behalf. If you do run into a problem. We talked about faculty policies and procedures for their tests and each faculty member has a different policy and procedure in place you need to find out exactly what is expected of you for each one of your testing exams. We talked about using the tutoring center and especially in prepping for finals? Is there any kind of extra office hours available? Or can you just walk in? Or do you have to schedule that you need to find out. And we talked about test center policy, if you're not taking that test in the classroom with your professor, and you are going to a test center, or a disability services location to take your tests so you can get your accommodations, do you know their guidelines, their protocols, their policies and procedures, so that you're not surprised when you get there and you don't have the materials and the information that you need? As I told you at the beginning, when we started this podcast, prepping for college tests is very different from prepping for high school tests. As you can see, there are a lot of situations that you need to plan for. I hope this helped you to think about some of those circumstances and how your college in your faculty in your disability services in your tutoring centers in your test centers are handling their own situations. Thank you for joining me today. If you have any questions at all, my email is Mickey teaches@gmail.com. That's M I C K I E teachers@gmail.com. And you might want to stop at my website, Mickieteachers.com. And check out my resources and materials there and some of the blog articles that I have there for any additional information. I have several free resources available to students with disabilities to parents and faculty for students with disabilities. And those links will be in the show notes today. In particular, there is a small ebook that I put together, I think it's about six pages of around 30 questions that you should ask with regards to college. If you are a parent or teacher of a high school student. Definitely take a look at that because I asked you a lot of questions today with just regards to final exams. There's a lot of information that you should know before your child heads to college. And so rather than give you information that may vary from one school to another, I gave you questions that you should ask and some of this you may already know about some of it you may not have been aware of. So take a peek at the free resource listed in today's show notes. It's called insights from a disability specialist. And that link will be in your show notes. Good luck, everybody.

Mickie  17:24  
When you're taking your finals, I know you can do it. You've worked hard all semester. But this is one last step that you have to do. You'll make it you just need to know that to be surprised. That's the biggest deal. I hope everything goes well in your tests. But in the meantime, have a great rest of the day by information contained throughout this podcast has been gleaned from my own personal experiences, but to ensure accuracy. Please contact the Disability Services at the college of your choice to have firsthand information and the most up-to-date policies and procedures followed for your particular institution of higher education. The content in any of these podcasts is not intended as a substitute for information from legal, educational or medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your attorney or qualified health care provider with any questions you may have with regards to illegal educational or medical concerns.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai