This page describes some possible placements of exams for the cases of:
- Four exams (including a final)
- One exam and a final,
- Two exams and a final, and
- Six exams
Using Four Exams
At the moment, I use four exams (including a final), shaped according to the main units of the book. My arrangement in relation to the chapters I cover is as follows:
- Chapter 1: What Is Personality?
- Chapter 2: Research in Personality Psychology
- Chapter 3: Perspectives on Personality.
Exam 1: Examining Personality
- Chapter 4: Motivation and Emotion;
- Chapter 5: Interior Selves; Interior Worlds
- Chapter 6: Mental Abilities and Navigating the World.
- Chapter 7: The Conscious Self
Exam 2: Parts of Personality
- Chapter 8: How the Parts of Personality Fit Together
- Chapter 9: Dynamics of Action
- Chapter 10: Dynamics of Self-Control
Exam 3: Dynamics of Personality
- Chapter 11: Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence
- Chapter 12: Personality Development in Adulthood
Exam 4 (the Final): Personality Dynamics
Using One Exam and A Final
It is possible to schedule the course with one exam -- a midterm -- and a final. This would be my suggestion for such an approach:
- Chapter 1: What Is Personality?
- Chapter 2: Research in Personality Psychology
- Chapter 3: Perspectives on Personality.
- Chapter 4: Motivation and Emotion;
- Chapter 5: Interior Selves; Interior Worlds
- Chapter 6: Mental Abilities and Navigating the World
- Chapter 7: The Conscious Self
Midterm Exam
- Chapter 8: How the Parts of Personality Fit Together
- Chapter 9: Dynamics of Action
- Chapter 10: Dynamics of Self-Control
- Chapter 11: Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence
- Chapter 12: Personality Development in Adulthood
- Cumulative Questions
Final Exam
The advantage of this approach is to complete coverage of the parts of personality by about half-way through the semester. That allows the remaining portion of one's class time to be used for the more interesting (to many) topics of personality organization and development. Depending upon the other assignments one uses, it might make sense to add a quiz after Chapter 3 to familiarize students with one's testing approach and so as to consolidate their learning after the introductory section of the book.
Using Two Exams and A Final
I haven’t had the benefit of any feedback regarding this scheduling, but many instructors prefer to give just two exams during the semester rather than three (and then follow up with a final). If so, I might suggest (without having tried it myself), placing the exams in the context of the coverage as follows:
- Chapter 1: What Is Personality?
- Chapter 2: Research in Personality Psychology
- Chapter 3: Perspectives on Personality.
- Chapter 4: Motivation and Emotion;
- Chapter 5: Interior Selves; Interior Worlds
Exam 1
- Chapter 6: Mental Abilities and Navigating the World.
- Chapter 7: The Conscious Self
- Chapter 8: How the Parts of Personality Fit Together
- Chapter 9: Dynamics of Action
- Chapter 10: Dynamics of Self-Control
Exam 2
- Chapter 11: Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence
- Chapter 12: Personality Development in Adulthood
- Cumulative Questions
Final Exam
Using Six or More Exams
Some professors like to use more tests (and current educational research, I think, shows that this is a somewhat advantageous approach). Of course, with this approach, scheduling the exams (and the chapters that are tested) will be determined largely by the schedule of the semester or term during which one is teaching, and how it is impacted by holidays and other issues. Still, if there is some flexibility, here is one recommendation that is contoured to the material:
- Chapter 1: What Is Personality?
Exam 1 This test, on a single chapter, can get students used to your testing style.
- Chapter 2: Research in Personality Psychology
- Chapter 3: Perspectives on Personality.
Exam 2 Methods and theory together make a nice conceptual couplet.
- Chapter 4: Motivation and Emotion;
- Chapter 5: Interior Selves; Interior Worlds
- Chapter 6: Mental Abilities and Navigating the World.
Exam 3 Together, these chapters cover most of the parts of personality – but this will be a big exam.
- Chapter 7: The Conscious Self
- Chapter 8: How the Parts of Personality Fit Together
Exam 4 These two chapters each say something about personality organization, and each contains material on conscious and unconscious processes
- Chapter 9: Dynamics of Action
- Chapter 10: Dynamics of Self-Control
Exam 5 This exam covers the two chapters on mental dynamics.
- Chapter 11: Personality Development in Childhood and Adolescence
- Chapter 12: Personality Development in Adulthood
Exam 6: This exam concludes the testing and covers the two chapters on development
