During the fifth, sixth or seventh week of the quarter comes midterms here at Fuller. In the two years that I have been studying at Fuller, I have taken two midterms and no finals. Next week will be my third midterm and at the end of this quarter, I will have had my first final exam. One aspect that I have observed is that in the School of Theology there are a lot of classes that offer midterms and final exams while the School of Intercultural Studies seem to not offer midterms and or final exams, but offer a research project paper at the end of the quarter. For me, I prefer writing a research paper at the end of the quarter. The reason is that I have something that I have written that I can go back anytime and see what I learned or maybe did not learn.

I am not saying one cannot learn from taking a midterm or final, but in my experience, I do not remember as much of the material from taking just two midterms. I have on the other hand used my final research papers to help me develop a lesson or study for a small group, youth group, and sermon. I guess I like the practicality of writing papers than taking exams. I know everyone has a different learning style. So if taking midterms and exams helps you then more power to you.