Anthony, this is a great approach. I am going to drop you a line via email to learn more and maybe check out a sample exam!
On testing, I have gone back and forth on open-note v. closed-note, take-home v. in-class, multiple choice and short answer v. essay question.
At the start of the semester our teacher training included a great talk by an advocate of universal design, who made the basic argument that structuring our courses in such a way that would be beneficial to students who need accommodations of various kinds would be beneficial to all students. (So, for example, post the powerpoints online for everybody, rather than just for the students whose accommodations require it — something I’ve done in the past and am doing again this semester.)
Since none of the “student learning outcomes” or “core objectives” for history courses suggest that student should be able to identify/analyze/explain anything from memory, I’ve decided not to make memory/memorization be an issue in testing. But it’s clearly an issue for the teacher credentialing test. And I am not sure what accommodations may be offered for those taking the teacher certification test. It seems to me that that test would need to be ADA compliant, but extended time, use of notes, etc, may not be viewed as a reasonable accommodation for those testing to become teachers (though on the face of it that doesn’t sound like it would be the case).
Anyway, I’ve found so many sound pedagogical reasons for allowing students to use notes on exams. Indeed, the idea that students might have to pass a career-defining history exam from memory well after they’ve moved on from my class is probably the only reason that I’d consider moving away from open-note exams. But it’s definitely a significant reason.
