I would like to support the case for comprehensive finals. In my
subject,mathematics, it is important to see the connections between topics
as well as with other branches of mathematics and science. How better to do
that than with a comprehensive final. For a mathematics final, the students
are not memorizing facts, rather they are demonstrating how to use a
comprehensive set of information. As a student many of the connections
between the topics were not understood until I assimilated all the
information in the course when studying for the final. I also hear many
complaints about how little the students remember from prerequisite
courses; a comprehemsive final forces the student to understand the
material at least twice-the second time as a whole rather than as one of
the parts.

A problem is that the public school systems frequently exempt "A" and "B"
students from taking finals; the majority of our students are precisely
these students who have not had to assimilate more than six weeks worth of
knowledge and now we ask them to digest three and one half month's worth.