This is certainly a catchy opening paragraph that makes you want to see what these crazy Harvard Profs are up to...

The Answer Sheet - Harvard profs dropping final exams: "Final exams are probably not anybody’s primary concern at the moment, but it is worth noting that the July-August edition of Harvard Magazine reports that many Harvard professors will no longer routinely require final exams."

However, it's not really that uncommon to forego a final exam in lieu of a major paper (or project) at the end of a semester in college. I especially found this to be the case at Yale while at grad school. Even while an undergrad at Wofford College, this was the case in many challenging and critical-thinking heavy courses. It always seemed to me that if a class was especially thought-heavy, there would be a paper at the end of the course rather than a cumulative final exam. After four years of undergrad and five years of graduate school, I can safely say that it is/was always more challenging to end a year of study with a paper than with a test. It made me reflect and look back in a much more critical fashion than if I were rehashing facts on a test. That's not to say that I don't value final exams in some circumstances. However, these types of articles really aren't pointing to a crazy new educational trend coming out of Harvard. The question becomes if we need to start looking beyond final exams in Middle or Upper/High School settings. That's a can of worms that I'm still trying to grok.