Fountain of Knowledge

This is going to be a long answer, but I think I'm qualified to give it, and if you give me more specificities, I can either (a) answer based on my experience or (b) ask the exact person who will know for that subject/department.

First of all: Yes, there are some classes in which the grade is based solely on a final exam or project. This isn't common, but it does happen in some departments. What kind of class is it? That's where the plausibility comes in.

For instance, many pre-law classes at good universities are like this, since law school classes are this way. But they don't have assignments that are handed in or graded; they only have required reading.

I took a political science class in which the final paper was 75% of the grade, and the other 25% was class participation. (It was a discussion seminar with only 15 people.) We had a couple brief (1-2 pg) written assignments during the semester that were graded pass/fail -- as in, you had to be deemed a "pass" by the instructor in order not to fail the class overall, though the letter grade was based on participation and final paper.

The boyfriend has taken upper-level math classes in which homework is assigned weekly or biweekly, but only collected and graded a few times during the semester. In math classes, the vast majority of the grade is the midterm exam and final exam -- as in, 40% midterm, 50% final, 10% homework or similar.

To answer the latter question, it really depends on (a) what the coursework indicates and (b) why you're taking the class. A good student would still do the coursework so as not to have the professor (or more likely the TA) notice that he or she isn't doing any work, which would look bad and possibly impact the grade regardless of the final exam. Maybe do a half-assed job of it, especially during busy periods with other classes, but I find it hard to believe he or she wouldn't turn in anything.

That said, why is he or she taking the class? If it's a requirement to graduate, then I'd suspect the bare minimum of work would be sufficient. But if it isn't, he or she probably wouldn't take it at all, just wouldn't bother with something you already know and don't want to learn more about.

More specifics?

Lorien