tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post8103347173019635707..comments2024-03-28T02:46:03.227-04:00Comments on The Historical Society: Richardson's Rules of Order, Part VIIb: Tips for Taking College Essay ExamsRandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-73321134756897947632009-09-02T15:58:39.206-04:002009-09-02T15:58:39.206-04:00I must admit, I use study guides.
Don't we al...<i>I must admit, I use study guides.</i><br /><br />Don't we all? I usually give out a list of essay questions well in advance, from which the essays on the test wil be drawn. Or I do take-home essays, which takes the guess-work out of it, and give them the questions far enough in advance that they can ask questions about scope and focus. Either way, some basic instruction about essay structure and the importance of documentation goes with it....Jonathan Dresnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04356112719229675996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-15614930410091711302009-08-27T09:08:15.537-04:002009-08-27T09:08:15.537-04:00I must admit, I use study guides. I like to let th...I must admit, I use study guides. I like to let the students know in advance what sorts of things might be on the exam. <br /><br />http://www.enc.edu/history/forging_nation_first_ex.htmlRandallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-27306715727176164422009-08-26T19:18:16.138-04:002009-08-26T19:18:16.138-04:00I find wide variations among professors in their f...I find wide variations among professors in their formation of essay questions and so think that it is really important to lay out the guidelines for how narrow or wide we want our students thinking/writing. I still struggle with forming good essay questions--I find myself torn between developing one(s) that reflect a tight narrow subject and ones that reflect the theme(s) of a chunk of the semester. Especially in teaching World Civ or other surveys, I want to know students can talk about change over time in a coherent fashion.<br /><br />We really need to spell out our expectations in the manner Heather has done, but I frequently don't make the time.Lisa Clark Dillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155783885263417225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-1901802911936229012009-08-24T11:14:14.997-04:002009-08-24T11:14:14.997-04:00Simply launching into a different essay than the o...<i>Simply launching into a different essay than the one assigned is a mistake.</i><br /><br />I want to emphasize this: in-class essays are often graded (in significant part) in terms of completeness, whether they cover the relevant material. Too narrow of a thesis, or one which comes from some other essay, real or imagined, is going to point in the wrong direction. In addition to budgeting time for conclusion, students should budget some time to reconsider the question as asked and whether the answer really addresses the range of relevant material.Jonathan Dresnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04356112719229675996noreply@blogger.com