Essays
I never had essay exams because I thought it was a fear for my students but after I tried it once some of them liked the idea and did really good and were creative but the others used it as tool not to study even though I had did review they still didn't pass.
I switched up on them and did a mixture of things on my test which makes them think a little more after trial and error I now do fill in the blank define true and false
I agree that there is room for subjectivity in essays; however, I think that you can try to make them as objective as possible in the wording of the questions - students have to make a specific number of correct points, for example.
I really liked the tip about asking students to highlight/underline the most important part of their answers. That had never occurred to me before. What a great tip!
Imelda, English grading is tough to streamline because essay exams usually are the most effective testing and grading option. It's wonderful to hear you have a multiple-choice exam for the final. I am curious to know how you are able to use this testing format given the subject you are teaching.
Dr. Melissa Read
I teach English, so I have a lot of essays to grade throughout the term. So for the final, I have a multiple-choice exam. It makes grading so much easier!
I have never liked essay exams because I always felt the grading to be a bit subjective. There is always an argument that can be made that the student deserved a slightly higher grade or that she made a point I thought was incomplete. That is why I always go for short-answer and multiple choice. Less hassle and more precision.
