Emma Holifield, Books Editor suggests that the University should set more frequent, smaller assessments to take the pressure off students than set large essays all for the end of term.
With exam season upon us I have suddenly suffered from the unfortunate revelation that I’ve forgotten how on earth to write an essay. My ability to churn out vaguely interesting thoughts under stressful timed conditions at A Level is a distant memory and the idea of all too soon having to produce coherent critical commentaries and thought-provoking arguments fills me with dread.
Photo credits: Emmafoto
Although no doubt an idea that will be ill-received by many, I am of the opinion that writing more essays would help solve this sudden panic. At A Level, my ability to write under pressure was only kept up through practice. But with such huge gaps between summative assessments, I am increasingly coming to find that each time an assignment is set I almost have to learn how to write again.
Madness, I hear some of you protest, more essays is a ridiculous idea! But in my opinion, being set more frequent, smaller assessments would actually lessen the pressure. By the end of term, when the English department seems to bizarrely think it is a good idea to put ALL their deadlines, I’m often so worn out that I produce work vastly inferior to what I could have written earlier in the term. Additionally, if more frequent work was set, each piece could count for a smaller percentage. This would provide more leeway, meaning one poor essay written during end of term madness wouldn’t bring down an entire module’s mark.
Equally, although formative essays are supposedly there as an indicator, I know I’m not alone in finding the grade I get for these is often wildly different to my summative assignments; in one module my grade differed by 22 marks! The feedback received for this formative work is also often of little use, with attempts to provide ‘fun’ preliminary assignments meaning the rubric often bears no resemblance to summative requirements.
Additionally, although the jump from school to university is huge, in first year the only writing guidance we seemed to receive was focused on the dire topic of referencing skills. Although we’re not here to be spoon-fed, having some extra guidance would be incredibly useful.
And ultimately, with my entire grade resting on so few pieces of work, what am I paying for? Although I love my English student timetable (or blank piece of paper as my housemate often calls it), for the cost of my degree I am receiving very little feedback.
I am in no way a workaholic asking to write more massive essays. Equally I understand this isn’t primary school, at university we’re not going to be given a gold star saying ‘keep up the good work.’ But for me, being wildly out of practice and having received little feedback, having a few bits of prior work to fall back on would relieve the pressure of exams no end, something I’m sure many would currently appreciate.
Emma Holifield, Books Editor
Would you rather smaller and more frequent assessments throughout the year or is a frantic exam season a price worth paying for a quiet term? Leave a comment below or write to the Comment team at the Exeposé Comment Facebook Group or on Twitter @CommentExepose.
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