Essay Test

The essay test is the traditional type of examination in which the subject or the examinee is made to discuss, enumerate, compare, state, explain, analyze or criticize. Essay test are develop to be able to measure the student’s mastery and comprehension of material, analytic ability, memory and intellectual capabilities. Essay tests, nowadays is used as an important educational tool especially for examinations. Due to its popularity, essay test had gained a lot of attention and most people wanted to use it but before that, we must take a look first at its types, the advantages as well as the disadvantages in using it and its effectiveness in the learning process.

Types of essay examination questions

There are certain types of essay examination questions and these are the list of those:

1. Enumeration-typed questions.

                                     A. Complete enumeration. These type of questions just asked the list of certain things, person, countries or phenomenon abstract or concrete.

                                     Ex. Give the members of the United Nations.

                                     B. Selective or evaluation enumeration. These also asked the list of certain things, person, country or phenomenon abstract or concrete but with a limited number with a considered judgment.

                                     Ex. Name the three presidents of the Philippines who contributed much in education.

2. Descriptive-typed questions. These questions asked about certain things that will be descried using the examinees five senses (taste, smell, sight, feel and hearing).

3. Comparison-typed questions.

                                     A. Comparison in general. These type of question simply asked the similarities present between two or more thing.

                                     Ex. Compare democracy with communism.

                                     B. Comparison with a given basis. This type of question asked also to give the detail of comparison between two or more things but with a set area or basis.

                                     Ex. Compare Philippines and Japan on the basis of industrialization.

                                     C. Contrast in general. This type of question requires to present the complete or overall contradictory traits present between two or more things.

                                     Ex. Contrast the life in the city from a life in an urban village.

                                     D. Contrast with a given basis. This type of question asked also to give the detail of contradicting traits between two or more things but with a set area or basis.

                                     Ex. Contrasts Philippines with Japan on the basis of politics.

4. Explanation or exposition. This type of question may or may not be done with illustrations of cause and effect, relationships, process, decision for or against, principle, concept, idea, rule or any generalization.

                                     Ex. Explain the meaning of democracy.

5. Development of a topic, a theme or a subject.

                                     Ex. In about 100 words, write about your summer vacation.

6. Argument for or against.

                                     Ex. Why do you in favor of the democratic type of government?

7. Analysis. This type of question requires analytic ability and reasoning.

                                     Ex. Analyze the economic-social-political relationships in our present time.

8. Summary. This type of questions requires the examinee to sum up his/her ideas about a certain topic and get its main and important concepts.

                                     Ex. Summarize the discussion about “A rose for Emily”.

9. Evaluation and criticism. This question makes use of the examinee’s judgment over the topic.

                                     Ex. What are the good results of martial law?

10. Outline.

                                     Ex. Make an outline on the unit of culture.

11. Classification. This type of question requires organization of thoughts being sort out in an orderly manner.

                                     Ex. Make a scientific classification of chemical elements.

12. Reorganization of facts and data.

                                     Ex. Reorganize the discussion on family planning so as to give emphasis on rhythm.

13. Narration. This type of question makes us of the examinee’s memory skill.

                                     Ex. Narrate the story of “Romeo and Juliet”.

Advantages on using Essay Examination

       Essay examinations have good qualities that attract more teachers to use it as an educational tool and these are summarized in these three (3) characteristic:

·         Essay Examination is easy to make. It just utilize least time than making matching type examination. You can just make several essay questions for a two-hour exam than making a lot of matching-typed questions for a two-hour exam.

·         Essay Examination is an effective way to measure the student’s knowledge and abilities. It assesses the ability to think, recall, analyze, compare, contrast, state, explain, create and interpret. It also allows the student’s to generate their answers rather than to choose them within a broad limit.

·         Essay Examination lessens the possibility of cheating. In essay questions, the answer are long and hardens the student’s chance to copy it word by word whereas in matching-typed questions the students have a lot of chance to copy the one-word answer.

Disadvantages of Essay Examinations

       There are also certain bad qualities in essay-typed examinations and here are the following:

·         Essay exams are time consuming. A student may spend too much time in answering one essay question than answering all the matching-typed questions. It is also time consuming for the checkers for they must allotted time in reading the answer of each student in each question to determine whether the student got or didn’t have the right answer.

·         Essay exams are difficult to score. Teachers must take time in reading the answer in the essay questions, correcting through all those misspelled words, wrong grammars and illegible handwriting, and repeating ideas.

·         Essay exams are very open to diversions. Most students just to give long answers tend to divert a bit far from the topic.

Effectiveness in the Learning Process

       Essay questions are designed to provide the students the opportunity to answer questions in their own words (Ornstein, 1990). They can be used in assessing the student’s skill in analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, thinking logically, solving problems and hypothesizing. According to Gronlund and Linn (1990), there are 12 complex learning abilities that is developed during essay questions.

·         Explain cause-effect relationship;

·         Descried application of principles;

·         Present relevant arguments;

·         Formulate tenable hypotheses;

·         State necessary assumptions;

·         Describe the limitations of data;

·         Explain the methods and procedures;

·         Produce, organize and express ideas;

·         Integrate learning in different areas;

·         Create original; and

·         Evaluate the worth of ideas

The Pointers in Making an Essay Test

1. Answer the Question.

This is the first and most important suggestion. Answering the wrong question is a common mistake made by students. Unfortunately, it can be a real disaster for the grade you get in an exam. Make sure you understand what the examiner wants; it is highly advisable to refer back to the question throughout the answer. This point may sound like stating the obvious; but, in my experience, answering the wrong question is the biggest cause of a disappointing exam result.

2. Good Introduction.

In an introduction to an essay you should offer a short, concise summary of the main points to be raised. If appropriate, you could clarify key concepts. Introductions go wrong when students go into too much detail, and then repeat their arguments in the main body of the text. Generally speaking, it is advisable to start off with short sentences, rather than complex sentences. This will help create a clarity of thought and purpose.

3. Essay Plan.

A plan can help to gather your thoughts, and make sure you do not forget to mention key arguments. It is an opportunity to brainstorm what you know about the topic. However, it is important not to get into too much detail – writing keywords and phrases are the best solution. I would suggest spending 5 -10 % of your allotted time on creating an introduction.

4. 3 Steps of an argument.

• The first step is the basic statement and argument; this part tests your knowledge.
• The second step is to explain your statement. Don’t forget you need to explain in relation to the question. Also, just because you think the explanation is obvious, doesn’t mean you can avoid putting it down.
• The third step is to look at the argument with critical distance. This is an opportunity to discuss why the basic premise may be wrong or limited. It is an opportunity to show you can think for yourself, rather than just memorise a list of points. This final step, called analysis or evaluation, is the most difficult part, but is required to get the highest mark.

I write this with Economics in mind, but, I’m sure it is relevant to others subjects as well.

5. Conclusion.

In a conclusion you can weigh up the different arguments and decide which are the strongest and most relevant. A conclusion should try to add something new, and not just repeat previous points. For example, you can say why an argument is particularly strong and give justification.

6. How Much To Write?

I often get asked this question by students. So many students will write 1 side and then stop, almost in mid sentence, because they think this means they have finished. There is no right answer as to how much you should write. The important thing is to write as much as you can in the allotted time, but, only write what is relevant. Although it is true quality is more important than quantity, don’t try to do a minimalist style and write as little as possible. Generally speaking, if you write more you have a better chance of getting more points across.

7. Did you answer the Question?

Hopefully you didn’t leave it to the end of your answer to realise you answered the wrong question.

The essay test is the traditional type of examination in which the subject or the examinee is made to discuss, enumerate, compare, state, explain, analyze or criticize. Essay test are develop to be able to measure the student’s mastery and comprehension of material, analytic ability, memory and intellectual capabilities. Essay tests, nowadays is used as an important educational tool especially for examinations. Due to its popularity, essay test had gained a lot of attention and most people wanted to use it but before that, we must take a look first at its types, the advantages as well as the disadvantages in using it and its effectiveness in the learning process.

Types of essay examination questions

There are certain types of essay examination questions and these are the list of those:

1. Enumeration-typed questions.

                                     A. Complete enumeration. These type of questions just asked the list of certain things, person, countries or phenomenon abstract or concrete.

                                     Ex. Give the members of the United Nations.

                                     B. Selective or evaluation enumeration. These also asked the list of certain things, person, country or phenomenon abstract or concrete but with a limited number with a considered judgment.

                                     Ex. Name the three presidents of the Philippines who contributed much in education.

2. Descriptive-typed questions. These questions asked about certain things that will be descried using the examinees five senses (taste, smell, sight, feel and hearing).

3. Comparison-typed questions.

                                     A. Comparison in general. These type of question simply asked the similarities present between two or more thing.

                                     Ex. Compare democracy with communism.

                                     B. Comparison with a given basis. This type of question asked also to give the detail of comparison between two or more things but with a set area or basis.

                                     Ex. Compare Philippines and Japan on the basis of industrialization.

                                     C. Contrast in general. This type of question requires to present the complete or overall contradictory traits present between two or more things.

                                     Ex. Contrast the life in the city from a life in an urban village.

                                     D. Contrast with a given basis. This type of question asked also to give the detail of contradicting traits between two or more things but with a set area or basis.

                                     Ex. Contrasts Philippines with Japan on the basis of politics.

4. Explanation or exposition. This type of question may or may not be done with illustrations of cause and effect, relationships, process, decision for or against, principle, concept, idea, rule or any generalization.

                                     Ex. Explain the meaning of democracy.

5. Development of a topic, a theme or a subject.

                                     Ex. In about 100 words, write about your summer vacation.

6. Argument for or against.

                                     Ex. Why do you in favor of the democratic type of government?

7. Analysis. This type of question requires analytic ability and reasoning.

                                     Ex. Analyze the economic-social-political relationships in our present time.

8. Summary. This type of questions requires the examinee to sum up his/her ideas about a certain topic and get its main and important concepts.

                                     Ex. Summarize the discussion about “A rose for Emily”.

9. Evaluation and criticism. This question makes use of the examinee’s judgment over the topic.

                                     Ex. What are the good results of martial law?

10. Outline.

                                     Ex. Make an outline on the unit of culture.

11. Classification. This type of question requires organization of thoughts being sort out in an orderly manner.

                                     Ex. Make a scientific classification of chemical elements.

12. Reorganization of facts and data.

                                     Ex. Reorganize the discussion on family planning so as to give emphasis on rhythm.

13. Narration. This type of question makes us of the examinee’s memory skill.

                                     Ex. Narrate the story of “Romeo and Juliet”.

Advantages on using Essay Examination

       Essay examinations have good qualities that attract more teachers to use it as an educational tool and these are summarized in these three (3) characteristic:

·         Essay Examination is easy to make. It just utilize least time than making matching type examination. You can just make several essay questions for a two-hour exam than making a lot of matching-typed questions for a two-hour exam.

·         Essay Examination is an effective way to measure the student’s knowledge and abilities. It assesses the ability to think, recall, analyze, compare, contrast, state, explain, create and interpret. It also allows the student’s to generate their answers rather than to choose them within a broad limit.

·         Essay Examination lessens the possibility of cheating. In essay questions, the answer are long and hardens the student’s chance to copy it word by word whereas in matching-typed questions the students have a lot of chance to copy the one-word answer.

Disadvantages of Essay Examinations

       There are also certain bad qualities in essay-typed examinations and here are the following:

·         Essay exams are time consuming. A student may spend too much time in answering one essay question than answering all the matching-typed questions. It is also time consuming for the checkers for they must allotted time in reading the answer of each student in each question to determine whether the student got or didn’t have the right answer.

·         Essay exams are difficult to score. Teachers must take time in reading the answer in the essay questions, correcting through all those misspelled words, wrong grammars and illegible handwriting, and repeating ideas.

·         Essay exams are very open to diversions. Most students just to give long answers tend to divert a bit far from the topic.

Effectiveness in the Learning Process

       Essay questions are designed to provide the students the opportunity to answer questions in their own words (Ornstein, 1990). They can be used in assessing the student’s skill in analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, thinking logically, solving problems and hypothesizing. According to Gronlund and Linn (1990), there are 12 complex learning abilities that is developed during essay questions.

·         Explain cause-effect relationship;

·         Descried application of principles;

·         Present relevant arguments;

·         Formulate tenable hypotheses;

·         State necessary assumptions;

·         Describe the limitations of data;

·         Explain the methods and procedures;

·         Produce, organize and express ideas;

·         Integrate learning in different areas;

·         Create original; and

·         Evaluate the worth of ideas

The Pointers in Making an Essay Test

1. Answer the Question.

This is the first and most important suggestion. Answering the wrong question is a common mistake made by students. Unfortunately, it can be a real disaster for the grade you get in an exam. Make sure you understand what the examiner wants; it is highly advisable to refer back to the question throughout the answer. This point may sound like stating the obvious; but, in my experience, answering the wrong question is the biggest cause of a disappointing exam result.

2. Good Introduction.

In an introduction to an essay you should offer a short, concise summary of the main points to be raised. If appropriate, you could clarify key concepts. Introductions go wrong when students go into too much detail, and then repeat their arguments in the main body of the text. Generally speaking, it is advisable to start off with short sentences, rather than complex sentences. This will help create a clarity of thought and purpose.

3. Essay Plan.

A plan can help to gather your thoughts, and make sure you do not forget to mention key arguments. It is an opportunity to brainstorm what you know about the topic. However, it is important not to get into too much detail – writing keywords and phrases are the best solution. I would suggest spending 5 -10 % of your allotted time on creating an introduction.

4. 3 Steps of an argument.

• The first step is the basic statement and argument; this part tests your knowledge.
• The second step is to explain your statement. Don’t forget you need to explain in relation to the question. Also, just because you think the explanation is obvious, doesn’t mean you can avoid putting it down.
• The third step is to look at the argument with critical distance. This is an opportunity to discuss why the basic premise may be wrong or limited. It is an opportunity to show you can think for yourself, rather than just memorise a list of points. This final step, called analysis or evaluation, is the most difficult part, but is required to get the highest mark.

I write this with Economics in mind, but, I’m sure it is relevant to others subjects as well.

5. Conclusion.

In a conclusion you can weigh up the different arguments and decide which are the strongest and most relevant. A conclusion should try to add something new, and not just repeat previous points. For example, you can say why an argument is particularly strong and give justification.

6. How Much To Write?

I often get asked this question by students. So many students will write 1 side and then stop, almost in mid sentence, because they think this means they have finished. There is no right answer as to how much you should write. The important thing is to write as much as you can in the allotted time, but, only write what is relevant. Although it is true quality is more important than quantity, don’t try to do a minimalist style and write as little as possible. Generally speaking, if you write more you have a better chance of getting more points across.

7. Did you answer the Question?

Hopefully you didn’t leave it to the end of your answer to realise you answered the wrong question.

Essay Test Meaning