Essays
Essays allow students to demonstrate their ability to understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. They can vary in length from short paragraphs to lengthy papers and incorporate different styles like:
- descriptive or informational
- persuasive or argumentative
- evaluative or critical
When are essays a good assessment choice?
Essays are a flexible tool because they can be tailored to assess almost any type of
Use an essay when you want students to be deeply engaged in a subject and apply complex cognitive processes. To write an essay, students must evaluate information, analyze concepts and present them creatively and logically.
Essay Assessment Tips
When you use an essay for assessment keep these things in mind:
- Be clear about your expectations and use a rubric
- Allow yourself plenty of time to score essays
- Provide meaningful feedback to students as they progress
- Incorporate essay questions with objective tests to assess complex cognitive processes