Assignment
essays are developed from set questions that give students a period of time to research a topic and produce their answer with references to their sources of information. While there are some disadvantages with using practice essays as a judgment tool, there
sound educational purposes underpinning
this
practice.
This
essay examines the reasons why homework essays are beneficial for
student
learning and considers some of the problems with
this
method of estimate.
essay tasks are set to assist students to develop mastery of their study exposed.
Firstly
, post tasks enhance understandings about susceptible matter. Yang and Baker (2005) reason that “to master your learning materials and extend your understandings, you need to write about the meanings you gain from your research” (
p
. 1).
Secondly
, research (Jinx, 2004; Zapper, 2006) clearly demonstrates that students learn the writing conventions of a conditional area while they are researching, reading and writing in their discipline.
This
activity helps them to “crack the code” of the discipline (Bloggs, 2003,
p
. 44).
Thus
, students are learning susceptible matter and how to write in that disciplinary area by researching and writing chore essays.
Using
assignment
essays for assessment supports
student
learning better than the traditional examination system. It is considered that coursework
assignment
essays can lessen the extreme stress experienced by some students over ‘sudden-death’ end of semester examinations:
If we insist that all students write about everything they have learned in their study courses at the same time and in the same place (e.g. In examinations), we are not given all of our students equal opportunities. Some students are not daunted by the exam experience while others suffer ‘exam nerves’ and perform at the lowest level of their capabilities.
Wonderland University, 2006,
p
. 4)
Additionally
, Jones et al.
2004, pp. 36-37) propose that
assignment
essays can be used to assess
student
learning mid-course and so provide them with helpful feedback before they are subjected to the exam experience. Exams only provide students with a mark rather than specific feedback on their progress.
Therefore
, setting
assignment
essays for a substantial part of
student
assessment is a much fairer approach than the one-off examination testing.
As an appraisal tool, chore essays have some disadvantages for lecturers and students. It has been found that position essays consume a great deal of staff generation and money to mark and scholar turn to prepare (Sankey & Liger, 2005,
p
. 192). A consequence of these problems is that comment to students is frequently delayed, and
this
is much less useful to students than rapid reaction (
p
. 294). It is partly because of these disadvantages of the moment and expense that other assessments
such
as multiple-choice tests and short answer questions have an enduring place in the tertiary learning environment.
To conclude, it seems that duty essays continue to have a prominent role in tertiary education as an appraisal tool.
This
is mainly because they are very effective in developing knowledge and writing skills in exposed areas.
Also
, practice essays can be less stressful than examinations as they allow students to show their understanding of content in less pressured circumstances.
On the other hand
, the point consuming nature of writing and marking essay points to some disadvantages that
also
need to be considered. The weight of evidence,
however
, supports the writing of appointment essays for undergraduate judgment because
this
approach has
such
positive and proven effects for improved undergraduate learning.