pay for the skills which process information in speedy, critical
and creative ways, not for the ability to quote Browning or
recognize an aspidistra. Have we not been deficient in teaching

and requiring such skills?

Admittedly, the subjective element which makes the essay examination
unsatisfactory as a measuring tool diminished its status. It should
be noted that much of the research dealt with examinations which
were 'do or die' affairs, finals and entry examinations in which
objectivity was the primary virtue and any knowledge of the examinee
was not only impossible but undesirable. The situation in college
courses is demonstrably different. Students will probably have an
approach to the material which is similiar to that of their instructor;
the danger of the ‘'self-fulfilling' prophecy in grading a student is
still great. The objective test undoubtedly checks this; both kinds

are valuable not only as measuring devices but as learning tools.

Apart from the teacher's subjectivity in evaluation, the other
argument against the essay examination is the panic which it
supposedly produces in students, paralysing their faculties of
comprehension and composition. There are, of course, some students
who react like this to any test situation, and students who have been
away from school for a long time are particularly prone to be anxious
when a timed test is in question. Consequently many of us have felt
that such tests were unfair to students who were otherwise excellent
--and we discontinued the tests, or we allowed them to be done at
home, or we thought up a substitute. We meant well, we took the

pressure off; we avoided the problem instead of solving it.

Reflection suggests that perhaps the student's panic was not the
result of the examination but of the 'do or die' situation and the

lack of practice. Consequently, when discussing the ‘work contract'

 

for a semester, I now require everyone to sit a Trial Examination
approximately four weeks before the end of the semester. (It is
open-book, an irrelevance which makes students more comfortable.)
When it is returned, students who are satisfied with their grade
do nat need to sit the Final Test: those who want additional
practice, or who feel they could do better, take the examination

again. The better grade is included in the semester average.