How effective are essays as an academic genre? The case of examinations

Anthony Haynes writes: On The Grey Lit Café we frequently focus on specific genres.* In this episode, we focus on the genre of essays. In particular, we discuss the use of essays in examinations. 

Engy Moussa (University of Cambridge) and I debate:

• the strengths and weaknesses of essays as an assessment tool
• multiple ways to help students improve the quality of their essays

*Examples include abstracts, blogs, book proposals, dissertations, emails, funding proposals, letters, online lectures, newsletters, pitches, preprints, podcasts, posters, reports, and white papers.

Further listening

We hope you found this episode rewarding. If so, you might find the following of particular interest:

• Dissertations and books: how are they related?
• On line lectures: Bart Hallmark on pitfalls and good practice

Reference

Stella Cottrell, The study skills handbook (Palgrave)

Credits

• Sound production: Bart Hallmark (who on this episode struggled nobly with poor recording quality!)
• Music: from Handel's Water Music, courtesy of the United States Marine Band and Marine Chamber Orchestra