On Monday I gave a final exam in my Crusade and Jihad course. It required the students to write two short essays, which I had told the students in advance.
Chatting with the students before the exam began, I was apprised of a curious fact: a prof in another department, a prof also fond of requiring essay questions on finals, expected those essays to have titles and complained bitterly when they were not provided. I was flabbergasted. I had never had a student title a final exam essay. Though I did of course get several from the students in this week's exam.
Question: If you are a prof, do you expect or get titles on exam essays? If you have written essays on exams, have you felt inspired to put titles on them?
Do math answers ever get titles, I wonder...
Image: Sweating over the perfect title while studying for the big exam...
Titles are matters adiaphora. I'd actually consider a title on an essay exam rather weird, thankyouverymuch. For me, it's asserting an argument that I crave: give me a thesis, a viewpoint, near the start of the essay and support it throughout the paper with historical evidence and/or historical thinking. Not too much to ask, eh?
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this or seen someone do it, for what that's worth given my junior station.
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