too important

Administrative decisions regarding graduation, promotion, classification and guidance could then be based on a cumulative record of the student's abilities, aptitudes, attainments, interests, difficulties and potentialities. Such decisions are far too important to be made on the basis of two or three final papers.

This conclusion — that we need more rather than less examinations — is dictated by the circumstances of this particular university. It would not necessarily be appropriate for other institutions, even within New Zealand. An ideal, "spontaneous" university, such as I described in the last article, could conceivably do without any examinations at all. But the ideology and traditions of such a university would have to differ radically from those we know at Victoria. Our university serves a community whose needs are not merely for "educated persons" but also for highly trained specialists whose knowledge of substantive areas and methodology is more precisely measurable.

It follows that as well as giving more examinations, we must devise better ones. Having decided what we want to measure (and this is no small problem), we must set about measuring it in a valid, reliable, scientific way.

Let us consider the instruments at our disposal. There are at least five major ones: the essay, the short-answer or multiple-choice test, the observation of behavioural performance, the oral examination, and the traditional examination.

The first, the essay, combines all the advantages (or supposed advantages) of the traditional examination with few of its disadvantages. Writing an essay requires discrimination, analysis, synthesis, and coherence; it requires a thorough understanding of the subject and reveals the student's ability to organise his thoughts into a logical argument; it allows the student to refine his presentation until he is satisfied that it represents his best, and its depth is limited only by his own resources. As against all these good qualities, the type of essay usually set at Victoria has two major drawbacks: (1) it takes as long as the traditional examination to mark; and (2) it is an invitation to lazy or dishonest students to cheat.

These problems can never be fully eliminated, but I think certain precautions can minimise their effects.

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The difficulties of marking an essay can be considerably reduced by specifying clearly what is desired. Thus an essay question such as "Describe the origins of World War I" is both more difficult to answer pointed'y and to mark fairly than the following:

"Explain why each of the great European powers — Austria, Germany, France and Great Britain — must bear some of the responsibility for the events which led immediately to the outbreak of World War I."

Similarly, the more advanced essay topic, "Discuss the dichotomy between conflict and consensus" is absurdly vague by comparison with:

"How can a society incorporate continuous conflict among its members and yet maintain social cohesion and the legitimacy of state authority? Consider this question in relation to the views of Marx and de Tocqueville."

As well as a clear specification of the topic, students need to know what qualities they should incorporate into their essays. Explicit, operational instructions with regard to requirements should be given with the questions. A vague indication that grading will be partly on the basis of "good organisation" is insufficient. Specifically, this may mean that students should (a) determine early in their discussion what point or points they wish to make; (b) select information relative to making these points; (c) use this information in such a way that it contributes to making these points; (d) offer conclusions when they have presented enough evidence to warrant them; (e) avoid using irrelevant and extraneous information; etc.

If teachers do want these things, then they should say so, and not take them for granted. Markers should also have an explicit marking guide, covering general aspects such as knowledge of subject, critical assessment of theoretical claims, correct use of specialist terminology, good organisation, grammar and spelling, etc. (with a definite number of marks allocated for each aspect), so that they look for the elements they want and comment on any insufficiencies. These guides should be known to the student as well as to the marker.

The problem of dishonesty also yields to concerted effort. The tendency to use long unacknowledged quotations is rarely serious where students know that they will not be penalised for using acknowledged ones.