International Conference on Enhancement and Innovation in Higher Education Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow 9-11 June 2015 Welcome

The expectations of essay writing for students and staff Michael P McEwan Academic Development Unit University of Glasgow

Why Look at Expectations? As Biggs (1996, p. 348) states: ‘The learner brings an accumulation of assumptions, motives, intentions, and previous knowledge that envelopes every teaching/learning situation and determines the course and quality of the learning that may take place.’ Student outcomes are influenced by the agreement between student expectations and the realities of the learning environment (set by teachers, disciplinary cultures, etc).

Students and Teachers? A mismatch between students’ expectations and the first year learning experience can result in poorer attainment (Smith and Werleib, 2005). Any difference between student expectations and the reality becomes increasingly difficult to manage as first year progresses (Lowe and Cook, 2003). Understanding of student and teaching staff expectations and perceptions of tasks are vital factors in supporting transition to HE.

Why Focus on Essays? Essays are a dominant assessment method in many disciplines (Race, 2009) and the impact on student outcomes is obvious for summative essays. Students expectations and interpretations don’t typically match the teacher’s (Norton, 1996). Essay writing requires experience; its more than just knowledge (Hounsell, 1997).

What Might Affect Expectations? ‘Students who have experienced different life paths come with different expectations, different needs, different learning styles, and different ambitions’ (White, 2014). Academic background? Academic, socio- cultural & language differences? Are these not also potential factors for an increasingly diverse group of international teachers?

The Study To what extent are expectations and perceptions regarding essay writing shared across teacher/lecturers and first year students? Concerns regarding essays Understanding of essay assessments Expectations of required essay- writing skills How do you approach interpreting an essay question?

A Focus on Essay Questions Two sample essay questions were created to analyse respondents’ approaches to interpreting essays questions. Here is one of them ‘Discuss and evaluate the most influential factors on the development of the English language between the years 1400 and 1800.’ What words do you immediately focus on?

A Focus on Essay Questions Two sample essay questions were created to analyse respondents’ approaches to interpreting essays questions. Here is one of them ‘Discuss and evaluate the most influential factors on the development of the English language between the years 1400 and 1800.’ The verbs of instruction?

A Focus on Essay Questions Two sample essay questions were created to analyse respondents’ approaches to interpreting essays questions. Here is one of them ‘Discuss and evaluate the most influential factors on the development of the English language between the years 1400 and 1800.’ The overall topic?

A Focus on Essay Questions Two sample essay questions were created to analyse respondents’ approaches to interpreting essays questions. Here is one of them ‘Discuss and evaluate the most influential factors on the development of the English language between the years 1400 and 1800.’ The limiting context?

A Focus on Essay Questions What about this question? What words do you immediately focus on? ‘Identify the main political actors and analyse their role in the 37 days prior to the start of the First World War.’ What words do you immediately focus on?

A Focus on Essay Questions What about this question? What words do you immediately focus on? ‘Identify the main political actors and analyse their role in the 37 days prior to the start of the First World War.’ The verbs of instruction?

A Focus on Essay Questions What about this question? What words do you immediately focus on? ‘Identify the main political actors and analyse their role in the 37 days prior to the start of the First World War.’ The overall topic?

A Focus on Essay Questions What about this question? What words do you immediately focus on? ‘Identify the main political actors and analyse their role in the 37 days prior to the start of the First World War.’ The limiting context?

Key Points on Essay Questions Students (79%) pay more attention to the verbs compared to teachers (42%); in fact 38% of teachers did not pick out the verbs at all. The ‘teacher’ group included a significant proportion of markers for essay assignments, so what is it these ‘markers’ are inherently looking for?

Key Points on Essay Questions Teachers in this study always focus on the topic of an essay question (42% entirely, 58% partially) whereas a fair proportion of students (28%) fail to focus on the topic of an essay question (they were looking at the verbs). Could this be why teachers often complain that students ‘don’t answer the question’...

Other Findings: similarities Teachers and students on a number of things: examples and good sources are needed in an essay, courses don’t support academic writing development, prior education has not prepared students for university writing very well but...

Other Findings: similarities Staff (63%) students (51%) agree: students don’t really know what to do to get a good grade nor do students understand what the marker is looking for (43% of staff and 47% of students). That’s a lot of students that are feeling a bit lost.

Other Findings: differences Students (97%) thought they focused well on answering set essay questions but staff (79%) disagreed. Staff (71%) expect critical analysis of sources; students thought using sources (65%) was enough. Conceptions of plagiarism were different for students and staff: students thought they understood it, teachers thought students didn’t. Students were confident that they avoided plagiarism, staff were less confident.

So, what affected these differences? ‘Students who have experienced different life paths come with different expectations, different needs, different learning styles, and different ambitions’ (White, 2014). International background WAS NOT really a factor. Experience of and time spent in higher education WAS a factor.

Implications for Teaching Essays for first year students are a bit daunting – your students don’t really know what the goalposts are. They are still novices in HE and this means a lack of experience. Have you discussed the ‘goalposts’ with your students? And your colleagues? Including GTAs? And have you given everyone a bit of practice in applying those rules?

Implications for Teaching Essays for first year students are a bit daunting – your students don’t really know what the goalposts are. They are still novices in HE and this means a lack of experience. Can you use exemplars that illustrate essays that address the question and those that don’t? Can you facilitate an exercise (e.g. Carroll, 2007, p. 53: ‘where do you draw the line?’) on academic integrity?

References Biggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher education, 32(3), pp 347 – 364. Carroll, J. (2014). Tools for Teaching in an Educationally Mobile World (Internationalisation in Higher Education Series). Routledge. Hounsell, D. (1997). Contrasting Conceptions of Essay-writing. The Experience of Learning, 2, pp. 106 – 125. Lowe, H. & Cook, A. (2003). Mind the Gap: are students prepared for HE? Journal of Further and Higher Education, 27(1), pp. 53 – 76. Norton, L. S., Dickins, T. E., & McLaughlin Cook, N. (1996). “Rules of the Game" in essay writing. Psychology Teaching Review, 5, Race, P. (2009). Designing assessment to improve physical sciences learning. Hull: Higher Education Academy. Smith, J. & Werlieb, E. (2005). Do First-Year College Students’ Expectations Align with their First-Year Experiences? NASPA Journal, 42(2), pp. 153 – 174. White, P. (2013). Embracing Diversity. 7 th Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, 9 th January 2013, [online]. Available at: [Accessed on 10th July 2014].