Writing Around a Question on an Exam

In my posting of September 12, 2010 on exams, I mentioned that students "write around" a question on an exam. A student asked me in October for an example. This posting is an explanation of writing around the question.

Let's say that an exam asks you "to discuss how you would use motivation theory to inspire low-level employees in an organization." Furthermore, the question tells you that you will get 50% for writing on motivation theories or approaches and 50% for applying them to an explanation of how you will motivate low-level employees. This is a perfect scenario for a student, who is confused, to write around the question.

When a student writes around a question, there are usually two reasons. The first is, naturally that the student actually knows nothing about motivational theory. So, for their exam they write about motivating low-level employees, giving a lot of information, but don't relate it directly to any specific theory or approach. This means that the marker is faced with a lot of irrelevant information that is not directly related to theory. A student giving this response could not really pass. As far as the marker is concerned, the student has given no proof that they know any motivational theories as they have given no examples. In fact, the student may know motivational theories but may not understand that they should write specifically about them. Sadly, a marker cannot grade a student for anything but what they've written.

The second student understands all the theories but has no idea how to use them to discuss motivating actual employees. They give you a lot of information on the theories, but don't relate them to any actual example of how to motivate low-level employees. This student may pass, depending on whether or not they may have added any details that seem to be about motivating low-level employees, but they won't do well. If students want more information, I would be happy to write more on this subject in a future posting.

KB