As Villanova enters midterm season, the question about which form of assessment is better, standard exams or essays and projects, arises. Would you rather be hunched over a desk for two stressful hours, or have several days to thoughtfully prepare your best work? When professors assign essays instead of traditional midterm exams, they give students the opportunity to reflect, research and refine their ideas. Unlike cramming for a test that is over in a single 50-minute class period, essays allow for deeper engagement with the material. Of course, every student has different strengths, some may thrive under timed exams, but in my view, essays are the clear winner for ways to assess students. They offer a more meaningful, flexible and fair way to demonstrate what we’ve learned.
When you are cramming for an exam you aren’t truly retaining the information, you are trying to memorize it. Once the exam is complete most students cannot remember what their test was on or have taken any real value from that lesson. Assigning papers and more holistic assignments provides the opportunity for knowledge from the lesson to be retained. A more long-term understanding of the knowledge is fostered by this method, allowing for students to have the information seep into their brain as they write their paper or form their project.
If you are like me, you are also not a strong test taker. Test taking skills and knowledge of a certain topic of subject are not synonymous despite many teachers beliefs. Students may have a perfect understanding of the topics in the class, but tests give them anxiety and they fail because of the environment they are tested in. I can study for hours on end, practice dozens of problems and still walk into an exam and forget days of work and studying due to nerves or a less-than-ideal testing environment. Assigning students papers puts them all on the same playing field as they have days to find a quiet space or environment they are comfortable in to craft something they are proud of and aren’t being timed on to create. Moreover, while some students aren’t exactly essay writers, either, this gives students the opportunity to go to the writing center and get assistance with the paper.
Flexibility is another aspect of the game that the formal exam cannot replicate. Essay dates not only provide a student with ample time to prepare their thoughts and submit their best work but the date is workable. That means if you are being tested on weeks worth of information it is hard to recall all of it, or if you had to skip past a chapter but it is supposed to be on your exam this can be really stressful. Essays can be assigned to give a more comprehensive examination of the topics, as well as have the ability to be moved around. If the class hasn’t reached a certain level of comfortability with the material or a topic that was originally on the lesson plan was removed, it is no hassle for the teacher to make the proper adjustments. Not only does this remove the stress from the student of understanding all of the subjects they are being examined on but it is not causing any extra work for the teacher when it comes to moving the date or shifting the syllabus.
And just because some students are comfortable with exams doesn’t mean that method is the most effective for everyone, or even for the course content itself. In subjects that require critical thinking, analysis, or synthesis of complex ideas, essays allow for a deeper demonstration of knowledge than bubbling in a multiple-choice answer sheet ever could. Providing different options or incorporating a mix of assessments could strike a balance that benefits a wider range of learners, respecting their unique learning styles and strengths.
Ultimately, the goal of education should be more than just regurgitating facts for a grade, it should be about fostering genuine understanding, critical thought and the ability to communicate ideas clearly. Essays support that mission by giving students the space to engage meaningfully with course material and express their insights in their own voice. While exams may still have their place in certain contexts, it’s clear that essays offer a richer, more inclusive way to measure what students have actually learned. If the aim is to encourage growth, confidence, and lasting knowledge, then moving away from the stress of timed tests and toward thoughtful, reflective writing is a step in the right direction.
