An Investigation of the Effects of Exam Essay Questions on Student Learning in United States History Survey Classes.

Abstract

THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION argues, in its "Statement of Excellence in Classroom Teaching of History," that written assignments are important components of the excellent history classroom because they ask students to use critical thinking skills. The analysis and synthesis of historical materials that are part of critical thinking in the history classroom can provide students the opportunity to think historically. In other words writing assignments can stimulate students to discover the complexity within historical materials, not just memorize them or order them chronologically. The AHA is also emphatic that objective tests in the history classroom should never be the only or "final measure of student success."' Writing in the history classroom is not only an important part of the process of learning, it is an effective assessment tool. Historians, of course, are not alone in the advocacy of the importance of writing assignments in the classroom as a teaching methodology or as an assessment tool. Since the 1980s colleges and universities all over the country have developed Writing Across the Curriculum [WAC] programs that emphasize the benefits of writing for student learning and