TheMudge
The Real Mudge
2678 posts
Apr 29, 2008
7:49 PM
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When my college freshmen had to write an in-class final essay (essentially a final examination), many of them seemed taken aback when I suggested that they should write in ink, not pencil. I admit that I haven't been paying too much attention to what they use, but I just assumed that they would automatically write in ink on an examination. When students don't have access to a computer, do high school teachers allow them to use pencil, even on exams? That was certainly frowned upon when I was in school back in the Jurassic Age. Does it matter? Am I being old-fashioned in thinking that an important document such as an exam should be in ink if it isn't typed?
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)
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Sapninman
372 posts
May 01, 2008
1:18 PM
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This seems to make sense to me: If the students have enough time to prepare a rough draft, require that they use ink. If that time is not available, allow them to use pencil so that errors can be erased and corrected.
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Bradd
464 posts
May 01, 2008
5:00 PM
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Makes sense to me, too (ink). However, about 25 years ago, a young friend of mine asked me to read a paper she had written for college as a senior-year assignment. It was done in pencil. My first question was about the pencil. She said pencil was totally acceptable. In my day (also Jurassic) it would never have been accepted.
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Sapninman
373 posts
May 01, 2008
6:21 PM
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Bradd, homework assignments and test essays are two different matters. If I were a teacher, I'd require that essay assignments either be typed or submitted in ink handwriting. However, for the reason I mentioned, I might allow test essays to be done in pencil.
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TheMudge
The Real Mudge
2686 posts
May 01, 2008
7:07 PM
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Point of clarification: This exam essay was on a topic that was given in advance. Students had a week to prepare and were allowed (indeed, encouraged) to write a draft at home as a dry run. They could not refer to this draft but were allowed to work from a topic outline (phrases, no sentences). They still wanted the option to write in pencil.
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)
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Bradd
465 posts
May 01, 2008
7:49 PM
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Sorry, all, I missed the point about work outside the classroom and work in the classroom, taking a test. Now that I know, I still believe any college level work (or even high school work) that is to be handed in should be done in ink. Surely, ballpoint pens are as available as pencils. I would allow for exceptions - war, say - but ink for me.
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CeeBee
1735 posts
May 10, 2008
3:27 PM
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Even a bit later in the Cretaceous Age, both in high school and in college, we were not allowed to use pencil on a final exam, even if it included an essay. By the time we took the exam, we were to have our act together and our thoughts solidified so that we didn't have to muddle and dither and need to erase. P.S. Even more difficult than reading a student's handwriting is reading handwriting that has been done in pencil with incomplete erasures and dark eraser smudges.
Last Edited on 10-May-2008 3:30 PM
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