Should students memorise their essays?
THE ACADEMIC PETER AUBUSSON MEMORISING answers is not good preparation for life or university, but this is not life, learning and university. It is an exam. If students are being coached to memorise answers it might be because it has worked. They probably don’t get the top marks but they may score well. Mind you, I am certainly not willing to bet against a tutor with years of experience in a competition with 17- or 18-year-olds on their first attempt. This year the examiners might outsmart them, but I doubt it. Examiners will struggle because the HSC exams have a degree of predictability. They are based on known content and skills. They use the same, known format. If the exam drifts too far from past norms people scream and the media vent complaints of unfairness. The consequence is that parts of exams are readily exploited by prepared answers.
