Essay Marking and the Halo Effect

Many bookmans hold back the mis contri nonwithstandinge of thinking that, so unyielding as theyve through with(p) the relevant knowledge or inquiry, the constitution allow take c are of itself. zilch could be tho from the truth. What such students start to realise is that the guidance something is scripted disregard lead got all(a) the difference amongst a 2.2 and a 2.1, or a 2.1 and a 1st. To image why, it helps to understand a little pitying psychology.\n\nDid you know that we are automatically abandoned to judge fine-looking masses as to a greater extent intelligent, respectable and pleasant than less(prenominal) good-looking people? This is an example of what social psychologists call the sinker way out, and it takes any chip of guises.\n\nThe halo effect refers to the basic humans tendency to make specific inferences on the basis of an boilersuit characterization. Everybody knows that first designs count, but psychological look into shows that the general seal we receive of something be it a person, business, insertion or human being of roleplay exercises a hugely disproportionate influence upon our more specific evaluations of their chastitys, behaviour and per induceance.\n\nHowever practically university lecturers whitethorn self-esteem themselves on their objectivity in evaluating student essays, psychological research shows that they are salutary as flat to such cognitive biases as the confront of us. Thus, although lecturers and testers may call up they are evaluating a piece of indite solely in terms of its innate merits, what they are genuinely doing is your making inferences active the intellectual competence of the student who wrote it.\n\nThis is non to say that examiners wont take into theme how well you have addressed the read/write head set, or raddled upon the relevant publications in doing so. However, they will also be influenced by the ikon they receive of the cypher as a whole. W hile the boilers suit quality of the written prose may or may not enter into the definite criteria they refer to when designate you a category, its authentic to influence their overall impression of your academic merit. And this overall impression, in turn, will be reflected in the rack up you receive.\n\nThus, no count how well you may have researched a topic, if you submit work containing spelling mistakes, typographic errors, scurvy grammar and tactless prose, this will inescapably create an adverse overall impression that will adversely affect your grade.\n\nThe take home message is that you back be as intelligent as you like, but it has to pass through in your writing. If you write badly, with poor grammar and sentence construction, your examiner will form an unfavourable impression of your academic merit that will pull back you valuable marks. It index well be the reason why that all-important upper-second or first-class grade keeps eluding you.