6. Specify the relative point value and the approximate time limit in clear directions. Specifying the relative point value and the approximate time limit helps students allocate their time in answering several essay questions because the directions clarify the relative merit of each essay question. Without such guidelines students may feel at a loss as to how much time to spend on a question.
7. State the criteria for grading Students should know what criteria will be applied to grade their responses. As long as the criteria are the same for the grading of the different essay questions they don’t have to be repeated for each essay question but can rather be stated once for all essay questions