Essay test question: OK to write about a topic not covered in class?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I do not need answer fast, this goes back to a test I took in a geography class over 15 years ago. I was discussing this class with an alum last night.

Professor Y taught a class on World Geography, he spent most of the first few weeks of the class covering sub Saharan Africa. The first exam had 3 questions. One question was about rivers in Africa, one question was about African empires and the third question was about currencies.

I was an economics major so I jumped all over the currency question and wrote about why the dollar, pound and French Franc were commonly used in Africa at that time.

I chose to write my answers to the other two questions about Egypt. I wrote my answer to the rivers question about the Nile and I discussed the Egyptian empire in my African empires question. Egypt had not been covered in the class at all.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who picked Egypt as an answer to those questions. The professor took some time and ultimately accepted these answers, although I got a B on a test I think I should have received an A. But, was I wrong to cover a topic which had not been discussed in class? There was not a textbook for this class, the professor assigned a series of readings from journals, none of which covered Egypt.

2

As long as you answered the question asked, it’s the right answer, imho.

3

If it’s in the curricular area, and not specifically prohibited by the instructor, it’s fair game.

4

The class was on sub-Saharan Africa and you wrote about Egypt? I wouldn’t allow it for that reason.

5

Without knowing exactly how the questions were worded, this would be difficult to answer. My first thought is that since the professor spoke mostly about sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt is not usually (if ever) considered part of this region, using Egypt as the subject for your answers to the essay question was risky at best (especially since neither lectures nor readings covered Egypt). I think the professor would have been justified in giving you far less than a B no matter how well constructed and supported your response was.

But again, it depends largely on exactly how the questions were worded. Don’t suppose you remember that?

6

It depends on the question, the instructions on the test, your specific answer.

7

I would say no, and in every circumstance.

The purpose of an essay exam is to test the student to see if he/she has retained or is able to apply the knowledge learned during the course to the problems asked in the essay.

If you never studied Wyatt Earp in your American History class, chances are the professor doesn’t give a damn what you know about him. Any answer you give containing Wyatt Earp, even if technically correct will not be what the professor is looking for and will likewise harm your grade. It doesn’t matter if you are more right that the prof. He/she is giving out the grades.

8

The class was world geography , we covered Sub Saharan Africa in the first few weeks, but we covered most areas of the earth outside of North America during the semester.

9

If the professor can’t be bothered to word a question correctly, the professor in unqualified to issue a grade, especially a failing grade. To give a poor grade to a correct answer is the lowest sort of academic pettiness, IMO.

10

I agree with other posters that this depends on how the questions were worded. There’s a difference between “Discuss a historic African empire and list and explain two contributions it made to modern societies.” and “Discuss one of the historic African empires covered in the class as of September 10 and list and explain two contributions it made to modern societies.”

Egypt is very well known in popular culture, so the professor might just be bored sick of reading about Egypt or disappointed that you didn’t actually go out and learn about one of the lesser known empires. Even off the top of my head, I can list some of Egypt’s contributions to modern civilization : the 24 hour day, domestication of cats, the letter “M” (was originally the hieroglyph for water, supposed to look like waves).

It could also depend on the syllabus and/or other relevant policies. Did the syllabus make any mention of a policy that essay test answers could not be based on outside material? Is there a school-wide or departmental policy?

11

And Egypt not being part of sub-Saharan Africa seems to be pretty nigh unto universal. If the instructor had spent the first few weeks covering the US South / Dixie, and had assigned readings that covered Atlanta, the Outer Banks, Pensacola (Florida), and New Orleans, and then on an essay exam you wrote about the legend of the Bunnyman of Fairfax, Virginia, you would have a better case since whether or not Northern Virginia “counts” as Southern is a legitimate matter of debate. It was part of the Confederacy, was historically dependent on tobacco farming, and is south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but on the other hand it has transitioned away from its traditional culture and become an extension of the Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia urban agglomeration.

12

I remember the rivers question was about how a river has influenced development and expansion for a culture as well as if the river was navigable and if it presented an outlet to the ocean.

The empire question, I don’t remember as well. I think it was the general, "Discuss an African Empire and what aspects of it remain today. " type of question.

13

I think the ideal solution would have been to ask the professor at the time.

I think a second reasonable solution would have been for the professor to apologize for the ambiguity of the wording and offer you and the others a chance to retake the test on a very flexible schedule.

I think another reasonable solution would be for the professor to chalk it up as a learning experience and grade the test as is.

14

It also depends on the instructions. I will often preface a question with “Based on what we discussed in class…” or something like that to try to keep the students focusing on the relevent material.

To answer the OPs question, the devil is really in the details.

15

In that case, I think discussing the Egyptian civilization is taking the easy was out. Egypt is covered even in junior high and high school social studies. So the more interesting and challenging response would be to discuss a less well-known civilization in Africa.

16

So, the first few weeks covered Sub-Saharan Africa. You then had an essay exam. Did you cover anything else in between sSA and the exam? If so, was it Northern Africa or was it a totally different region?

Assuming the class met 2 times a week, I see these potential scenarios:

Scenario 1 - 3 weeks/6 classes spent on sSA, then the exam on the 7th class.

Scenario 2 - 3 weeks/6 classes or 2.5 weeks/5 classes spent on sSA, then 1 or 2 classes covering a different region before the exam (because the prof only gives exams on Tuesdays, because he wants the exams to be evenly spaced out over the semester, or whatever).
-----2a - the 1-2 classes spent on the next section covered North Africa.
-----2b - the 1-2 classes spent on the next section covered a totally different region (the Baltic region, Australia, etc.).

The ONLY scenario I personally see your argument potentially having merit is 2a.

2a - Maybe. If the exam (and the syllabus) only said “Africa” for the exam coverage, I’d agree you have some wiggle room for protesting that he didn’t specify sSA, since you had started covering North Africa. If the exam and/or syllabus specified that it would be on sSA, nope - that’d be your fault for not paying attention. Either way, I’d still say you should have asked/clarified with the professor before the day of the exam.

The remaining 2 are essentially the same answer for the same reason:

1 and 2b No way; you lose. Sub-Saharan Africa does not include Egypt in any classification that I am able to find. If you only covered sSA before the exam, it’s clear that the “Africa” referred to in the questions is sSA. Even if you started covering a different region (that is not North Africa), the exam/syllabus only said “Africa”- it’s obvious that the exam will cover only sSA since that’s the only African region(s) you have covered in class, same as scenario 1. Yes, sure, technically you could try to protest/nitpick with the professor, but he’d be completely entitled to dismiss your complaint and think you’re an irritating pain in the ass. Hell, as a student in undergrad, I thought these kinds of nitpickers were an irritating pain in the ass.

17

I’m going to say you didn’t answer the question, but, your wording of the ‘question about currencies’ sort of raises a red flag. Do you recall the exact wording?

19

Reported